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Speaker 3Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports.
Speaker 4And first pitch, Washington! Deep left field! This is way back! Walk the walk!
Speaker 3Got a fantasy question? Email fantasybaseball at cbsi.com. Get ready to win your league. Where fantasy becomes reality. Now, here's Frank, Scott, and Chris.
Speaker 5Hey there! Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball Today on Monday, September 14th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, more prospects called up. It turns out Rafael Devers was breaking baseball. While needing surgery. Very weird. He's playing hurt, but he's like the best hitter in baseball. Crazy stuff there. We have starter sit decisions. We had an immaculate inning. We'll get into all of it. Let's jump in. Oh my goodness gracious! All right, let's begin with... Let's start with some good stuff. Chris, we'll start with you.
Speaker 6Yeah, first of all, I want to highlight Payton Tolley, who is not my oh my goodness gracious player of the weekend, but certainly had the oh my goodness gracious moment of the weekend, with his immaculate inning against Kansas City in the first inning of Sunday's game. And this highlights why we love a great fastball so much. He threw nine straight fastballs to get his immaculate inning. He got six swinging strikes on eight four-seamers and a sinker to get an immaculate inning. And if you watch the highlights, there's a moment where the camera cuts to him right before the final pitch, and it looks like he's like, looking into the dugout and kind of laughing. He knows what's going on. And then he kind of just like throws one down the pipe and generates a swinging strike and finishes off the inning anyway, because when you have the kind of stuff Payton Tolley does, you can do that. I don't think he threw 10% curveballs. Not this time. But it didn't matter. His fastballs are all really, really, really good pitches. I think it's the third highest whiff rate on a four-seamer, the fourth highest whiff rate on a cutter. He's really good. But my actual, oh my goodness gracious, is just because that's not really actionable. And I know you guys want actionable information. So my actual, oh my goodness gracious, player is Jackson Joe, who had a really good start against the Rockies away from Coors Field. Yes, we're all aware. Six and a third innings, he gave up one earned run on three hits, one walk, eight strikeouts. He got 16 whiffs on 87 pitches. That's an 18% whiff rate. Six on the curveball, five on the slider. And that's what we need to focus on, is the slider and curveball, because both of them look different. The slider velocity was down 1.5 miles per hour and had six more inches of drop. The curveball, up two miles per hour, had five less inches of drop. Now you might think, well, isn't that just kind of making those two pitches similar? And not really. The slider's still about three miles per hour harder than the curveball in this start. And it's still getting, there's like a 15-inch difference in the amount of drop those two pitches are getting. So. I think they're still distinct looks. And my thought here is if he can sustain this, start throwing 86-mile-an-hour curveballs and 89-mile-an-hour sliders, if those pitches start to look the same, but they've got that different movement profile, the slider drops in this start 37 inches, the curveball 46, if they're a couple of miles per hour apart, but have that big of a gap in their, in their movement profile, that could make things even more difficult for opposing hitters. And I think that's a really interesting wrinkle. And Jackson Jobe is someone that has always passed the eye test, right? Like the stuff looks so good. And he's got such a feel for spin and for generating movement. And then when he's been in the majors, when he's been healthy, it's been a little underwhelming. And I wonder if he's one of these guys who like, his pitches move too much or something. Like it's too easy for hitters to pick up. And so maybe, he's blending these two pitches to where they're still clearly distinct pitches, but are a little closer to one another. Maybe that can help. I'm just speculating, but it's, it's a theory. We like a theory, right?
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 6I love a good theory,
Speaker 5especially for someone as highly regarded, highly touted as Jackson Jobe entering the majors, obviously hasn't really performed very well so far in his, that would be like almost 90 innings of work so far in his major. League career, his last two starts have looked good. Chris, is this more actionable for next season? Like, Hey, this is a post hype sleeper breakout type, or is this someone that you would actually maybe take a flyer on and use at the White Sox this upcoming week?
Speaker 6I think it's more so the former than the latter. Um, I think there's some risk in using him, although the White Sox aren't like a terrifying unbeatable matchup.
Speaker 7Um, I, I will note that they were responsible for his worst outing of the year. On August 14th.
Speaker 6There you go. Yeah. Six earned runs in three and two thirds innings, but that was before the new break. No, I, I, I mean, we got to see if he does it again. I think, yeah, it's been two pretty good starts in a row. I think this is more of a, Hey, let's keep this name in mind for next season. Um, then someone you want to go out and use in a high profile or a high pressure situation like this. But you know, if it's not like we're inundated with viable starting picks, pitchers on the waiver wire, you know, Jacob Lopez and Andrew painter Lopez more so, uh, but both of them have come down to earth a little bit. So, you know, you might find yourself in that situation. Yeah.
Speaker 5Professional broadcaster, Chris towers. That is a segue into Scott's. Oh my goodness gracious. What's up with Jacob Lopez?
Speaker 7Yeah. Oh, we got to rip the bandaid off here. He was one of the two. Chris mentioned the other Andrew painter who we were one of the two waiver wire, pickups at starting pitcher who were actually excited about. And, uh, it was a two start week where he seemed like the obvious choice. He was on a multi month run of good pitching and had two really favorable matchups and they both went poorly. Uh, the, the second start Sunday, even worse than the first. Uh, let me see if I can give you the numbers here.
Speaker 6Five runs in three and two thirds innings today.
Speaker 7Yeah. Yeah. It's still a decent number. It's still a decent number. It's still a decent number. It's still a decent number of whiffs is still allowed pretty weak contact, but it was against the Mariners, the worst offense baseball, um, in Sacramento. So maybe that had something to do with it, but, uh, even so it w it, it went really poorly this week. And, you know, I could talk about, you know, this is why you don't stream pitchers unless you really have a need there for as much as we talk about it. It's not like it's something you need to be doing that regularly, but it's not like it's something you need to be doing that regularly. But because there was genuine enthusiasm for Lopez, I streamed him in three of the four leagues where I was still competing for a championship. And are you still competing for a championship? Not in one of those leagues. So it cost me in one league. I mean, I may have lost anyway, but it certainly didn't help the Lopez start the other two. I got away with it. Um, but I'm not going to start Lopez again in those two, even though he has a good matchup coming up. Against Cleveland. I will say I did keep them on the sleeper pitchers list list of 10 guys. You could pick up off the waiver wire, potentially moved him down. Lopez was in the number one spot before the Sunday start. Now it's like sixth or seventh. Um, and I did that because yeah, that means that meme is so dead. Frank, the six, seven thing. I didn't say it. I didn't say you did the hand thing. I saw you. You very, very uncool, sir. Um, Yeah, I moved locally. Lopez down to sixth or seventh because the alternative would have been to move, you say, Kikuchi in. Who's facing the Mariners next time? Obviously a good matchup. And he's coming off three starts where he got good results. So, like, I could justify it.
Speaker 6Yeah, I'd rather go with Jacob Lopez.
Speaker 7If push came to shove, I still think I'd rather go with Jacob Lopez over Kikuchi. But again, I'm not starting Lopez in those same... I'm not starting Lopez, I think, in any league next week when I had him widely started this past week. So, you know, you don't have to stream everybody just because they show up in an article saying it's an advisable streamer.
Speaker 6I do want to point out that Jacob Lopez had seven batted balls in this game with an XBA below 200. And the Mariners were three and seven. Three of seven on them. It was only 86 mile per hour average at the fall, overall, which is good. Yeah. Also gave up a hit on a batted ball with a 450 XBA, which is high, but still, you would expect it to be an out more than half the time. So, yeah, it's... I don't know. It was a frustrating start, certainly, but I think the thing with Jacob Lopez might just be that because his stuff is not great, because he's more weird than dominant, the margin for error might just be pretty slim. And we saw that last season. We saw it early this season. It's frustrating that it came once everybody started buying into him. And, you know, that stinks. But I don't really think... I don't know. I still think Jacob Lopez could still be pretty good.
Speaker 7Yeah, I still like him. And if this was June and this happened, I'd still be holding on to him. But the margin for error for your fantasy team is so slim right now, too, that I'd rather... In a situation where I'm not, like, desperately looking for a pitcher on the waiver wire, I'd rather just not chance it. I suppose I should also mention Andrew Painter here, since we've kind of brought him up twice and these two are linked together. He had a better start on Sunday, but it wasn't good... Or Saturday, I guess. Was it Saturday or Sunday? It was Sunday. It was Sunday, okay. It wasn't good enough to make up for the bad start he had earlier in the week, so he was also... It was a flop for his two-start week. He did walk four against the Braves Sunday, so that led to a high whip for the day, but only one earned run allowed. I think if... I think if you streamed a guy and you got this result, you couldn't feel too bad about it, but there was the previous start, which was pretty bad. I do have Painter still second on the sleeper pitchers for next week. He's facing the Mets. I think the walks in the start against the Braves Sunday was a fluky thing that happened, and otherwise, I think he was... pretty much fine.
Speaker 5Given how bad the weeks went for both Painter and Jacob Lopez, I would like to get away from those two. And one name I think I would use over both of them is Emmett Sheehan, who is so back, baby. He had a great start this weekend at the Marlins. Six shutout innings, five strikeouts to one walk, 14 whiffs on 81 pitches. Getting whiffs has never really been the issue, right? And he's kind of flashed that and reminded us of that in the two starts since coming back from the I.L. In those two starts, 11 and two-thirds innings, one run, 15 strikeouts to two walks. He is 47% rostered. He has a home start later this week against the Giants, who are 11th in Woba against right-handed pitching, but they no longer have Rafael Tevers. So I like Emmett Sheehan quite a bit this week. I would use him over both Jacob Lopez and Andrew Painter.
Speaker 7He is now the number one sleeper pitcher for this week. Jacob Lopez was going into the weekend and coming out of the weekend, it's Emmett Sheehan.
