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Speaker 3Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. And first pitch, rushing! Deep left field! This is way back! Walk the walk! Got a fantasy question? Email fantasybaseball at cbsi.com. Get ready to win your league.
Speaker 4Where fantasy becomes reality.
Speaker 3Now, here's Frank, Scott, and Chris.
Speaker 5Hey there! Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball Today on Wednesday, September 9th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, welcome back to Aaron Judge and Corbin Burns. Who's hot and who's not? Let's fire up the drop-o-meter. We had some pitchers who had some very stinky games. We'll get to that in just a bit. Let's jump in. Oh my goodness! Unbelievable! And perhaps the stinkiest of the stinkers came from Sean Burke. Scott, you're player of the night for all the wrong reasons.
Speaker 6Oh my goodness gracious. That is what everybody who started Sean Burke is saying today. There was a few bad pitching performances from pitchers that were likely started. But yes, this was the worst. Sean Burke allowed seven earned runs in an inning and a third on eight hits. It was really bad. And the worst part is he seemed like... We got the sense he was worrisome. We've seen that from him for a while now. A few missteps here lately. But his previous start... Maybe a start he allowed one hit. He did walk four, but one hit in five and two-thirds innings. And he was facing... Well, he was facing Pittsburgh. I guess that's not such a good matchup. But just, you know, given how good Sean Burke has been for you this year and the fact he seemed like maybe he was riding the ship last time, you probably felt pretty comfortable starting him. Now, though, with this awful start, his past five have yielded a .752 ERA, and a 1.97 whip. Really bad stuff. The main thing is control. He had the eight-walk start. He had, you know, even that one-hit effort last time out was still the four walks. And control had been an issue for him in previous years. Seemed like he had overcome that this year. But, you know, it's been going on long enough at this critical point. And the season, if you survive this week from Sean Burke, I would not risk it again next week. And, you know, then the next place you go with this is, well, what about next year for what looked like one of the biggest breakout pitchers for this year? I guess I'll note that he has now reached his... Not with this start, but a couple starts ago, he reached his new career high with innings. So it may be related to that, but obviously there isn't a lot of traction. And for his most dominant stretch of the season, Sean Burke had new velocity that he hasn't been able to sustain all season. So I think a healthy dose of skepticism is warranted. Doesn't mean, like, he should go undrafted or anything, but I don't know that I'll have him inside my top 40 even. Tough to say before I line up the names, but I doubt it.
Speaker 7I was thinking it'd be hard to get him in the top 50 just because we really have, like, what was it, like, 10 starts starting with that? I think it was 11 starts starting with that Yankees game. Not a start, but it was a start. And other than that, we don't have a lot of evidence that Sean Burke's a particularly good pitcher at the major league level. That 11-start stretch, like Scott said, coincided with about a four-game jump in velocity. And then there was about a month where the velocity was back to normal, but he kept pitching really well. And all I could... I keep thinking, and I... I said this multiple times, maybe on the podcast, certainly on social media. Someone talk me into why Sean Burke is going to keep this up and not just be the next Davis Martin. And it kind of feels like it was just the next Davis Martin, where, look, almost any pitcher in Major League Baseball, especially someone who is established as a... legitimate major leaguer, is capable of looking really, really good for a month or two. That's just... Like, these guys are all super talented. They're all good. Pitching is a feel thing as much as anything. And sometimes guys just feel really good and pitch above their heads for a little while. And I'm worried that's what we saw with Sean Burke. And like Scott said, not to say I won't draft him next season, or that I think he... I think he's just totally persona non grata for fantasy. But, you know, it looked like he might be heading towards being a top 36 starting pitcher for 2027. He got his ERA below three at one point for the whole season. And that was as late as, like, October 11th or something. Now it's up to 358. I mean, you'll take that. You know, 358 ERA, 120 whip, 9.8K per nine. Like, that's a good pitcher. But I certainly don't think that's the baseline. And I don't think that's the floor. For him. So given that we saw two seasons where he was largely irrelevant for fantasy, I tend to think he's mostly an also-ran among starting pitchers. Now, that doesn't mean he shouldn't be drafted, but not someone I am at this point especially excited to draft for 2027.
Speaker 5Just to remind people of the numbers over that 10-game stretch, nine of those being starts for Sean Burke, it was a 160 ERA, a .87. .87 whip, 11.5K per nine, 1.6 walks per nine. So obviously the control was amazing during that stretch. All of the ERA estimators were below three. His swinging strike rate was near 15%. And you're right, Chris, the first five games of that, the velocity was up on his fastball. Then the next five, the velocity was down. He still was getting a lot of whiffs in those five starts where the velocity kind of dropped back down.
Speaker 7Consecutive double-digit strikeout games with his normal velocity, yeah.
Speaker 5It is interesting to try to piece it together and figure, like, what exactly happened for Sean Burke during that stretch. But as Scott pointed out, the last five starts have been much worse. 17 walks to 17 strikeouts over his last 20 and a third innings. And I think in this start in particular, I think he tried too hard to go the other way. If you look at his zone percentage, 52%, that is very high. So he lived in the zone, and he just got clobbered. Eight hard hits in this one, 100.1 average EV, which brings me to the drop-o-meter. Sean Burke is still missing. Still 93% rostered. He's at the Cardinals this weekend, and he is home against the Tigers next week. I'm not sure the matchups even matter, but where would you guys place Sean Burke on the drop-o-meter right now?
Speaker 7I think it's got to be... There's no way you can start him with any amount of confidence. So, right now, a 9. If he has another bad start against the Tigers this weekend, a 10.
Speaker 6Yeah. Scott? Yeah, I would have... I have no qualms about dropping him if that was a way to get a player I'm going to actually use on my roster. If that was the way, like, kind of put Chase Burns in the same category. I haven't actually dropped Chase Burns in the league where I have him. But if that's what it took to get a player I was actually going to use on my roster, I'd be fine with it. I just... I don't know who that player is right now. Right. If there's not, then it's like, well, just in that slim chance, he goes out and dominates next time. I'll have served them up for somebody else to pick up and that'll stick. So, you know, I don't drop just for the sake of dropping. But to give you a number, I guess I'd go like eight for Sean Burke.
Speaker 5All right, let's continue on with the players of the night. Chris, over to you.
Speaker 7Yeah, and I'll be positive and point out that Eli De La Cruz has seemingly fixed the biggest flaw in his game. He was, for as good a player as Eli De La Cruz has been so far in his major league career, he was probably the worst switch hitter in baseball, if we define that as the ability to switch hit, you know, the ability to hit both relatively equally. He was a really good hitter against right-handed pitching. And entering this season, he was awful against lefties, like 613 OPS, I think, for his career. Well, he homered off Tarek Skubal today, famously, a left-handed pitcher. I think you could argue a good one. And that pushes his OPS near 1,100 against lefties. He has 10 homers against lefties. He had 13 in three seasons against lefties entering this season. His strikeout rate is down to 25% against lefties. His expected WOBA had been 294 or lower in each of the first three seasons. It's 370 against lefties this season. It seems, I mean, it's still a small sample size. It's only 163 plate appearances. But it seems like Elie De La Cruz has fixed the biggest issue in his game. And all of a sudden, he's having the best season as a hitter of his career. And he's up to 25 homers and 25 steals. I don't think we're going to get a lot of steals from him the rest of the way, given the quad injury.
Speaker 5I think he just swiped a bag yesterday.
Speaker 7Yeah, I think that sounds right. But we might get, like, there's a chance, we get a 30-30 season out of Elie De La Cruz. And he's hitting 282 now. And he's going to score over 100 runs. And he's probably going to drive in around 75 to 80. And look, it's Elie De La Cruz, right? Like, this guy's going to be one of the first 15 players drafted in every league next season anyway. But I think it's just worth noting that for as long as he's been around and as much as the hype cycle has built up and then dropped, around him, Elie De La Cruz is still improving. I think he took a big step forward as a hitter last season before the quad injury. I think he's taken another big step forward as a hitter this season. And, you know, 30-30 guys don't grow on trees.
Speaker 6But they are more common than 70 steal guys. I think that's where the disconnect comes from, maybe, with why it seems like Elie De La Cruz is less hyped in fantasy now, even though he's improved as a hitter, is because, you know, I think a lot of people out there, would prefer a 250-hitting-70 steal guy to a 280-hitting-30 steal guy. I don't know if that's, given how prevalent steals are and how scarce batting average is, I don't know that I count myself among them.
Speaker 7Well, and it's not like those trade-offs are real. You know, it's not like he has to stop running to hit 282. But he has. The likelier outcome, no, no, but the likelier outcome would have been if he didn't improve as a hitter, he would have just stopped stealing as much anyway. And it would have just been a much worse player either way.
Speaker 6I think that was mostly the right. Yeah, it's not because he hit for a higher average, he stopped running. It was more, I think, because they switched from David Bell to Terry Francona as their manager. But even so, like, he felt, I think Elie De La Cruz felt more like, oh, he could threaten for that top spot in fantasy when he was, when he stole 67 bases in his first full season.
Speaker 5Yeah. And looking at those updated numbers against lefties, the OPS now 1074. Among qualified hitters, that is the second best OPS against lefties this season behind only Kobe Mayo. Yeah, that's exactly who I thought it would be. Yeah. So, yeah, huge improvement for Elie De La Cruz. Oddly enough, just a 784 OPS against righties this year. So, man, if we ever get that year where he's just like awesome against lefties and righties, could come as soon as next year. The he missed some time this season with the hamstring injury. His 162 game pace, 32 homers, 113 runs, 89 RBI, 32 steals there.
Speaker 7That's the best. That's a pretty monster season.
Speaker 5It really is. I guess the one concern that I would have with him, and I'm going to rank him as a first round player. I will draft him in the first round next year, is that he has dealt with some leg injuries the past couple of seasons. It was the hamstring earlier this year. Still kind of battling the quad, even though you wouldn't know it. I mean, he just homered in his fourth straight game and he had the quad last year as well. So it's just like some leg stuff adding up here for Elie that I don't exactly love, but it hasn't affected his season. So finishing strong here is Elie De La Cruz. My player of the night, I'm just going to mention like one of the most awesome home runs of the year. Lazaro Montes. If you had any doubt about the power, you shouldn't. I mean, that's the one thing this guy can provide is power. His second home run, 116.1 miles per hour off the bat, 474 feet, which, you know, we got a text earlier tonight, Chris, from Sam Wershing, who is a huge Mariners fan. And we had him on before the season for a mock draft, which was very fun. And he said on the scoreboard, it was like the second longest home run in T-Mobile Park history. I saw a tweet where it was like the longest in the StatCast era.
Speaker 7OK, it was the longest verified home run in the T-Mobile slash Safeco field era. And the second longest home run by a Mariners player in the StatCast era. OK, gotcha. So previously was, yeah, in T-Mobile Park.
Speaker 5Got you. Yeah.
Speaker 7Jared Kalanick, very funnily.
Speaker 6So long, long home runs are obviously a guarantee. Guarantee. Yes.
Speaker 7The longest home run at Safeco before this one. Mike Zunino, obviously, hit two 470 foot home runs.
Speaker 5So, yes, I guess that's damning with faint praise here for Lizarro Montes in his future. I think the power is absolutely legit. It's still way too early to say he's only played in six games. He missed some time with a hip injury over the weekend. He's four for 18 so far. Two of those four hits being home runs. He has nine strikeouts to one walk. He's 28 percent rostered. I don't think he's going to play against lefties the rest of the season, although the Mariners aren't really playing for much at this point. So they might as well just throw him out there and see what he can do against lefties. The rest of the schedule this week for Montes, lefty, righty, lefty, lefty, lefty. So that's not good. And then next week, there are six road games. There are two lefties in the first series, but then three on the road in course field. Not this weekend. Next weekend. All of those right now look like they're against righties. So it's kind of interesting for next week. Lazaro Montes.
Speaker 6Yeah. I mean, you can only project so far ahead with pitching matchups. It's a struggle enough just to project a week ahead. But yeah, I mean, if we get a week full of righties for Lazaro Montero, I'd definitely include him among the sleeper hitters. Like, I really hope it works out. You know, sometimes when we take a negative stance, on a top prospect, it's like, oh, you're just a hater. No, I would love, in theory, the good version of Lazaro Montes to become a thing. But obviously, the contact issue, the struggles against lefties, those are major hurdles that prospects as highly regarded or even more highly regarded than him have failed to clear those hurdles.