Speaker 6How many surefire Major League caliber hitters do the Giants have right now? Two? Bryce Eldridge? Bryce Eldridge and Jung-Hoo Lee. And then it's a bunch of quad A guys. That sounds... Drew Gilbert, Jonah Cox, Turner Hill, Scott Bandura. These are all real names. Shea Whitcomb, Drew Kavanaugh, Christian Koss.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 6Andrew Knizer. Oslavis Basabe.
Speaker 5That's a nice trivia decade from now, Chris. Can you name the September 14th San Francisco Giants lineup? Yeah.
Speaker 6This is where the real sporkle weirdos shine.
Speaker 5Yeah. Yeah. I assume there's no pushback here on Emmett Sheehan, right? You guys are... Well... I know he's been bad for most of the year, but he's come back and he's looked good and the matchup is good.
Speaker 7The only pushback is just feeling snakebitten from Lopez and not wanting to recommend anyone with some volatility in his history for the most important stretch of the season. But it's like... You're not going to find anyone without volatility on the waiver wire. So, if you don't have to start Sheehan, don't. But, like, if you want to stream somebody, he's probably the best choice.
Speaker 6And his next start, I believe, would also be at San Francisco. So, lines up very well for the final two starts for Emmett Sheehan.
Speaker 5Nice. Yeah. And, you know, going back to the 6-7 thing for a second, I realize it is infinitely more likely that you guys are more in the know of what's going on just in life and, like, reality and what's hip and what's not, what's in and what's not. Scott, you have kids, obviously. Chris, you're, like, the grandfather of your building, right? And everyone is younger than you in your building.
Speaker 6The kid got in the elevator the other day. He just moved in. I was like, hey, nice to meet you. I'm Chris. You just moved in. He was like, yeah, I'm starting my third year at NYU. What? I thought you were his RA. Yeah, I moved into this building when you were, like, a sophomore in high school. Get out of here. What's going on?
Speaker 5Yeah, man. I live in a massive apartment building, and I don't really know. Like, I've lived here for two years, and I don't know anybody. I definitely don't know any young people, and I don't have any kids, and I don't hang out with anyone else's kids, so I have no idea what's cool and what's not, but we'll have to lean on Scott and Chris for that. If you are here, we appreciate you for doing so. It's not good. It's not good.
Speaker 7You never want to lean on me for what's cool.
Speaker 5Make sure to hit that like button if you're watching on YouTube. We appreciate you for being here. Thank you for being here. If you're listening on the audio side of things, drop a five-star rating and review on Apple or Spotify, wherever you listen. Let's take a break. We'll be back right after this. Baseball has always been a game of inches. Now it's also a game of seconds. T-Mobile and MLB have teamed up to bring ABS Challenge to all 29 ballparks across the U.S. This isn't a minor upgrade. This is the most significant new technology in the history of the sport, and it's powered by T-Mobile. With every pitch thrown, ABS Challenge uses real-time precision to verify the call, giving them the support they need. No delays, no guesswork, just accuracy at the speed the game demands. Thanks to ABS Challenge, T-Mobile is helping power the moments that define the game. When performance and reliability are non-negotiable, MLB turns to T-Mobile. That's not a coincidence. That's what happens when the most innovative network in the country powers the most data-driven sport in the world. T-Mobile powers MLB's most ambitious technology, and America's best network powers your connection to baseball. Home or away, every pitch, every game, every day. T-Mobile, it's better over here. Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. T-Mobile, best mobile network in the U.S. According to Ookla Speed Test, based on analysis by Ookla of Speed Test Intelligence data first half 2026. Ookla trademarks used under license and reprinted with permission. Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts, so let's take a minute to go over some of my faves. Snapple real fact 1417. Before 1859, baseball umpires sat behind home plate in rocking chairs. Snapple real fact 1483. More than 100 baseballs are used during a typical professional baseball game. Snapple real fact 253. The first TV remote control introduced in 1950 was called Lazy Bones. Snapple real fact 2105. Professional athletes used to perform in Vaudeville in the off season. So grab a Snapple, take a second, and enjoy the moment. Because let's be honest, this might be the most refreshing part of your day. Snapple, make your break more interesting. All right, now let's get back to the show. Baseball season is in full swing and there's no better place to be than Calchi, America's number one prediction market platform. Atlanta is currently trading at 7% to win it all, meaning a $100 trade pays out over $1,200 with a win. On Calchi, you're trading against other people, in a live market. No house, no odds makers. And as the odds move, you can buy in or out anytime throughout the postseason. Download the Calchi app and use code FAN to get up to $500 in bonus credits when you trade $25. K-A-L-S-H-I, Calchi, trade on anything. 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Calchi products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calchi.com slash regulatory. Welcome back to Fantasy Baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. And this Rafael Devers injury truly came out of nowhere. He was placed on the 60-day IL with a core muscle injury. He is expected to undergo surgery on Tuesday. And apparently, he's been playing through it for much of the season. How could anyone know? His last 18 games before going on the IL, 377 batting average, 11 homers, 28 RBI, 14-03-11. ops again 18 games 11 homers 28 rbi how is this guy playing hurt that seems almost impossible but he was amazing here down the stretch you need rafael devers replacements some names that are on scott's sleeper hitter list for this week we have ty france he has uh four games in course
Speaker 7field this week tj easy replacement and 50 of cbs sports leagues where he's somehow still available
Speaker 5the only thing with ty france is he's on the paternity list i believe he should be back monday but sunday was his third day that's the most you get all right tj rumfield has a full week of games in course field uh griffin conine if you want to go a little bit deeper kobe mayo as well he has three lefties on the schedule and if you're just looking for a corner infielder a deeper name as well kyle caros is someone who uh has returned recently from injury and again has those seven games in course field those i had good i had such mixed thoughts on this devers
Speaker 7thing because it's like yes he was so hot and he seemed to fix it but since he had been dealing with this core injury for so long well maybe that explains why he struggled so much in the first place but now he's having surgery and it's like how much is that going to affect him early next year yeah and so i such conflicting emotions not sure whether to be encouraged by it as a development for next year and i think it's going to be even harder to rank devers for next year
Speaker 6than it was this year yeah i don't think it makes a ton of sense to think that this is why he struggled early on you know like that that just the the shape like he struggled early on last season he has been april has been the worst month of his career if it's a bad enough injury to
Speaker 7require surgery it's well yeah but it'd be hard to play through but it probably didn't require
Speaker 6surgery in april
Speaker 7right like that just seems like a safe assumption what happened to make it need surgery now that
Speaker 6the timing of it seems kind of weird i don't know because they've had nothing to play for for a while too so right i don't you know matt chapman had surgery eight weeks ago or whatever so i don't know um i just i kind of just take rafael devers at at face value that the numbers are going to be there at the end of the season you know i i think um i don't think like the last four months are the two months are or whatever i think this the 250 is batting average and the 35 homers are are who he is and i'm more or less assuming he's healthy next season which we'll see what the timetable is and and how ready he'll be by spring training that could change it but i think on the whole i i just kind of backed more of what he did this season it's a tough one the core injury because like
Speaker 7if you don't get that core strong enough you develop back issues and those are even harder to to get straight so it's it's uh it's definitely going to be a tricky recovery not that he can't be fine for the start of next year i i think the odds are he will be but it's it's one of those that you're going to want to keep an eye on instead of just trusting oh six months he'll be
Speaker 6fine incredibly he's the number 17 hitter in fantasy right now wow yeah the final season-long
Speaker 5stat line for devers 258 batting average 37 homers 88 runs 98 rbi 865 ops so really good season pretty much a rafael devers season i'm just annoyed because he was one home run off from his career high and the way he was swinging the bat he was definitely going to set a new career high hitting 40 home runs while playing your home games in oracle that would
Speaker 6have been really really cool i mean before willie adames last year nobody had hit 30 at oracle since barry bonds right true fact um i'm just a little annoyed because all off season i kept saying why draft peter lonzo in the second round when you can get rafael devers in the sixth and peter lonzo is going to end up with better numbers but it was very close
Speaker 5at the time of their injury yeah jordan alvarez missed two games this weekend friday and saturday dealing with an ankle injury but he did return to the lineup on sunday so should be fine to keep him in there just uh i guess if they play on monday or tuesday make sure jordan alvarez is all good jesus lizardo was scratched from his start this weekend with shoulder inflammation he said saturday that an mri revealed no structural damage and he is hopeful to pitch sometime this week obviously uh very scary stuff for lizardo who's been amazing this year and he's taken on an ace workload with uh with everything up for grabs are you are you starting jesus lizardo
Speaker 6this week that feels like an impossible question to answer i i would lean no um just because he feels like the kind of pitcher that when things go wrong they go really wrong and trusting him at less than 100 would be taking on risk but i don't know like i he might be fine i can imagine some
Speaker 7scenarios where i'd start him i'd rather not but you know him versus emma sheehan sheehan i think that's pretty easy okay uh but if if you have to start someone relatively scrubby and and also i think it's easier to start lizardo in a roto league than in a head-to-head because obviously head-to-head it's just this week in isolation and so a goose egg counts for a lot more if it if lizardo ends up getting skipped again so uh i think that's where i stand
Speaker 5all right byron buxton will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his right hip on friday of this week and there is no official timeline for his recovery but the twins believe buxton will be ready for the start of the 2027 season somebody who will be tough to rank i mean we just we won't we won't really hear much because we'll be in a lockout we won't get really any injury updates on any players and byron buxton has dealt with a ton of injuries in his career so his past couple seasons the adp has fluctuated massively and i would expect the same to happen in 2027 shay langoliers was reinstated from the il on saturday it seemed likely that he would miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his meniscus but he is back and i think he'll probably sit out more than he usually would have but i think if you have a chance you're going to have to wait and see what happens he held on to langoliers you're probably just playing him right oh yeah yeah and i i believe
Speaker 6he's not going to catch at all so maybe he's just in the lineup pretty regularly i don't know yeah
Speaker 7it's possible i gotta tell you guys i picked up langoliers in three leagues where he was dropped like right after he was dropped i'm talking leagues with ample il space yeah and somebody dropped them because they just assumed he'd be out for the year and i'm like well they didn't they said he might not be so i'll pick him up and stash him why not he's shay langoliers and maybe he'll do nothing over these last two weeks but i'll be
Speaker 5starting him and we'll see yeah and one of those weeks this upcoming week all the games are on the road and then the final week of the season the a's are uh back with a full week in sacramento kyle harrison was originally supposed to start on saturday but the brewers changed that and they moved him to the bullpen instead and i actually did not look to did he wind up pitching at all this weekend i'm sorry who was it she's not she's not she's not she's not she's not
Speaker 7kyle harrison i will check right now he made a relief appearance and allowed four runs without
Speaker 5oh yeah i just saw it all right so kyle harrison and redraft leagues is just a drop i i mean my
Speaker 6next two weeks are going to be like my i'm going to be writing ranking the toughest right the toughest players to rank for 2027 for every position articles and um he's got to be at or near the top of the list for starting pitcher he was so good for four for three months really then he got hurt and was
Speaker 5basically useless the final three months right like he gave it all back 398 era 131 whip i mean that's pretty close to his career numbers at this point so gave it all back there for kyle harrison uh scott jared jones over kyle harrison next season you heard it here first that might happen yeah that might happen yeah we did get more prospect promotions this weekend the twins called up outfield prospect emmanuel rodriguez on saturday he is a 23 year old prospect lots of talent lots of injuries 49 games at triple a this year he hit 262 414 on base 11 homers seven steals and then he homered in his debut on saturday he is 12 percent rostered uh scott your thoughts on the player emmanuel rodriguez do you have any interest in adding him for the final two weeks
Speaker 7i mean the the book on emmanuel rodriguez has been the same for like five years it feels like he he has uh really strong upside indicators like in terms of how hard he hits the ball he's fast he walks a ton but he strikes out a ton too and that didn't really improve as he made his way up the ladder well he strikes out a ton and he gets hurt a lot so there are two big flaws strikeouts and injuries and then a bunch of really good strengths that you could see huge upside for uh uh uh thank you for emmanuel rodriguez you could see i remember the scouting report and then i blank on the name you could see huge upside for him but it it seemed like he he slipped in the prospect rankings as he moved up the ladder and didn't improve in those two regards so transitioning to the majors i'm expecting it to be a pretty bumpy transition i'm not picking him up with the enthusiasm that i'm picking up jose de paula jose de paula excuse me um but uh you know we'll see how he does If he does hit the ground running, then he'll be a pretty attractive sleeper for next year, I would say, Emmanuel Rodriguez.