Speaker 7I will also just point out, it's not a good, it's not a fair comp for Lazaro Montes. But watching that home run, you can definitely see why people comped him to Jordan Alvarez. Oh, yeah. Aesthetically, he looks a lot like him. It's just, you know. He's a big dude, too. Yeah. He's just a hulking human being. 8% higher strikeout rate, probably, or more, at least in the minors, yeah.
Speaker 5Yeah. I think it probably profiles to the three true outcome profile here for Lazaro Montes. Happy to be wrong, but so far, the slight tower power. It's a pretty fun player to watch early on in his career. Welcome back to Corbin Burns and Aaron Judge. Corbin Burns in his return at the Royals. Three shutout innings, two walks, two strikeouts. I don't, well, he got up to 57 pitches. So, like, maybe next time out, it's 70. Maybe the time after that, it's 80, something like that. I thought he looked okay here. The velocity was down compared to where it was last year. I thought it was a good sign that he got, a decent amount of chases outside of the zone here for Corbin Burns. But what did you guys see? 54% rostered. Do you have any interest? Do we have any utility for Corbin Burns? I mean, any?
Speaker 7Sure. I have any interest. I don't think I have a lot of interest. It's, you know, the 40 pitch jump in his pitch count this time, that's huge. And it makes me definitely more interested in him than I expected. Because I thought it'd be closer to, like, a 40 pitch limit. But the velocity was down a lot. 1.4 mile per hour on the cutter. More on most of the rest of the arsenal. He wasn't an ace the last time we saw him. We've certainly seen a diminished version of Corbin Burns. I would guess, typically, when guys come back from long layoffs, you actually see their velocity a little higher in that first outing. Especially if they're on a pitch. limit. Here it's extenuating circumstances because he had only thrown seven 17 pitches he was actually having to you know keep something in in the tank presumably but i think it was an okay start uh but i don't think like he's already 54% rostered it's hard for me to think that carbon burns needs to be rostered more widely than that i would guess most of the people
Speaker 6who had him in an il spot are just gonna have to drop him now that he's been activated which includes me in a couple leagues yeah there's a non-zero chance over the next probably not next week because of the start he just had with the diminished velocity and only going it was three innings right yeah probably not next week but there is there's a non-zero chance he looks good enough next week that you'll risk it with burns in the final week of the season but there's a non-zero chance that like i said earlier um sean park looks good enough in his next start that you'd be willing to start him in the final week so like you know bringing this full circle do you drop sean burke to chase corbin burns i i don't know that there's i don't i don't know that there's a significantly higher percentage or even a higher percentage that burns is more startable the final week than burke
Speaker 7is he gonna be a two-star pitcher are they gonna go six man when soroka and gallon are back it looks
Speaker 5like they're gonna go six man if i'm reading it correctly okay so he's probably not gonna be a
Speaker 7two-star pitcher next week um i mean both guys are going to be a two-star pitcher next week
Speaker 5guys i don't know that i was gonna say deserve to be in i mean zach gallon has really kind of fallen off but uh soroka pitched well earlier this season you know gallon has you know obviously a history with organization so uh and then who's gonna be out of the rotation well i guess merrill kelly has looked a little bit better as of late brandon fought his pitch well they're not gonna take him out erod has been great all year they're not i don't think kelly's going out but i think
Speaker 7they have they can just slot soroka in whenever he's ready and they'll be there's a chance burns
Speaker 6to have him pitch out of the bullpen once those guys are back because since he's building up anyway yeah i think you can't treat him like a normal starter yeah most likely yeah i just think the
Speaker 5name and like the money that they're paying burns they probably want to keep him as a starter still
Speaker 6got what like four years left after this one yeah yeah but it's you know they're they're fighting for a wild card spot they don't they can't afford to to let egos get in the way fair and a welcome
Speaker 5back to aaron judge who made his return he was a big fan of aaron judge and he was a big fan of aaron judge was in right field and he hit third in the lineup he went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts he left after six innings nothing concerning there that was planned uh they're going to ease him back into the lineup and i saw this tweet from uh brendan cuddy who covers the yankees for the athletic judge's bat speed on his uh strikeout in the first inning was 79.6 miles per hour his average for the season is 76.1 so pretty good sign that judge is swinging that hard obviously we'll see how he does in a couple days but uh early returns the bat speed is there for aaron judge let's take a break and we'll be back right after this baseball season is in full swing and there's no better place to be than calci america's number one prediction market platform atlanta is currently trading at seven percent to win it all meaning a 100 trade pays out over 1200 with a win on calci 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 calci app and use code fan to get up to 500 and bonus credits when you trade 25 kalshi trade on anything 18 plus only restrictions and eligibility requirements apply event contract trading involves risk and may not be suitable for all investors calci products are not available in all jurisdictions prices values and available markets may differ from those mentioned for more information see calci.com regulatory 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 homer 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 t-mobile best mobile network in the u.s according to ukla speed test based on analysis by ukla of speed test intelligence data first half 2026 ukla 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 facts 14 17 before 18 59 baseball umpires behind home plate in rocking chairs snapple real fact 14 83 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 welcome back fantasy baseball today let's hit the news and notes shohei otani was out of the lineup after returning on monday dave roberts said otani was available as a pinch hitter and is expected to return to the lineup on wednesday so it looks like the dodgers are also easing shohei otani back into the lineup as a hitter corbin carroll was out of the lineup due to lower back discomfort and he has been bad for a while now his last 62 games dating back to late june it's a 185 batting average 667 ops still hitting the ball hard during that stretch the barrel rate looks pretty good uh the expected stats 225 xba 395 x slug during that span i just kind of wonder if maybe he's been battling this back or something else multiple things because
Speaker 6he really has not looked right since the end of june just throw it on the pile another first round or early round mainstay who we're going to see in the next couple of weeks we're going to have some doubts about drafting in that range next year i'm really interested in seeing how this goes i'm i hope that there isn't too firm of a consensus that develops because 2027 is shaping up to be a year that doesn't deserve to have a firm consensus in the first
Speaker 7couple rounds yeah go ahead no i was just gonna say like just diving into the numbers a little bit you're seeing hard hit rates down pull rate is down a little bit he's hitting fewer fly balls um just all kind of seems like that's in the second half of the season for otani it all kind of seems like he's just a little late which like the eye test that's also my vibe is that he just he's not getting around as quickly
Speaker 6as he as he was before you're talking about otani but my comment was about corbin carol i feel pretty confident that otani is going to be a top ten player in the second half of the season three pick next year gosh yeah i got confused i'm sorry yeah that's okay just didn't want just
Speaker 5didn't want the audience confused yeah while you're saying that i was actually looking up the bat speed for corbin carol because i thought that's who you were talking about for a second uh the bat speed is actually up for corbin carol this year and it it hasn't mattered kind of just weird down season for corbin carol garrett crochet is tracking towards being ready for the first round of the playoffs as a reliever that is you want to talk about fun players to rank for next season garrett crochet definitely in that mix wilson contraris took batting practice on tuesday he is on the il with a left hamstring strain jj weatherholt took swings on monday and is aiming to return during the cardinals upcoming homestand and it is a very long one it starts this friday september 11th and it lasts until september 20th so somewhere in that stretch jj weatherholt is looking to return shay langoliers will begin a rehab assignment at triple a on thursday he's working his way back from a meniscectomy that is onward to say that he underwent on his right knee at the end of july jazz chisholm left early with a thumb injury we'll see if he's in the lineup on wednesday jake bowers has sat out three of the last four games he continues to deal with shin splints jack caglione has missed three straight with a left flexor strain taste the lauder has missed four straight with a sprained right wrist i believe it was just yesterday or on monday um stephen vote said that the water was getting better but still not in the lineup on tuesday so that is unfortunate devin williams threw a bullpen on tuesday his first time throwing off a mound since being diagnosed with a right shoulder strain nearly a month ago kodai senga did pick up another save he gave up a run in that one he's mostly look pretty good as the uh mets closer here in lieu of devin williams uh lazaro montes we mentioned that already he returned to the lineup after dealing with a hip injury bryce elder is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee and scott i know you were very sad about before we started.
Speaker 6- In the season. Now, I don't I don't want to watch a league that Bryce Elder isn't a part of.
Speaker 5I'm sorry, but Ryan Weathers did some flat ground throwing from 75 feet on Tuesday. He's working his way back from a flexor strain, likely would be as a reliever down the stretch. Josh Young started a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Tuesday, and we do have some prospect news. The Nationals promoted Eli Willits to Double-A. He's only 18 years old. He was the first overall pick in last year's draft. And it's interesting because he tore up low A this year. He wasn't as good at high A. Look, 18 years old at high A, I get it like, you know, age to level production. But at high A, 230 batting average, 7 homers, 31 steals, 813 OPS, 19% walk, 19% K. So, like, he held the zone. It's a lower batting average. 18 years old moving up to Double-A. It's impressive. I'm just I'm kind of confounded by the timing, I guess. But Eli Willits.
Speaker 7Yeah. High A season's over. I think that's the I think the Double-A plays a week longer.
Speaker 5All right. That honestly sounds like the exact reason for this happening. So, yeah.
Speaker 7And, you know, he probably just starts next year at Double-A, I would guess. But, yeah, I think how this goes. Yeah, I think it's because the they just want to get him a few more.
Speaker 6Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, I was going to be as another reason that, like, they got to figure out if they want to what they want to do with Seaver King. And to help them do that, they need to gauge how close Eli Willits is to debuting. But your reason makes more sense.
Speaker 5I mean, either way, 18 years old at Double-A. That's that's pretty awesome, man. This guy is is flying through the system. Great season overall here for Eli Willits.
Speaker 7And worth noting, a 118 WRC plus is an 18 year old. A high A is very impressive. Yeah, in its own right. Yeah, I guess it's not, you know, no, it's not as good as he was much better at Loewe for sure. But he was still very productive at that level that this this looks like a a legit prospect for sure.
Speaker 5Yep. And it's some bad prospect news. The A's top prospect, Leo DeVries, will have right shoulder surgery to repair an anterior labrum tear. And he could miss up to eight months. Doesn't mean it will be eight months. But if he misses eight months. That would take us all the way till up to May of next season. So someone that we thought could have been in the mix for trying to earn an opening day starting job with the A's during spring training. Clearly, it seems like that will not be happening now for Leo DeVries.
Speaker 6Yeah, that's my exact take. I was actually putting together an article. I've been slowly putting together an article. Early bull predictions for 2027. And one of them was it was a handful of prospects. That will make the opening day roster. But DeVries was one of them that obviously removes him from consideration for that. And this is a serious injury.
Speaker 7So no idea how he comes back. I do think his prospect standing should take a little hit here.
Speaker 5All right. Let's get into some other pitchers who just had some stinky performances here on Tuesday night. What is going on with these pitchers? I said, hey, what's going on? Sandy. Alcantara rocked by the Mets four and a third, seven hits, seven runs, four walks, one strikeout, three homers allowed. Just one of the weirdest lines that you will see. The velocity was down across the board between one to two miles per hour for Sandy in this one. Eleven hard hits allowed. He has given up four plus earned runs in three straight. He has three strikeouts or fewer in all three of those. He is still 97 percent rostered. He's 85 percent started. Chris, I don't I didn't include him. It's part of the drop meter here because he was so good for so long. I don't think you're dropping Sandy Alcantara, but I mean, maybe you are if you're just planning not to use him. It looks like he lines up for two starts next week at the D-backs, at the Padres, but it's three pretty rough starts in a row.