Speaker 6Definitely has the talent to be an impact player. The comp I made was Dodgers' Max Muncy skill set, but with some speed. He's been a 15-20 steal guy. That could be really, really valuable, but he's got to stay healthy and show it first. I would definitely rather have Josue DiPaola. I kind of think Walker Jenkins is the better prospect, but since he's been so bad, if you wanted to swap him out for Emmanuel Rodriguez, I think that's okay, too.
Speaker 5Yeah. Lots of talk here about Josue DiPaola, too. Just got to mention his game on Sunday. Two for two with a walk. His first career home run. A mammoth home run. 108.2 exit velocity, 416 feet. He hit it off of Yuri Perez. Chris, I don't watch every Marlins, I don't see balls land in the stands where they did for that home run. Dude, it was definitely longer than 416. I don't know how they came up. I know it's an estimated distance. That was like 450 feet easy.
Speaker 6I mean, Griffin Conine hits him up there pretty regularly. Yeah, no, it was a bomb. And I, yeah, it's annoying that the Dodgers have a dude who's this clearly talented. He looks like he could be. What they gave up in Jordan Alvarez. An absolute superstar.
Speaker 7Remember they had Jordan Alvarez and they traded him for Josh Fields?
Speaker 6That's who, yeah, Josh Fields. That's who it was. Wowza.
Speaker 7Rare misstep for the Dodgers.
Speaker 6I do wonder if DiPaola is just okay down the stretch. Is he guaranteed? He's not guaranteed a spot on the opening day roster in 2027, right? Because both, I guess Tucker probably has an opt-out, but. They'll figure it out, I'm sure. Like, would they trade Teoscar?
Speaker 7Does Tucker have an opt-out after the first year? I thought it was, he may be right. If he does.
Speaker 6Would he take it? He's not taking it, no. Yeah. And Teoscar Hernandez is under contract for 2020. Right.
Speaker 7My suspicion is if DiPaola shows he's ready, they'll find a way to unload her. No, that's what I mean.
Speaker 6But what if DiPaola's just okay? Yeah. It could be like a Junior Caminera situation where we were like, okay, he got called up at the end of the season. He's going to be on opening day. And Caminera, I don't think, got called up again until like. Very late the next year. July, right? Or August? Yeah.
Speaker 7Josh Field was a relief pitcher, by the way. Somebody was asking if it was the third base version. No, it was the relief pitcher version. I don't think that's going to happen, though. Like, I feel bullish about DiPaola down the stretch as much as I can about anybody over a two-week period, I suppose. He walked four times in his three games this weekend in addition to having that. Hasn't struck out yet. Yep. Now. I couldn't. I didn't feel like I could put him on the sleeper hitters for this upcoming week, week 26, because there are three lefties on the schedule for the Dodgers. And my presumption is he'll sit against lefties. But we don't know yet. Yeah. He may not. So I think in a five outfielder league, I might just chance it with DiPaola. Not in a three outfielder league, but in a five outfielder league. I might go and play him this week.
Speaker 5All right. And the Rays promoted pitcher prospect Brody Hopkins. He spent most of the season. As a starter in the minors, but they recently transitioned him to the bullpen. He will pitch out of the bullpen for the Rays. But Hopkins is a name to have on your radar as a sleeper for next season. Freddie Freeman returned to the lineup Saturday after missing two games with a knee injury. He went over eight in the two games this weekend. Dave Roberts said Sunday that Freddie Freeman will be out of the lineup on Monday. My guess is that is for continued maintenance there on Freddie Freeman's knee. Wilson Gutierrez was reinstated from the IL on Sunday. So, he should be good to get him back in your lineups here. The final two weeks. Treya Savage is scheduled to make a rehab appearance at AAA on Tuesday. He might make one start. I just, I don't think he's going to be built up enough to really matter for fantasy. But if the Blue Jays somehow make the post season, it'll be interesting to see if Treya Savage makes a start in the playoffs and how he looks there. Kyle Bradish was placed in the IL with abdominal discomfort. And I wonder if that's code for just being really bad in the second half of the season. Maybe that's, part of why he's been bad. Jack Caglione rejoined the lineup on Sunday after missing six straight games with that flexor strain. The Pirates activated Ryan O'Hearn on Friday. He suffered a bad quad train in late July, and there was thought that he could miss the rest of the season, but he is back for the final two weeks. He hit a three run homer on Saturday. He is 57% rostered first base and outfield eligible. But Scott, I know you have the Pirates as the worst hitter matchups this week. So Ryan O'Hearn has been very good when he's played this year. Uh, are you interested in picking him up and using him or stay away because of the matchups?
Speaker 7I don't recommend fringy hitters when they have bad hitter matchups as a rule. When I do it, it never ends well. And these are the worst hitter matchups. However, in a deep enough league where your choices are limited, uh, you know, it's, it's only one lefty on the schedule, so I could see it going okay for Ryan O'Hearn. I'm not going to sit here and recommend it though.
Speaker 5All right, continuing on. It was previously reported that Rokey Sasaki might return this weekend. He did not, and now he could return Thursday against the Reds. Pretty sure we don't want to use Sasaki first start back, right? Okay, as Merlin Valdez was placed in the aisle Saturday with a strained left hamstring, that will probably end his season. Royce Lewis left Sunday's game due to left shoulder soreness. And so he's kind of banged up, but I know he's slowed down as well. So if you want to get away from Royce Lewis, it's a little bit tougher. If you're using it at third base is because third base remains a wasteland, but I could see with the struggles and the injury now potentially getting away from Royce Lewis this week.
Speaker 7Kaelin Culpepper left Kyle Karras widely available or the two Orioles.
Speaker 5Yeah. Kaelin Culpepper left early Saturday after getting hit by a pitch on his shoulder, and then he was out of the lineup on Sunday, so he could be a risky play this week as well. He's mostly been pretty good since he's been called up, but obviously dealing with this injury. Now the nationals option, Clayton beater to a triple, a on Friday. They had a whole bunch of bullpen shenanigans this weekend. Look, they don't have a closer and they never will ever again. So just stay away from the nationals. Bullpen gauge. Jump has a shoulder impingement with sap, which sounds like an injury that will land him on the aisle. But I haven't seen that transaction made just yet.
Speaker 7It doesn't matter in terms of setting your lineup.
Speaker 5True. He's bad JT. Ginn who's on the aisle with a right elbow. Impingement is likely to miss the rest of the season. Jacob Wilson underwent surgery to repair the labor, him in his left shoulder. He could be ready for opening day, but it'll be close. Zach Giloff had a similar surgery in September of last year, and he returned to baseball activities in mid March and every player is differently. Every player responds differently to surgery and treatment and rehab and all that kind of stuff. So, uh, Jacob Wilson being ready for next, the start of next season. It's kind of up in the air right now. Michael Soroka will start Tuesday for the D back. Zach Gallen will move to the bullpen. Do we have any interest in a Soroka this week? Who? I am trying to pull up the match.