Speaker 7It's three pretty rough starts in a row. I think it's the most starts, the most runs he's allowed in a three start stretch this season as well. It's possible that he's just kind of lost it. He is 15 innings above where he finished last season. I don't know. This is a guy who's thrown 225 innings in a season. I don't think getting to 200 is all of a sudden wrecking him. But I kind of view Alcantara as just kind of take it for what you see. He's got a 378 ERA. The peripherals are largely in that range. The FIP is over four now after this start, but it was lower than that before. I think he is. He's. Almost 19 innings ahead of every other pitcher in baseball this season. So he is back to being an absolute standout when it comes to volume. That might be the only place he stands out. You know, it might just be he is the biggest standout in volume and he is just. Kind of a guy otherwise, and that's very valuable in a points league. It's pretty valuable in a roto league, but I think on the whole, yeah, he's probably not an ace anymore. But I think it's still been a very successful season. I think you've generally been very happy to have him on your team. It's just. You know, this worst or second worst stretch of the season coming at a especially bad time for Alcantara, but I don't take too much out of it beyond what it's doing to the overall numbers, which I think mostly tell the story here. He's a pretty good pitcher who gets a ton of volume.
Speaker 5Yeah. And that really does help him in a point. I think in a points league, more than anything else, entering Tuesday, Sandy Alcantara was the ninth highest scoring starting pitcher in CBS Head to Head points leagues, obviously. And, you know, we were worried about the wins coming in because the Marlins, you know, we didn't expect them to be as good as they were, obviously. Like, you know, they surprised us this year, but 13 wins on the year for Sandy. That's actually really good for him. The ratios now have kind of, you know, really elevated. I think in a points league, I would still use him. Next week. But in a categories league, I would be very pick and choosy about, you know, if you're really guarding ratios, I probably wouldn't do it if you're chasing wins and you're not really going to get strikeouts. If you're just chasing wins, then I think you could go for it. But, yeah, any type of ratio guarding, I would not be using Sandy Alcantara. Let's fire up the drop-o-meter for a couple other names here. And we already talked about Sean Burke. What about Tanner Bybee? A rough one here at the Orioles. Five runs allowed over four and a third. And his velocity was down as well in this start. Five earned runs in back-to-back starts. 579 ERA over his last six. Still 82% rostered. Looks like he lines up for two next week against the White Sox and the Athletics. So, Scott, where is Tanner Bybee on the drop-o-meter?
Speaker 6Oh, like a nine. I think he's been above six for most of the year. I would have had no. I have no qualms about dropping Bybee for a hotter hand type all year, really. Since it became clear anyway that he wasn't going to regain the strikeouts that he lost last year. So, he's an innings eater who is worth streaming with the right matchups. And maybe with two starts coming up, you give him another shot in the points league. I don't like that the velocity's been down now two starts in a row and the results haven't been good. But, he's... He's a pretty mid-pitcher these days. Four ERA, just over 7K per nine. Again, good innings. Works deep into games when he's going well. But, that sounds like streamer territory to me. So, yeah, I could go as high as nine for Bybee.
Speaker 7Yeah, even when he had a pretty good stretch from like late May to early August. He had a 324 ERA over 12 starts. It was two starts, three starts with more than five strikeouts. It just, yeah, he's been... Even when he's been good, he's been pretty iffy. So, kind of a poor man, Sandy Alcantara, which is not high praise at this point. Yeah, I think a nine or ten on the drop-o-meter is reasonable.
Speaker 5All right, and it's been a rough start to the week for our league-winning starting pitchers. This one being Andrew Painter, who took a big step back here. Against the Astros. And I just want everyone to know that I feel your pain. Money where your mouth is. I started him in my home league head-to-head points championship against my dad, by the way. And, obviously, that did not go very well. My dad also had Jesus Lozardo on Monday. So, yeah, overall, it's not looking very good early on. But, five runs over five innings here against the Astros. Two homers allowed. Still got a bunch of whiffs in this one for Andrew Painter. And, obviously, the seven starts before this since returning to the Phillies. Looks much better. He's at the Braves this weekend. He's at the Mets next week. He's 78% rostered. But, if you picked up Andrew Painter for the two-star week, are you holding on? If there's someone else that merges, is it okay to drop? What do you guys think about Painter?
Speaker 6I'm probably holding on. You know, I keep having to come up with ten pitchers to stream every week. Because that's an article that I write every week. I think it's been a few weeks now where there's really... only three pitchers on the waiver wire worth adding one Jacob Lopez, one time yesterday, he struggled not as badly as painter, but yeah, it, it wasn't a great start. It's worth starting a while. One's Jacob Lopez. One is Andrew painter. One is Tyler Malley. Maybe you could throw a Walbert Arania in there too. He's still available in a number of leagues, but otherwise it's slim pickets. So, uh, the Braves offense struggling right now. I think he'll, I think painter will bounce back against them this weekend and hopefully mostly salvage the two-star week. And then the Mets matchup next week doesn't seem so bad. You might end up using him then too. I like that. He got a lot of whiffs on this still use that new change up a lot. And, uh, yeah, it's at least it wasn't Sean Burke. You can take some comfort in that. And another thing, like this is one of the good things about baseball. One of the good things about fantasy baseball, I think it fantasy sport mirrors the real one in this way. And that, one player isn't likely to make you one player. Isn't likely to sink you like even the smallest, the fantasy baseball leagues with the smallest rosters, you start 16 players. So, you know, you have other ones that can make up for a bad start. It's rare to go a whole week without getting a bad start from anyone. So you don't have to consider it. Oh, my whole week is ruined because I started Andrew painter. Probably not. If the rest of your team does what it's supposed to do, you're probably going to be okay.
Speaker 7Yeah. And I, I just think the key thing is I don't know who I'd be adding for him anyway. Like if someone emerges between now and Sunday and has a really unexpectedly great start and show something, maybe, you know, like look, Jared Jones, I think is about 61% rostered. If you want to make that swap, I think that's okay.
Speaker 6Um, but I still feel like I'm a lot more likely to start painter than I think so,
Speaker 7too. But, uh, you know, uh, but then I'm looking at like, uh, I mean, gauge jump. Poof. No, no. Uh, I think Peter Lambert's getting decent results lately, but I don't think I have more faith in him. Uh,
Speaker 5I think an interesting name. And I saw it pop up in the chat a few times. If you're just chasing the volume to, it looks like a two-star pitcher for next week is Quinn Matthews, who had a quality start here on Tuesday. Look, he's not perfect for sure. He walks a lot, but it looks like he gets the giants and the nationals next week as a two-star pitcher.