Speaker 7It'll be one start against the Marlins. Uh, that seems pretty good. Yeah, but I doubt it'll go five. Yeah.
Speaker 5All right. So that's a no on Michael Soroka. Ryan Helsley started a rehab assignment at triple a on Saturday. Ken Rosenthal reported over the weekend that the Astros are considering it using Carlos Correa at second base, the D backs, DFA at Lourdes. Gurriel wonder if maybe he gets picked up somewhere as a DH kind of, I don't know, pinch hitter, short side, platoon situation. And the last item here, Owen Casey went on the aisle with a lumbar stress reaction, some waiver wire hitters from the weekend and up first, Steven Kwan had a steal on Friday. He had three more hits and a home run on Sunday, and he's been great in the second half, three 56 batting average, two homers, 38 runs for four steals, eight 79 OPS. He's all the way up to 80, 80% rostered really just a head to head points name, right? Like it's in a categories league. It's, it's still kind of, it's mostly empty batting average. I feel. Yeah.
Speaker 6I mean, it's batting average is useful. Louisa rise is a hundred percent rostered or, or somewhere near there. Um, I think it's very similar to that.
Speaker 5Uh, continuing on Lawrence Butler went three for five with his 14th home run on Friday. Then he had a double dong here on Sunday. And in the second half, two 74, 11 homers, 36 RBI, four steals, eight 59 OPS. The problem six road games this week, but I, if you picked up Lawrence Butler for this past week and you play in the final week of the season, just hold on to Lawrence Butler, keep them on your bench. Because again, the A's do have that full week of home games, uh, the final week. So, uh, but I wouldn't use Lawrence Butler this week. Unfortunately, no one. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 7That's fine. Go ahead.
Speaker 5Yep. Uh, Nolan Aranato quietly has had a good season. He homered on Friday. He homered on Sunday. He has 25 home runs, seven 65 OPS. And both of those, the highest since 2023, he has six home runs. Six home games this week. They're all right. He's on the schedule and he's 70% rostered. Scott, can I interest you at all in, uh, Nolan Aranato? If you need third base help.
Speaker 7I mean, I want to take him over the three on my sleepers, sleeper hitters lists. Cause he does qualify for the list and I didn't put him on it, but I could think of worse options. I, I, I never would have guessed he'd hit 25 home runs this year. He had a combined 28 the previous two years. Like his, his days as a power hitter seemed to be done.
Speaker 6And it's, I don't know. Arizona's not like a significantly better ballpark.
Speaker 5it's um i just think he was finally healthy again i know he was dealing with stuff the past couple of years i think it was like a back that that was that kept popping up for him i mean we're not
Speaker 7gonna find that much positive in the data because the data hasn't been positive for him in a long time even even for some of his good years with the cardinals but it's really like in just an
Speaker 6esoc parade his profile yeah it looks very similar uh he is pulling the ball more consistently and he needs to to get to that i mean he has nothing beyond that yeah yeah travis bazana
Speaker 5looks like he might be heating back up two for four with a sock and a shoe on sunday he reached base four times on friday he had two runs scored in that one in 11 september games 387 three homers 12 rbi one steal and he's 69 percent rostered six games this week two lefties on the schedule so chris i think it's good to see bazana went through his struggles and you know it could be finishing strong here as like something to look forward to next year but with the two lefties on the schedule this week i just
Speaker 6don't know that i could recommend using him i mean he's almost 70 percent rostered there's not going to be a ton of leagues where he's useful and isn't already rostered yeah eugenio suarez looks to be
Speaker 5finishing strong three for four with a home run on saturday and another home run on sunday and his last 50 games he has 15 homers 36 rbi his ops is around 900 it's a lower batting average but that's to be expected for a eugenio suarez and uh he has six home games this week so you like that in cincinnati four are against the dodgers top four starters so i i don't know scott i like the games being in cincinnati but against the dodgers pitching this is another one like he's hot now but i i don't know that i can confidently recommend using a eugenio suarez against those pitchers
Speaker 7yeah and i'm not sure he's quite hot enough to get me that excited anyway if the matchups were pristine sure but when you're hottest stretch of the season you're hitting like 275 an otherwise awful season uh yeah i i think we could pass on a eugenio suarez
Speaker 5max clark had a big weekend here against the rockies pitching so you know i never know how much to put into that but i don't know i don't know how much to put into that but i don't know hey you face who's on the schedule and max clark is hot one for two with a sock and a shoe on friday three for four with a run in rbi on saturday one for three with another stolen base on sunday he's having himself a nice september 62 percent rostered seven road games this week only one lefty on the schedule he's actually been much better against lefties and righties which is weird for max clark uh but chris he's you know heating back up and he's 62 percent roster should that number be higher would you uh think about using max clark in like a three outfielder league this week if you need yeah probably not
Speaker 6a lot of points leagues so that that's gonna be tough um let me tell you i guess because he's not running much he might not be like a worse points league player than a roto player um let me tell
Speaker 7you about this home run he hit friday was hit 95.2 miles per hour it had an expected batting average of 190 which you know some people hear that and they say who cares it still counted yes it still was that home run tell us much about his capacity to hit home runs going forward what it tells us is not very good yeah as far as that goes so that's why i bring it up i i would still like i'm pretty
Speaker 6i think he's been pretty good like 799 ops i think he's been a solid player but for fantasy specifically it has not been a hugely impactful skill set right it's like you know he's played 39 games so let's say that's a fourth of a season and he's been pretty good i think he's been pretty good you give him that full season pace it's like 12 homers 20 steals which is okay 80 runs 72 rb like that's an okay player yeah um but it it's a little disappointed it's
Speaker 7not super impactful yet but he's also his actual slug is like 80 points above his expected yes because he has not made high quality contact not yet not at all that's the i'm not saying he never will he's a 21 year old rookie but like you know we're talking about right now this for a week that appears favorable i'm just giving you all the reasons why i left him off my sleeper hitter list max clark because i just think he he looks like a fourth or fifth outfielder for
Speaker 5fantasy right now that was my next question scott i'm seeing here that you have the tigers with the
Speaker 7number one hitter matchups this week so i considered it but i just i'm not even sure what
Speaker 5a good week looks like for max clark fair uh kobe mayo we talked about potentially using him this week he is on scott's sleeper hitter list and uh had another home run this weekend the updated second half stats 270 batting average 11 homers 897 ops there for kobe mayo and again he has three lefties on the schedule garrett mitchell had himself a huge weekend three for five with his 10th home run for rbi on friday four for five with a sock in the shoe on saturday uh he's been okay this year 11 homers 14 steals near 800 ops 37 percent rostered six home games this week but two lefties on the schedule so any thoughts any interest on using garrett mitchell in like a five outfielder league
Speaker 7yeah yeah he's been uh surprisingly good still strikes out too much still way too many ground balls but he hits the ball about as hard as anyone it's i think 97th percentile average exit velocity and the max is up there too and that's kind of the been the scouting report with garrett mitchell all along but he's managed to stay healthy he's high he's got a lot of right now like there are actual skills there you you wish he could be better but that doesn't mean
Speaker 6you can't enjoy what garrett mitchell is he he might have had like the highest number of huge games for a guy who's otherwise not that all not all that fantasy relevant like it just every like fourth day i look in the box going it feels like garrett mitchell just had a huge game and then you look at overall and it's like he doesn't play every day and you know strikeout super high and yada yada all the reasons that we're not particularly excited about garrett mitchell but man he he has some really big games
Speaker 5three deeper names brett bateman has been playing well for the blue jays hit his first career home home run on friday he had another home run on saturday he is pretty much the everyday leadoff hitter for the blue jays he is hitting 328 with an 833 ops so far he's only 16 percent rostered leo bernal stayed hot for the cardinals three hits on friday homer on saturday he has started up and i know that we don't have much confidence in adiel amador long term but he is playing well he homered again this weekend and he has seven games in chorus field this week so six percent rostered i'm interested in all three of these guys i mean we're talking 15 team roto leagues are deeper but bateman bernal and amador i'm intrigued by either what they're doing or their
Speaker 6matchups this week all three i think bernal especially looks very interesting he's been productive from the word go and i think he's going to be a good matchup for the blue jays and he started every single game right all 12 all 12 when they don't put him at catcher they put him at first base or dh and he's been he was very productive at triple a he's the underlying numbers all look pretty good he he seems like he might be what the carlos had a lot of catchers i can see
Speaker 5them trading uh herrera this offseason yeah that that was probably i mean bernal brings defensive
Speaker 7value too so i i feel like he might be he might be their drake baldwin uh who i i make that comparison less so because of what they can do though partially because of that then like he was kind of a prospect under everybody's nose like nobody he was a prospect of some stature but he just didn't get hyped up that much not nearly as much as other catchers even in the cardinals organization i think everyone's looking towards ryaniel rodriguez right and that's that's yeah i mean he's a big one obviously but they've had uh jimmy crux got called up this year i feel like you heard him talked about more than bernal i'm i am excited enough that i think he's fifth on my sleeper hitters for this week leonardo bernal even if you don't have an opening a catcher and you want to stick him in your utility spot because he plays every day yeah i could get behind it i'm not saying it's a must but if you need hitting
Speaker 5help i could get behind it i'm doing that in nl laborers
Speaker 6i'm starting him in my utility spot yeah yeah that makes sense all i can think when i hear brett bateman's name is like brett baity's 19 years old and he's like trying to get a fake id and they're like well what name do you want to go with and he's like uh brett bait man
Speaker 7that's i was thinking they probably thought they were calling a batman but they ended up with bateman instead like the commercial for whatever product that is like i don't remember the part they actually want you to remember about an insurance company yeah yep yep yeah well good commercials because of how well jason bateman plays it like he totally
Speaker 6although you forgot the company so yeah well yes effective for commercial bateman is awesome that's all um shouts to date night one of the best movies of the last decade yeah but i kind
Speaker 7of like brett bateman for what it's worth it's a it's like a sam antinachi profile like there's no power here but he gets on base a ton and it was called game night not date night guys sorry yeah day night's a different movie it's fine game night's way steve carell i think uh tfa yeah um no game night's better uh because of bateman and uh also that other guy who was in Breaking Bad and Friday Night Lights. Jazzy Plemons is so good in that. Anyway, Bateman. It's a profile that doesn't bring a ton of upside, but I think when it works, it can still be very useful. The high OBP base dealer type who bats lead off. Keep an eye on it. Unless you're chasing specific categories, I don't know that you need to add him right now, but there might be something here.
Speaker 5Back to the other Bateman for a second. I was, I don't know, five years late. Maybe longer than that. Watched Ozark for the first time this year. Really good.
Speaker 7Yes, I wanted to bring that. See, Jason Bateman can make anything funny, even that rather silly premise of that insurance commercial. But then you see him in these roles recently like Ozark. What was that movie on Netflix everyone was watching last Christmas?
Speaker 5That one I don't know. But I have seen Ozark. That was good. It was good.
Speaker 7He was the bad guy. He was the bad. No, it was like family stone. No, come on, man. Like crazy nights. Was it like baggage claim or something? I don't know what it was. He was good. He was the bad guy and he was good in it. I don't think it was baggage claim. I'll find the name of it before this is over. I just wrote. It was good. Like you do like Jason Bateman as the bad guy. Carry on. Carry on. Carry on. There you go.
Speaker 5Holiday action thriller.
Speaker 6It was about vultures.
Speaker 5From 2024. I think we're off by a year here, Scott. I don't know.
Speaker 7I guess a year and a half. Whatever. Almost two years. The years start coming and they don't stop coming.
Speaker 5Oh, yep. That's what they say.
Speaker 7Like that Smash Mouth song
Speaker 6Walking on the Sun.
Speaker 5Two other waiver wire hitters I just wanted to give a shout out to. I don't see how they're usable but they are incredibly hot right now. Victor Mesa Jr. and Richie Palacios. They are both going off but the Rays have six games this week with five lefties on the schedule. Victor Mesa has started against two of the last three lefties for Tampa but I just don't know that he's going to. He's been good in a small sample size against lefties. I don't know how much he's going to play this week. So I can't recommend those guys. They're red hot. I wanted to give them a shout out. You know, we don't have matchups for the following week yet but if there's a lot of righties I could see using either one of those guys then.
Speaker 6Mesa does, I think, come in a lot as a late game replacement once lefties come in. So you're not going to get nothing all week but yeah, I have a hard time buying in.
Speaker 5All right, let's take our final break. When we return, we got a bunch of pitchers to talk about. We'll do that right after this.
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Speaker 5Welcome back. Fantasy baseball today. Let's run through the waiver wire pitchers. I'll bring up a name, their line, and what their matchup is. And you guys could just tell me whether or not you would be down to use them this week. But Tyler Malley had another great start against the Phillies. Seven innings of one run ball, three strikeouts, strikeouts haven't necessarily been there, but the results have. He is 73% rostered. He's at the Astros this week. What do you guys think about Tyler Malley?
Speaker 6Yeah, I think you probably want to.
Speaker 7I think so, too. I'm struggling with would I do it over Jacob Lopez? I guess so. I guess so.
Speaker 5I think you have to just the way they're trending, right?
Speaker 7Yep.
Speaker 5I think I would prefer Sheehan just because of the skills and the strikeouts. Although, it's a higher it's a higher ceiling for Sheehan.
Speaker 6It's a lower floor. And Malley has had a couple of like nine strikeout outings during this run, I believe, which kind of makes the 7K per nine or 7.8K per nine look a little worse even. But yeah,
Speaker 7they were early on. He's not gotten them recently. And I don't know how long we can trust him, but he's, you know, the biggest issue there is, well, I don't know. I guess the Astros aren't any tougher than the Phillies in his last two games. Two starts against the Phillies. We're good.
Speaker 5Yeah. Michael McGreevy had a quality start against the White Sox. Six innings, one run, six strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 90 pitches. He's turned in back-to-back quality starts after a pretty rough stretch. 59% rostered. He is home against the Nationals this week. Any thoughts on streaming Michael McGreevy? Nah. Nah?
Speaker 6Yeah. The Nationals lineup has not been nearly as dangerous in the second half. See, I can't
Speaker 7keep wanting to think that, but it hasn't fallen off as hard as I would imagine for the players they lost. Well, let's see. They're like 4.7 runs per game in the second half versus like five in the first half or something like that. Yeah,
Speaker 67th in Team Woba.
Speaker 5Last 30 days, they're 28th in Woba.
Speaker 6I guess.
Speaker 5The Nationals.
Speaker 6Okay. Maybe I picked
Speaker 7the wrong spell.
Speaker 5But there was a lot of that stretch without James Wood and now he's back.
Speaker 6Well, yeah. Now it's James Wood is back, but he hasn't really done much. Yeah, I don't know. That's interesting.
Speaker 5Yeah. I think it could be a desperation play from McGreevy. I'm not saying I'm overly excited to do it, but I could see it being a kind of high floor quality start kind of boring outing there. Dustin May needed a big start and he got it here against the Reds. Six shutout innings with six strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 84 pitches. He did change up the pitch mix here in this one. More sinkers and curveballs that seemed to work. And he is 59% rostered. He's at the Pirates this week. They're really good against right-handed pitching.
Speaker 6I don't think I would.
Speaker 5Yeah, I agree with that. Cal Quantrill, another quality start. This one at the D-backs. Six innings, two runs, four strikeouts, zero walks. Turns out he was pitching through some back tightness in this one. That's why he left after just 70 pitches. But he has a quality start in six straight. It kind of feels like a can't keep getting away with this situation, but he's doing it. 58% rostered. Good matchup against the Blue Jays this week. But it's risky because I could see a regression hitting him all at once and he's kind of banged up right now. So what do we do with Quantrill?
Speaker 7Yeah, it was another one I debated taking out of the sleeper pitchers because now he's got the injury tag next to him. But he pitched this whole start with the injury. It was still good and they say he's not expected to miss time. So good matchup. Like when you got a guy on a run like this, where, I mean, you didn't even, you didn't even, like it's, the longer stretch makes the numbers even more impressive for Cal Quantrill. It's like a 170 ERA over his last, I didn't put it in my notes, I put it in the article. But yeah, like a 170 ERA over his last 10 starts with an ER, with a whip below one.
Speaker 5Yeah. He has an ERA over three overall, but his FIP and XFIP are both over four. So it's a pretty, pretty big disparity. I'm going to take
Speaker 6the back injury as an excuse
Speaker 7to not use him. That's fine. Like it is, I can't keep getting away with its situation, but how do you, when you're, when you're picking out bad pitchers on the waiver wire to possibly start, how do you go against the guy with a 170 ERA over his last 10 starts who has a good matchup on top of it? I, that's hard to do.
Speaker 5Yeah. No, I get it. Yeah. Zach Thornton had a great start here at the Yankees. Seven innings of two run ball, four strikeouts, two, one walk. His velocity was up in this start. Potentially, I don't know, pretty jacked up for the subway series and his three main pitches all performed well, but he also gave up a lot of hard contact in this one as well. 12 hard hits allowed. He's managed a 344 ERA 116 whip. It doesn't really look sustainable under the hood. 54% rostered home against the Phillies this week. Any interest in using Zach Thornton?
Speaker 7He's been better than he deserves, but that's not exactly a praise.
Speaker 6I'd say it's a criticism.
Speaker 5Yeah. So sounds like that's a no on using Zach Thornton this week. What about his teammate Christian Scott? He took a tough loss at the Yankees on Sunday. Six innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 82 pitches. And he's another one the velocity was up a little bit in this one. Both his four seam and sweeper look pretty good. He's one where the underlying stuff has looked pretty good for most of the year, but he doesn't go deep into his starts. He was kind of coming off a rough stretch. He also has the Phillies this week. Any interest in using Christian Scott?
Speaker 6I like him more than Thornton, but I don't love him either way.
Speaker 5Joey Cantillo. He looked awesome in bulk relief at the Twins. Four shutout innings, one hit, one walk, eight strikeouts. I mean, he is firmly in the Charizard conversation. You never know what you're going to get from this guy, Joey Cantillo. In fact, I don't even know if he's starting or relieving this week. He is still a SPARP and he's 68% rostered. It's a good matchup. He gets the athletics. in Cleveland, so you get them away from Sacramento, but I just don't know what to expect on the mound, and when is he going to pick? Is he a reliever or a starter? I don't know.
Speaker 7I mean, even when he's good, there's a ton of walks, so you do know you're getting a high whip and probably not very many innings, and then no chance for a quality start in leagues where that matters if he is continuing to follow an opener, which he may not. I'll pass.
Speaker 5All right, some names in deeper leagues here. Just one, Andrew Alvarez had a great start against the Angels, seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts, 15 whiffs on 97 pitches. He has an awesome curveball. I don't really know if he has anything else, but he has been good over his last eight starts, 244 ERA, .97 whip. He is at the Cardinals this week. Any deep league streamer interest in Andrew Alvarez?
Speaker 6It'd have to be a pretty deep one.
Speaker 7Didn't he come out of that start with an injury I thought I remembered reading something, but then he doesn't have the injury tag next to him. So maybe, maybe I imagined it. Andrew Alvarez, I can say at least has a 50% ground ball rate. So that is a profile that can work, but I don't think there's a ton of upside there. And yeah, I'm not especially motivated to do it. I didn't, I'm not seeing anything about a, an injury. I'm maybe. I'm thinking of somebody else.