Speaker 6So let's try not to throw out. Process completely. I know it. I know we're dealing this late in the year, two lineup blocks left, presuming your league plays out the whole season. Um, so you're really just looking at the immediate term and who can do what for me right now. You're, you're not thinking about the long game. I, I still think Andrew painter from what we've seen of him recently is a better pitcher than who did you say? Quinn Matthews, Quinn Matthews. Yeah. Right, right now, Quinn Matthews having the obvious control, the issue, his last three starts have been good, but not like over powering good. And one of them, he's still walked for. And so even if even playing the short game, understanding that painters last start wasn't very good. And Quinn Matthews was pretty good. I I'm still thinking next start from how I gauge this pitcher painter is better. It gets tricky when you get the multiple bad starts in a row and you just feel like this guy, he is kryptonite right now. Radioactive right now is probably a better word to use, but even then you could get you stray from the better pitcher and he looks like the better pitcher all of a sudden. And it's, it's playing the streakiness game is, is a dangerous one.
Speaker 7Yeah. Rhythm and feel matter for sure. And sometimes guys just get locked in and sometimes guys just get locked out. It is really, really hard to know. When that's real versus when it's just the, the vagaries of a baseball season, you know, the, the things that just happen. Um, and I know we are all uncomfortable by the idea that sometimes things just happen and there's not a good explanation for it, but that happens in life all the time. And so just because Andrew painter was not great today does not mean he will not be good the next time out. I, I do think like someone in the chat asked Nick Pavetta or Andrew painter based on what we saw in their most recent start, I would still rather have Andrew painter, uh, would much rather have Andrew painter than Corbin Burns for the rest of the season.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7I think that one's an easy call where it gets a little trickier is like Hayden when Wes Neskey, who I don't think is as talented as painter, but does seem to be on a good run right now. Um, not as good as painters until it's also, yeah. Cause it's also like the, uh, the, the process part is like, well, yeah, he's got 7.1 K per nine and 2.8 walks per nine. Like that's probably not a three ish pitch ERA pitcher. Like he's been, it's probably closer to four ERA pitcher. So even then I think you'd rather just have painter. Um, so yeah.
Speaker 5And this is in his range of outcomes. If you look at the previous seven starts for painter, mostly good three, 12 ERA 0.89 whip, uh, 12.7% swinging strike. Like legitimately good numbers here for painter. There was a start in there where he gave up five earned runs. He gave up five earned runs in this start. So again, it's within his range of outcomes. It sucks that it's happening now in a very pivotal time for most people. If you're playing in a headset championship, but again, it's, this is within his range of outcomes. So I, I totally get that. And going back to Scott's point, like don't give up in your head to head championship or playoffs, just cause it's like one bad day. I mean, it's a long season. It's a long week. Like a lot of things could change in one week. And in fact, like all of the head to head leagues that I play in every playoff matchup is two weeks long. And I like to do that just cause like it gives more time for like the legitimately better team to kind of pull out and prevail and come back if, if something blows up in one day. So I, I do like the two week matchup in a, in a playoff period. And I would recommend that for most people. If you play in a, a head to head style league, let's take our final break. When we return, I've got some waiver names. I've got a who's hot and who's not. We'll do all that right after this.
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Speaker 5Welcome back. Fantasy at baseball today. Let's talk some waiver wire hitters and some shallow league names here. Cody Clemens, his 25th home run and he went through a lull. He's picking things back up last 21 games hitting 297 with five home runs in OPS over 900 and he's hit the ball hard all year long. Cody Clemens has good numbers, solid numbers against lefties. He's held his own there. 77% rostered Travis Bazzana hit his 11th home run had three RBI as well. It's like a tale of two seasons. His first 46 games. He was great. His next 62. It is an OPS around 650. So really has fallen off as the season has gone on 69% rostered there for Bazzana and Bryce Eldridge hit his 16th home run. This one off of a lefty last 24 games. The batting average is over 300. He's got five homers 950 OPS. I've been thinking about this a lot like Bryce Eldridge is someone I'm going to be really excited about for next season, man. Like there's just so much good under the hood here for Eldridge. He hits lefties. He hits the ball. He hits the ball really hard. His strikeout rate has not been prohibitive like we thought it might be. He's 66% rostered. Still feel like that number should be higher, but any thoughts on these three Clemens 77% Bazzana 69% Eldridge 66%.
Speaker 6Yeah. I feel like Eldridge has been a free space in the sleeper hitters all year because there, I think there was a brief point where his roster rate climbed over 80, but it went back down cause he fell into a little bit of a slump. But yeah, he's, he's, he's been good more often than he's been bad. And the strikeout rate has made a big leap and he might be among those bold predictions for 2027. A little, a little spoiler alert for you. This year, big thanks for Eldridge. This year,
Speaker 5Sal Stewart, Bryce Eldridge, baby.
Speaker 6Sal Stewart might have a bold prediction in there too. Who knows? Who knows? I'm going to have to whittle this list down. So literally who knows? But, uh, I, I do have, I do have at least, uh, the beginnings of a prediction for both of them.
Speaker 7I just, the thing I'm struggling to get my head around with Eldridge is he's been better at home than on the road, which doesn't really make sense. And he's been better as a power hitter on the road. And that's where you would really expect him to struggle with Oracle Park. And it might just be that he has better as a power hitter at home at home. Yeah. Okay. And so, you know, that might, he might just have the kind of power like Raphael Devers where it just doesn't matter. And he can overcome it, but it's relatively small sample sizes still. Only 200 plate appearances at home, 216 on the road. So I still have that just small amount of, I don't know, discomfort around him. But I agree, he's a super talented player who's probably going to be overlooked next year.
Speaker 5Do you have any thoughts on these guys' potential ads the rest of the season? Clemens, Bazana, and Eldridge?
Speaker 7I think Bazana at 69% roster is probably too high. Clemens at 77%. I mean, when he's hot like this, he's worth using in all formats. But you can't count on him to hit 300 moving forward. He's a 228 or 238 hitter for the season. So I don't think he'll be as good moving forward as he has been lately. So 77% rostered, it's hard for me to argue that's too low for Cody Clemens either.