Speaker 5Yeah. Yeah. I haven't seen anything either. Yeah. In a deeper league context, I could see using Alvarez like anything shallower than 15 teams. Probably not, but he's pitching well right now and the Cardinals matchup is like middling. I do have a couple of names for the drop-o-meter here. Brandon Fott. I was going to do starter sit for him, but I realized he's all the way down to 72% rostered. So people have started dropping him. He has a 574 ERA and a 128 whip over his last five and he gets, he gets the Yankees this week. We know that Aaron judge is back in the lineup, although he hasn't really done much yet. Chris, where's Brendan Fott on the drop-o-meter? I know it's gotta be, it's gotta be nine for you. I know. Yeah.
Speaker 6He's not good. He's never been very good. He had a, like a month and a half where his ERA was low, but he wasn't good. And I know we always want to come up with a whole, I watched the starts. He's pitching. Well, I don't know. Probably not. Uh, but it's just like people, just people being mean. And it's like, no, Brandon Fott's not good. Sometimes bad pitchers have stretches where their ERA is low. It doesn't mean they're good. It's fine. I hope you jump ship. It sounded like everyone's non-do impression before you get the, I've never done a non-do impression. I wouldn't.
Speaker 5I was also like the nicest guy that's ever.
Speaker 6Yeah, I know. I definitely, I just want to be clear that that was not a non-do person. He loves everybody,
Speaker 5but yeah,
Speaker 6but, but no, I, that was just unrelated person who maybe sounds like him. Yeah.
Speaker 5That is, that is curmudgeon-y, uh, you know,
Speaker 6people who are like, Oh, you guys don't know anything. No, you know,
Speaker 5I did bring up for a large start of that stretch. Like the D backs have one of the best defenses in all the leagues. So I, I think that's part of why some of their guys have overperformed this season.
Speaker 6You can, you can overperform for a while and it doesn't mean you're great. It just means you overperform. For a while. Yep. They're major league, like major league players aren't always like even bad major league baseball players are not always terrible. You know?
Speaker 5Yeah. Robbie Ray, five earned runs and four walks in each of his last two starts. He's still 88% rostered. He's at the Rockies this week. And then it looks like he lines up for two in the following week, one against the Dodgers and one against the D backs. So get them out of here and get them out, get them out. That's Robbie. And, uh, chase burns. Look, we, we've told people, we've told people it's he's limited to three innings per start. Each of his last two starts, only three innings. He's still 96% rostered. Unless 96% of the leagues on CBS are keeper or dynasty leagues. He should not be 96% rostered. So any type of redraft format, you can drop chase burns. Unfortunately, starter sit, these starting pitchers, Garrett Cole, all of a sudden struggling with the ding dong. He has given up seven home runs over his last two starts. Got a beat up pretty bad here by the Mets. And I, I forgot. I had to remember this for next year. Since joining the Yankees, Garrett Cole has just been really bad against the Red Sox and the Mets. I don't know why. I don't know that there's any rhyme or reason to it. It could just be like a weird kind of mental. Oh, I'm facing the rival kind of thing, but he's been bad whenever he faces the Red Sox and the Mets. So remember that for next year. Uh, but are we starting Garrett Cole at the D backs this week?
Speaker 6I'm sure Frank, you saw the thing, Scott, did you see the thing? Where like the game didn't officially start until one 38. And so he like stood on them. I like that. I think the ump said like we can start the game and he just stood there watching the clock until it hit one 38 and then like immediately gave up a home run. Did I, did I get the sequence of events there?
Speaker 5Yeah. Apparently, I don't know. I saw other people saying that like the umpire told him to wait until one 38. I don't, I don't know how true that is, but it could just maybe Garrett Cole and Yankee truthers. But yeah, he has started each of the last two games off. By giving up a lead off home run the one before that, he gave up three home runs to start the game. So look, home runs are like,
Speaker 7he hasn't always been even markets like that's coupled with, he just stopped missing bats again. Yeah. So last four starts 6.7 K per nine and 9% swinging strike rate, which is not good. And this is what we saw from him earlier when he first came back from the IL and uh, it wasn't pretty then either. I think, I think I would bench him for now. I don't, I want to go as far as to drop them. I don't think if he bounces back against the diamond backs, I might be right back in for the final week. But, um, yeah, I, I, I don't have a lot of faith in Cole right now.
Speaker 5I would start. I guess I have to break the tie. It's tough because the D backs are not good against right-handed pitching. He's probably better on the road. I think I would still use Garrett Cole, but yeah, he has struggled mightily in September. Paul Skeens pitched well at the Cubs seven innings, two runs, still only four strikeouts. He gave up two homers in this one, but it was 12 whiffs on 82 pitches. Velocity mostly in line with his season averages in this one. It's two earned runs or fewer in three of his last four starts. So he's looked better. The strikeouts aren't really there. Uh, 82% started. He's home against the Royals this week. Starter sit Paul Skeens.
Speaker 6I would start Garrett Cole over Paul Skeens.
Speaker 5Oh, I, I think I would use Skeens over Cole, but, but yeah,
Speaker 7yeah, I'm good. The tiebreaker this time. And I'll say Skeens over Cole, not with a ton of confidence. Like he's not missing bats either, but like he doesn't, he like, it seems less crucial for him to miss bats than it does. Cole.
Speaker 5Continuing on. Sure. Uh, next up for Amber Valdez, solid outing this weekend against the Rockies in Detroit, six innings, one unearned run, two walks, two strikeouts. He has turned in four strikeouts, straight quality starts, but he also has 10 strikeouts over 25 innings during that stretch. He is at the White Sox this week. Starter sit for Amber Valdez.
Speaker 6I would start both Skeens and Cole over Tarek Skubal, or sorry, for Amber Valdez. I would start Tarek Skubal over all of them.
Speaker 7Yeah, I think Valdez is, it'd have to be, I'd have to be pretty desperate to start him against most anybody, but White Sox, it's not a big help. As far as that goes.
Speaker 5Continuing on, Carlos Rodon had a great start against the Mets and six and a third, two runs, one earned eight strikeouts to one walk. Uh, he got big whiffs in this one. He also gave up some very loud contact. I thought this was interesting per Opta stats over Rodon's last 24 starts, zero games, allowing four or more runs, zero games, allowing two or more home runs, zero games, pitching three or fewer innings. He joins Jacob DeGrom as the only pitcher, pitchers and MLB's modern era to have no such games over a 24 start span.
Speaker 7That's a really weird stat. It's very, very cherry pick stack because he's had a lot of four innings starts during that time. You make it sound like he's some sort of workhorse.
Speaker 5Yeah, I, I didn't make the stat, but I thought it was interesting. He's at the Twins this week.
Speaker 7I'm hopefully turn the corner in this one after his latest IL stint, the slow built up where he didn't look bad. His outings were just short.
Speaker 5I think I'd start him.
Speaker 7Carlos Rodon.
Speaker 5Yeah. I think so too. Brian, who pitched well on the road at the athletic six innings, one unearned run with five strikeouts. He had 12 whiffs on 80 pitches and three September starts 20 innings, one run, 21 strikeouts to five walks. He's at the Rockies this week.
Speaker 6If it, if it was anywhere else, I wouldn't even be thinking about start sitting him. His last three starts on the road have also all been. Yeah,
Speaker 5I, I FW. I,
Speaker 6I just think he's good. Like I know it's been a rough season, but I just think he's good. And so generally speaking, I would probably lean towards starting him at the Rockies. If you have a machine, I think it's okay to sit Brian. Well, but if it's like Lopez, I mean, you might just get the same thing out of him anyway. Right. So I might as well just go with Wu, who I think is a better pitcher. Yeah. It's tough.
Speaker 5Yeah. I would use Wu over both painter. and Lopez.
Speaker 7- Yeah, I would too. Which means I'd use him basically over all of my sleeper pitchers except Emet Sheehan.
Speaker 5Yeah, I agree. Ian Seymour was great against the Astros. Six innings of two-run ball, 10 strikeouts to one walk. He had 19 whiffs on 79 pitches here. And he has 10 strikeouts in two of his last three starts. 81% roster. I guess he could be floating out there in some shallower leagues. 50% started is Ian Seymour. He is home against the Red Sox this week. They are pretty good against lefties. Starter sit Ian Seymour.
Speaker 6That's a tough matchup. But he does pitch better at home. And I think there's something to a guy with low fastball velocity who might need the shape-enhancing effects of Tropicana Field to help him. So that might be why he's better at home. I don't know. I think Ian Seymour's just good, though. Like, I think the home runs have been a big issue. But other than that, he's been awesome. His peripherals are really good. I think I'd start him ahead of Brian Wu. Even with the Red Sox.
Speaker 7Yeah. And to be clear, the only reason we're hesitating on Wu is because it's at Colorado. That is the only reason.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 7I agree. Seymour is a definite start for me, I think.
Speaker 5All right. Next up, we have Tyler Glassnow, who had a... A wild start here at the Marlins. Four innings, four runs, four walks. Did have seven strikeouts. Had 15 whiffs on 91 pitches. Last two starts, it's eight earned runs over 10 innings. He has seven walks in those two. 64% started. He's at the Reds this week. So the Reds are... Their offense is bad against righties, but it's in Cincinnati. So what do you guys think about Glassnow? They're bad.
Speaker 7Yeah, no, I think Glassnow's an easy start. I'd worry about the last two starts if there was something, else to worry about than the walks. I think he just walked a bunch of guys, which, you know, maybe he will next time too. But I'd be more worried, particularly with the time he was to injury, if there was something in the stuff itself that really raised alarm for me. First two starts were great. Second two starts, struggled with walks. I'd start him against an easy matchup like the Reds.
Speaker 5All right. Ranger Suarez has looked like himself over his last two starts. This one against the Royals. Seven innings of one run ball, eight strikeouts to zero walks, 14 wins, lifts on 96 pitches. And his last two, 17 innings, one run, 11 strikeouts to one walk. He is 60% started at the Rays this week. They are pretty bad against lefties. I think that's a, I think that's a thumbs up for Ranger Suarez. Yep. He seems back. Taj Bradley, one of the Charizards. Great outing here against the Guardians. Six shutout innings with six strikeouts. And he is 63% started at the Angels this week. They're pretty bad.
Speaker 7That's, and they're strikeout prone for a pitcher who's best trade is strikeouts. Yeah. Taj Bradley has 190 strikeouts this year. He's, he's going to break 200. Yeah. Yeah. He might do it in his next start.
Speaker 6It's been a, it's been a nice little breakout for him.
Speaker 7Yeah. Yeah. A little breakout, you know. He's, there are Charizard qualities here, but the numbers have arrived at a good place. Not a great place. But, you know, high threes ERA whip over one, two. With all the strikeouts, you can live with that. Good win loss record for whatever that's worth.
Speaker 4Mm-hmm.
Speaker 7Yeah.
Speaker 5We did get another rough outing from Logan Webb. This one home against the Padres. Five innings, six runs, seven strikeouts to one walk. And over his last five starts, 955 ERA, 185 whip. 23 earned runs over 21 and two thirds innings. So more earned runs than innings pitched. And he's at the Dodgers this week. So I think that's like a, even without, I think that's a pretty clear stay away for Logan Webb. I wonder if after the season, we find out about a, he was pitching through injury type thing.
Speaker 7Well, they said after the game, they might shut him down after this start. So that makes the decision for you. Yeah. Yeah. Tony Vitello said they're thinking about shutting him down. So don't start Logan Webb because he might not start.
Speaker 6Yeah. It's been hard to figure out why things have gone so wrong for him this season, because part of it, my thought was like, well, the defense has been pretty bad for a lot, long stretch of the season without Willie Adamas and Matt Chapman, especially his worst stretch, but his BABIP is like 60 points lower than it was last season. So that explanation doesn't really seem to make sense. I don't know. It's, it's a, it's a, it's a tough one that I, I think we might need the off season to get a good explanation for one way or the other. He has had a lower strikeout rate than usual.
Speaker 7Yes. Which he also did two years ago. And his ERA estimators are very similar. And two years ago, uh, he was, was he better two years? Yeah, it was better two years ago, but he overperformed. Well, this year he's not overperforming by so much.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7But it, it seems like he's getting what he deserves.
Speaker 5Yeah. No. Freddie Peralta was pulled with a no hitter after five innings and he walked three. He had four strikeouts in this one and the velocity was up on all of his secondaries, but his fastball was his best pitch. I have no idea what's going on with Freddie Peralta. The results have been pretty good lately with Tampa Bay. He is 65% started. He's home against the Red Sox this week. What do you guys think about Freddie Peralta?
Speaker 6I think he's an okay start, but not a must start.
Speaker 5Joe Ryan rough outing here against the guardians four innings, four runs loud, two homers allowed and two starts since coming off the IL it's eight innings, six runs, eight strikeouts to three walks, two walks, three homers loud. He is 42% started at the angels this week. So it's a great matchup. They strike out, they strike out a lot, but Joe Ryan hasn't exactly looked great since coming off the IL. What do we do with him?
Speaker 7Yeah, I, I felt good after that first start, but you know, another short one. It's not like the velocity is down, but he was struggling before going on the IL. I think we hoped the IL time would get him right. Uh, but it's, it's, let me see if I have the exact numbers here in his last five, uh, no, no. How many starts is it? I wrote down the numbers, but not the starts. Yeah. It's, it's been bad. He's got like an eight 49 era over his last five or six starts. Something like that.
Speaker 6The one thing I do want to point out, this was a short start, only four innings. He did still throw 84 pitches. Um, so if he pitches well against the angels, I don't think it's going to necessarily be a short outing. It's just how confident can you be even against the angels who are very bad? Um, boy, I, I still think there's a big upside. Here. Oh, there is, but like, it's just that I would start him ahead of, uh, framework of all days. I would say that.
Speaker 7Sure. Who's a 49 era.
Speaker 6His last five starts.
Speaker 7Yeah. A 49 era, one 67 whip, and even just 6.9 caper nine and Joe Ryan's last five starts.
Speaker 5All right. And then the last name I have for starter sit is Noah Cameron, who had another strong outing at the red Sox six innings, one run, four strikeouts last 10 games, nine of those being starts. One 64 era 0.78 whip for Noah Cameron. He is 78% started. He's at the pirates this week and they're really good against lefties. They're pretty bad against, uh, really good against righties, really bad against lefties. So I, I would, I would use Noah Cameron.
Speaker 7Yeah. I, now that you got, now we thought we got the handedness straightened out. I, I agree. One curious thing to keep an eye on is he threw his most four seamers since he began calling his own, pitches in this start over the weekend and the previous start, he had also thrown the most four seamers since he started calling his pitches. So I don't like that trend because that's largely what we were crediting with Noah Cameron's turnaround. I don't like seeing the four seamers tick up, but so far it hasn't affected the results.
Speaker 5All right, let's get it to some leftovers from the weekend. And, uh, on the hitting side, I have a bunch. I will mention them in groups of four, but Riley green is on. Fire since returning from the IL Cody Bellinger, the same has looked really good since coming back from the IL Cosimo Okamoto is finishing strong. He has eight home runs over his last 28 games and Mookie bets also finishing strong seven homers, nine 55 OPS over his last 30 games. Uh, Chris, anything, anything to add or point out on those four bets, Okamoto, Bellinger, Riley green.
Speaker 6That's just tough because he's shown so little over the past couple of years. Um, and you know, it's nice, it's nice to see him having a good finish to the season. He still doesn't run at all anymore. Two stolen bases on the season. I don't know. It, it feels like just a hot streak at this point. And his overall numbers, you kind of just take at, at face value. And even then, given his age, you know, him sustaining just his surface level numbers is not a given next year. It, I, I would, I would probably just expect him to, to hold steady, but I don't, I don't think this is a situation. You know, we're now two full years removed from Mookie Betts really being a difference maker. I kind of think he's just a guy now hitting leftovers. Part two, Bryce terrain is having a big September after a pretty terrible August.
Speaker 5So that's nice to see. William Contreras is finishing strong. He is homered in three straight and has six home runs over his last 23 games. Ronald Acuna, head coach, has a six home runs over his last 23 games. He has six home runs over his last two games. He has six home runs over his last 23 games. He has six home runs over his last two games. He has six home runs over his last 23 games. Ronald Acuna, head coach, has a six home runs over his last 23 games. He has six home runs over his last 23 games. Ronald Acuna, head coach, has a six home runs over his last 23 games. Ronald Acuna, Received 16 games since then, 403 batting average, four homers, two steals. The OPS is around 1,200. And Michael Harris, big weekend for him. Sock and a shoe on Saturday, three more hits on Sunday. And he's had a big bounce-back season, 25 homers, 11 steals, 291 batting average. Scott, anything to add here on Michael Harris, Acuna, William Contreras, and Bryce Horang?
Speaker 7I mean, Acuna seems fine now. Mm-hmm. So I think it was just a mechanical thing going on with him. And now, as always, it's a question of if he can stay healthy. Bryce Terang really needed to pick things up because his batting average dipped into the 250 range at one point when he's supposed to excel at that. I guess he's up to 19 home runs now. 19 home runs. 18 steals. So, like, he's – I think those are the updated numbers. He's got a chance at a 2020 season still. But, like, that seemed like a given early on.
Speaker 6He's faded a lot. And he hasn't been running late. Like, since that knee injury, I think he hasn't really run at all. Yeah.
Speaker 7Yeah. So it's – let's see.
Speaker 6I think in his case –
Speaker 7Really, the last three home runs since the start of August, just five in the entire second half, only three steals in the second half.
Speaker 6Yeah. The knee – because I think the knee was in, like, mid or early August. And he kept playing – he missed, like, one game and kept playing through it. And there were some quotes at the beginning of September right around the start of this run that it was really bothering him and that, you know, I think he got a couple days off at one point. Hopefully, it just means he's feeling better and the slump was the result of the knee. I'm hopeful that that's the explanation.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 6I hope so, too.
Speaker 4It's –
Speaker 7Like, obviously, Fernando Tatis is going to – is going to be the number one second baseman for next year. And, you know, Cattell Marte's had his own problems. So I think he'll be behind Terang also. But there's some competition there at the top of the position. I don't know that Terang's automatically going to slot number two. I guess the biggest competition – Well, you know what? I had Sal Stewart ahead of him. Sal Stewart's not going to be second base eligible. No, Terang will probably slot. He's going to be slot number two. I just – You know, how high? Will he go as high next year as he did this year? I think that's fair to wonder.
Speaker 5He was like a third, fourth rounder this year, right? I think it'll be similar for next season. I think so, too. Yeah. Hitting leftovers, part three. Francisco Lindor crushed the Yankees on Saturday. Three for five with a double dong, five RBI. And lots of power in the second half. Fifteen home runs in 52 second-half games for Lindor. Randy Orozarena had a big weekend. Three for five. Double dong on – On Sunday. He homered on Saturday, and he also added a stolen base on Friday. And he is a free agent after the season. There might be more upside if he gets out of Seattle. He has pretty big road numbers this season, so that's something to watch for the offseason. Vlad Jr. hit his first home run at home this season on September 13th, which is pretty crazy stuff. He only has nine home runs total on the year. And then both Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis had huge weekends. They are two of the – The hottest hitters in the second half. Chris, anything on Lindor, Orozarena, Vlad, Merrill, and Tatis?