Speaker 5All right, moving on here, a couple other names. Jacob Marcy has been better. In the second half, he went 3-4 with a run in RBI. Last 30 games, hitting .292, .409 on base percentage. Three homers, three steals, an .878 OPS. He is 41% rostered. Tim Tawa, 3-5 with his 10th home run. He actually has been slowing down lately, striking out a lot. But still been pretty good in the second half. It's like a 20-20 pace over a full season. 27% rostered, first, second, third, and outfield eligible. Scott, do you think either of these numbers need to be higher? Marcy, 41%, Tawa, 27.
Speaker 6Only if I really like their matchups. And I'm looking at those now. Again, subject to change. Miami's look pretty good. Arizona's look pretty bad. So Tawa's more usable with the multi-eligibility. The thing about Marcy, is even in this game with the three hits, he didn't have a single hard hit ball. In fact, one of the hits was hit like 50 miles per hour or something. So I don't... His hot streak's making me think twice about whether I should keep him in the Scott White Dynasty League, which is a 24-teamer. But other than that, I still lean no. I still lean no to keeping him. I'm in the 24-teamer with the other players I have to keep.
Speaker 7If the Marlins had anybody else who could play center field, respectively, I think there would be some real playing time risk here.
Speaker 6Well, Cam Canarella. Sure.
Speaker 7Yeah, I guess that would be why.
Speaker 6They're a great center fielder defensively at AAA who's getting on base a ton and has had a good year. And he's also on my Scott White Dynasty League, which are the two of them I got to keep. Canarella's $5 cheaper. $6 cheaper.
Speaker 7The thing that's especially frustrating with Marcy is... is... the stolen bases. I mean, only 22 on the season. He's attempted 34. He's been incredibly inefficient. And only three steals in the second half. So it's like, even when he's been hot, he's really not all that useful.
Speaker 5Was his sprint speed this bad last year? It's only 63rd percentile.
Speaker 7Yeah, it was 68th percentile last season. So...
Speaker 5That feels like something I just completely overlooked.
Speaker 7Yeah, I mean, him and Xavier Edwards were both guys who don't really run all that fast, but they've been... they've been productive base stealers. And you do see, in both cases, really, this season, they've been, I think, a little bit disappointing with the stolen bases. You can run into that, yeah.
Speaker 5Mm-hmm. A couple catchers here. Rafael Flores hit his eighth home run last 21 games, 257, seven home runs. His OPS is around 850. The strikeout rate is over 30% during that stretch. He also sat out three of the past seven games, so it felt like the playing time was maybe trending down here for Flores. And Kyle Thiel, homered again. That's back-to-back games. He has started three of four since returning. He is 24% roster. Who do you guys like more as a second catcher here, Rafael Flores or Kyle Thiel?
Speaker 6Thiel. I agree.
Speaker 5Okay. Some names in deeper leagues here. Yohandy Morales hit his second home run, and his playing time has been very odd. I mean, that's, I guess, just the Nationals for you, but he got called up. He started three straight. He sat three straight. He started this one, and he homered. So, he also has... He has eight strikeouts and 16 plate appearances so far. Great numbers in the minors. Not really sure what to do with this. 12% rostered. Do you have... Let's say... Is it only NL only, or is there any type of, like, mixed league setting you would look into Yohandy Morales so far?
Speaker 6I mean, I had him as a sleeper hitter this week. 10th on the list of 10. It was kind of a deep league special. Hopefully not. I could see in a... I could see in a roto league, you know, where Ty... Ty France was long ago picked up, and you have a needed corner infield, and okay, maybe. Maybe if the matchups are right, like they were for the Nationals this week, you could give Morales a shot, but that's... You're in kind of a desperate spot if you have to do that, to be honest.
Speaker 7Yeah, I think the thing he runs into also is just... Beyond just being newer to the majors, is there any reason to sit Brady House for him? I think you could... You could make the... You could make the case that, like, okay, Brady House has been around long enough that, you know, we have an idea of what he is, might as well see what Morales does, but Morales is like a year and a half older than Brady House. Probably not as good defensively at third base. They haven't played him at third base yet, I don't think.
Speaker 6Yeah, it hasn't happened yet that they've sat House for him. So... It's been more Chaparro and Abimelech Ortiz who have sat for Morales. And by the way, Morales himself sat twice over the weekend.
Speaker 7And so it's just... If they're not going to play him at third base, then it's hard to see how Yohandy Morales matters.
Speaker 5They have three players for two spots, basically. First base and DH, and... And even there, James Woods is playing a lot of DH right now. Yeah, and I think they want to see what Abimelech Ortiz can do. He, you know, had a couple games when he first got called up where he looked good, but he really slowed down. Andres Chaparro actually has looked pretty good for them, but it feels like they mostly just want to start him against lefties. So, yeah. Yeah, it's really just two spots for three players right now with Ortiz, Morales, and Chaparro. In the deepest of leagues, Adiel Amador of the Rockies went one for three with his third home run. He has started six straight, and in those games, he has eight hits, two homers, four RBI, and five runs scored. Still just 23 years old. This is a former top prospect for the Rockies. Do you guys have any... Really, like, NL-only interest, but... Any thoughts on Amador? Any intrigue?
Speaker 7He has played a lot at AAA in an extremely favorable offensive environment and has not done a ton at that level. This season, he's been a below-average hitter at AAA. Last season, I guess he was slightly above average, but not as good as an 883 OPS might lead you to believe because, again, incredibly favorable offensive environment. And then he's played a decent amount at the Major League level and has shown... He's shown nothing before this week, I guess. I'm not writing him off. He's young enough, and, you know, there have been flashes at AAA. He got called up really young as well, and the way they were handling him early in his career was just weird. Like, they kept shuttling him back between AA and the Majors, like, multiple times, which you just never see.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 7And so I... I don't want to write him off entirely, but I think it's... I think it's pretty unlikely Adele Amador is going to matter much.
Speaker 5Yeah, that was the previous regime for the Rockies, which I don't know if they really understood what they were doing at all at any level of anything. I give a little bit more credit and, you know, respectability to the new front office that they have there. But, yeah, I don't really see too much either. I looked into the Minor League numbers. I don't really see too much with Amador, even though he tagged Cam Schliller. It's, you know, pretty impressive stuff. Neverwire pitchers here. Bubba Chandler was the big name from Tuesday against the White Sox. Six innings, two runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. He had 17 whiffs on 95 pitches. 16 of those on his four-seam fastball. Scott, what do you see here from Bubba Chandler? Do you have any interest in potentially using him next week against the Royals? He's at the Cubs later this week.