Speaker 6Yeah, I mean, Orozarena leaving Seattle probably wouldn't be a bad thing. I don't know if Seattle can afford to do that, though. Well, I don't know if they can fiscally afford to re-sign him. I don't know if they baseballically can afford to let him go. So it's a tough spot for them. They're in a weird spot in their organizational development cycle with everything that's gone wrong this season. Boy, I hope Vlad runs through the finish line. Like, we need to see something positive from him, and we're starting to see it, but it's still been just an absolute disaster season. 56 RBI for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Like, that's supposed to be the thing. Even when he wasn't great, he was still at least driving in runs because he hits for so much contact, and there's just been nothing this year. It's been really weird. It's another one. It's another one where you almost hope we find out about an injury. But, yeah, he's got to do some mechanical adjustments this offseason.
Speaker 7Well, didn't we – there was an injury we heard about early in the year that he was playing through, right?
Speaker 5There's been multiple things with Vlad. I think it was maybe a knee and a back.
Speaker 7There was a lot of talk around the all-star break. I think it was the knee. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, that he had been playing with through a knee injury. So I think there's – I think there is a good chance an injury has affected him. Not one so severe that it sidelined him. Or he's just willing to play through it, yeah. Yeah. But he's going to be really tricky for next year, as are a lot of the early round mainstays who have fallen short of expectations this year.
Speaker 5All right. Some pitching leftovers. I only have four names here. Drew Rasmussen, another strong start. Seven innings, one run, four strikeouts. He has turned in four straight quality starts. He has gone seven in. Back-to-back outings. He's just given a lot more length and volume this year. It's great to see from Rasmussen. Chris Sale, a quality start over seven innings. But his velocity was down, and it dropped off pretty hard as the start went on. So just something to watch there with Chris Sale. Cam Schlittler continues to dominate. Six shutout innings with eight strikeouts, this time against the Mets. On his final out, he did take a hard-hit ball off of his hamstring. And he was able to walk off. But just another – Thing to watch there for Cam Schlittler. And then we mentioned Peyton Tolley at the top with the immaculate inning. But any thoughts here on Schlittler, Chris Sale, notably his velocity, and Drew Rasmussen?
Speaker 6I mean, Rasmussen, it's always so interesting because he's gone at least 92 pitches in five straight starts, which I can't imagine that's ever happened or even come close for his career. And also, he hasn't thrown more than 97 in four of the five. So there are still – Like, the pitch counts are still – Relatively low compared to some other aces. But he's so efficient that if he's going to be given 95 pitches, he's probably going to go six innings. So he's really good. I think he's got to be a top 24 starting pitcher for next season, right? With how good he's been the last two seasons and especially with the expanded role this year. And then I just – I did think it was so funny that, like, the first time Aaron Judge has ever said something mildly controversial, in an interview, in his entire life, was when he was asked if Cam Schlettler should be the MVP this season. And he was like, I don't think pitchers should be MVP. He did not say those words. He said pitchers have their own award. He said he's pitching like an MVP, but pitchers have their own award, was basically what he said. And I just think it's so funny because, like, hey, your teammate's playing really well. Should he win an award is, like, the biggest softball slam dunk question you could ever ask. And Aaron Judge exclusively speaks and, like – Boring platitudes. And this is the one time that he's like, no. No, I will not give you the boring platitude quote you're looking for. Cam Schlettler should not be the MVP. I just thought that was funny.
Speaker 5Yeah. It was kind of a weird quote. I just wonder if maybe he – No, I get what he's saying. Like, I get, like – I don't think he meant for it to be controversial, but I see everyone talking about it, so.
Speaker 6I just thought it was so – Because, like, he's never said any – Like, there's nothing controversial about Aaron Judge at all. He's the captain. He can't say anything interesting. And that's the one time he picked, hey, should your teammate win an award? Nope. No, he should not. Well, he did say he should win a award. He didn't say he should win two awards. Yeah, no.
Speaker 7He said, should he win that award? And he said no. Well, by saying that, he's saying someone who's not a Yankee should win the award. I mean – Because it's obviously not a Yankee's in contention for the award. Maybe someone – Otherwise.
Speaker 6Ben Rice should be the MVP.
Speaker 7Yeah, I guess you could make the case for him, sure. But he's not going to.
Speaker 5He might finish third. Pretty bad case. He's voting. But, yeah. I mean, I think there's a pretty clear top two. Call to the bullpen for the Orioles on Friday. Andrew Kittredge pitching the eighth inning with a five-run lead. Alex Hoppe started the ninth. He gave up two runs. And so Rico Garcia came on to get the final out for his eighth save. Garcia – Rico Garcia has the last two saves for the Orioles. But Andrew Kittredge is usually in that mix as well. I still kind of feel like the Orioles bullpen is pretty murky, right? Unless you think Rico Garcia is – No, it's very murky. Yeah. And I still think, you know, Helsley and Bautista could be back at some point in the final two weeks. For the Royals on Friday, Steven Cruz got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He picked up his seventh save. Nate Pearson pitched the eighth inning in that one. I mostly think it's Steven Cruz for the Royals. For the Twins on Friday, Yoendris Gomez got the ninth inning with the game tied. He was charged with three earned runs on two hits and two walks. He picked up his third loss. And then on Saturday, Gomez was unavailable. Lefty A.J. Minter picked up his first save of the season. For the Rockies on Saturday, Jordan Romano entered with no outs in the eighth inning, a one-run lead, bases loaded. He walked in two, then a sack fly, then gave up a two-run triple. It was just a disaster outcome here for Jordan Romano. For the Cubs on Saturday, they were down one run. Jacob Webb entered with two outs in the sixth. And then he also stayed out there for the seventh. And then later in the game, Ryan Rolison got four. five outs across the eighth and the ninth. 9th, and Ryan Zephyrjohn got the final out for his 6th save. Cubs bullpen feels pretty messy right now, too. It kind of feels like they're leaning towards like a Rolison-Zephyrjohn combo, but I don't know that I would chase either one for this.
Speaker 7I don't think you really want combos this late in the year. I love some combos, man.
Speaker 6Stick to potato chips. That's my go-to road trip snack. The pepperoni pizza flavor is so good. Have you seen the stat that the Cubs might finish first in wins above replacement for hitters and last for pitchers this season?
Speaker 5I did not see that.
Speaker 6Yeah. That's wild. And the bullpen especially has been pretty bad all year, yeah.
Speaker 5For the Angels on Saturday, Ben Joyce got the 9th inning with a one-run lead. He gave up one run exactly on a walk and a hit, and he took his second-blown save. The Angels would lose in extras. For the Marlins on Saturday, Pete Fairbanks picked up his 19th save, so we are back to having a closer for the Marlins. Love that. And then for the White Sox on Saturday, Grant Taylor started the 7th inning with the game tied. He recorded five outs, and then eventually lefty Brian Hudson got the 9th, and he picked up his 8th save. And he's 8% rostered, but he's been picking up saves lately. Any deep league interest in Brian Hudson for saves?
Speaker 7He hasn't been picking up saves. Exclusively, though, has he?
Speaker 5No, I still think Grant Taylor is in that mix. But it's just if they need Grant Taylor earlier in the game, they just won't hesitate to use him.
Speaker 7So, let's see. Hudson has gotten, looks like, the last three for the White Sox, and then Taylor got the two before that. Yeah, it still seems pretty murky.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7Again, you don't want combos this late.
Speaker 5Yeah. But, I guess in desperate situations, Brian Hudson has been picking up saves lately. To stream or not to stream on Monday, we have Will Warren at the Twins. Dean Kramer is home against the Yankees. Brandon Young is at the Mets. Jonah Tong home against the Orioles. Ronaldo Lopez is at the Cubs. David Peterson home against the Braves. Landon Aroop is at the Cardinals. Quinn Matthews home against the Giants. And Corbin Burns is home against the Marlins. But, I think he'll be pretty limited once again.
Speaker 6Yeah, I think Quinn Matthews is okay. Mm-hmm. That's the top choice. Maybe Warren, maybe Roop, but I don't have a lot of confidence in either of those guys.
Speaker 5I think those are the three.
Speaker 6Me too. Like, Burns, you're hoping he gets through like five innings on 75 pitches, which is not impossible, but his velocity was way down across the board last time around. I wouldn't go there.
Speaker 5And then on Tuesday, we have Griffin Jacks home against the Athletics. Davis Martin is at the Guardians. Drew Anderson is at the Blue Jays. Shane Boz at the Mets. Sean Mania home against the Orioles. Martin Perez at the Cubs. Andre Palante home against the Giants. Patrick Sandoval is at the Rangers. Ryan Johnson is home against the Mariners. And then Michael Soroka home against the Marlins.
Speaker 7I think Palante is my top choice. I think Brian Johnson's my second choice.
Speaker 5I think Jacks against the Athletics could work.
Speaker 7It could. Yeah. He obviously got a good result against the Braves last time, but Velazquez, his velocity was still down and whiffs were still way down. And so I'm uneasy about it, but that's what it's like to stream pitchers in September.
Speaker 6Is Soroka stretched out at all? I don't think so.
Speaker 5I think he threw four innings in relief last time out.
Speaker 6That was before another IL stat, right? Yeah. No, his most recent was 58 pitches. Yeah, he's not going to leave. Yeah, you might be able to get like 75, five pitches out. It's just similar to Corbin Burns who threw 57 in his last outing. They could be good against the Marlins. Like that's a, that's a definitely winnable matchup, but given the likely limitations, I don't think you can do it.
Speaker 5I would put Palante and Jacks at the top of the list. And then the fortune favors the brave slash bold would be like Sean Mania and Ryan Johnson. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow, and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.
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