Speaker 6Not a ton of interest. Obviously, he looked great in this one. If his fastball plays like this moving forward, this is kind of the fastball... We were promised, actually. Then Bubba Chandler has a very bright future. But we have one instance of it happening. And most of the time when we've talked about, wow, this pitcher did this amazing thing this time if he can keep doing it, blah, blah, blah. Well, he doesn't keep doing it. That's usually what's happened. Chandler's previous start, he had one whiff total. One whiff, not just on the fastball, total. And he was on a pretty good run. Run there, .324 in his previous eight starts. 7.5% swinging strike rate, which is awful. He had been missing no bats prior to this. He'd been more like a ground ball specialist when he had done well. So, yeah, I'm not that motivated to pull the trigger yet.
Speaker 7I will say, when it comes to young, talented, frustrating, flawed pitchers, sometimes that's the way they need to do it, is just establishing... a baseline of unspectacular success before building the the swing and miss game on top of it and then so you know when you're when you're looking at him from that perspective it could be a sign that there's some forward momentum to build on certainly but i think what scott said as a whole is still true this is the first time in a while we've actually seen bat missing potential yeah from bubba chandler so i i i don't know if i said it on the podcast or before we were just chatting i think i'm more likely to draft bubba chandler in 2027 than jared jones just because from my perspective i think the talent level is incredibly similar and i think jared jones is just going to cost a lot more and rightly so he should i'm not saying they should be ranked or drafted together but i would rather make the bet on the young guy who's going to be cheaper when i'm not sure they're going to be that the other guy is going to be great anyway you know yeah and yeah that makes sense i can see
Speaker 5people really talking themselves into jared jones and him kind of there's usually a couple breakouts that go around that like sp30 range it's usually between picks i don't know 100 and 150 or 125 and i could see jared jones kind of falling in that rate like being drafted somewhere in that range and bubba chandler going closer to like 200 or just outside the top 200 so i get that that would align with my expectation as well i what i heard before when we were
Speaker 6talking before the podcast you probably didn't say this but how i interpreted is you saying i'm going to rank bubba chandler ahead of jared jones but you're saying at cost i'd rather
Speaker 5couple other waiver wire pitchers here hayden wesneski pitched well i'll just read off the upcoming matchups uh looks like he is at the raise this weekend wesneski home against the braves next week landon roop another quality start just like the most landon roop start ever six shutout innings four walks two strikeouts he is uh looks like at the cardinals at the dodgers next week so uh kind of jekyll and hyde matchups there cal quantrill uh kind of feels like he got away with it in this start he gave up a three-run homer 10 hard hits 93.6 average ev he is at the d-backs this weekend home against the blue jays next week
Speaker 6pretty good matchups on paper still he ended up being a this weekend he's not making a start this oh maybe he is it's only tuesday he wasn't supposed to be a two-star pitcher originally i guess uh i guess if he ends up being that even better i had him as a sleeper pitcher facing the mariners
Speaker 5yeah he is um fan graphs probable pitchers have him going sunday at the d-backs as well yeah cal quantrill um okay and then he gets the blue jays next week good matchup and then quinn matthews i mentioned earlier looks like he's home for two against the giants and the nationals next week so can i interest you in uh any of these pitchers matchups quinn matthews cal quantrill landon roop and hayden wesneski
Speaker 6look if you're streaming off the waiver wire cal quantrill is more attractive than most of what you'll find there he's not better than those four pitchers i listed earlier if they're still available jacob lopez andrew painter hurston waldrop tyler malley but after that you're dealing with a bunch of pitchers that i don't believe in really on a talent level and cal quantrill has been insanely reliable and has good matchups coming up so if if you're going to be a pitcher that you're going to be a pitcher that you're going to be a pitcher that you're going to play that game i'm not saying you have to play that game but if you're going to cal quantrill would be pretty high on the list last nine starts 164 era 0.79 whip 8.2 k per nine
Speaker 5scott i think we need to figure out who the third pitcher was in that list because you said hurston waldrop and he's having tommy john surgery tyler malley another brave
Speaker 7um i i think cal quantrill is absolutely the type of pitcher who is going to give it all back at some point i have zero faith that he's even like a sub 450 era guy uh you set that over under a 499 i might take the over moving forward so but you get what i'm saying no no i know it's working and and like you said earlier pinching is sometimes about feel and rhythm and sometimes guys just get it's it's not
Speaker 6even i'm not even making that argument i'm just saying if you if you're going to insist on streaming a pitcher off the waiver wire beyond those four i listed off they're not that good so cal quantrill as hot as he is as good as his matchups are is probably next on the list just by default yeah yeah it's really the matchups that
Speaker 5kind of push it over the edge there for me with uh cal quantrill the the other name on this list is quinn matthews that i don't love but i i could see uh next week against the giants nationals but uh i could see it in a uh a deeper context there with quinn matthews who's hot and who's not hater edition here i've got four who are hot pete alonso stayed hot 34th home run in the second half it's 13 home runs a 939 ops zach netto looks like he's finishing strong 4 for 5 24th homer last 19 games 363 four homers three steals and ops over 950 yandi diaz is on a heater once again last 28 games 350. 57 homers his ops over 950 and kazuma okamoto hit his 30th home run just the fifth japanese-born player to hit 30 home runs in a season and over his last 24 279 six homers ops over 900 he is uh heating back up here chris any thought thoughts on uh these four hot hitters pete alonso zach
Speaker 7netto yandi diaz and kazuma okamoto i mean i i thought pete alonso was being overdrafted as like a borderline second rounder this season and now i'm wondering is he gonna be a borderline second rounder next season as well and you've kind of got to be given how many guys have struggled and
Speaker 5and he notably hasn't so just the consistency provides you year in and year out yeah uh he's
Speaker 7been pretty awesome uh so that's worked out really well zach netto i guess has been a mild disappointment um he's gonna end up probably near last year's home run total he's too shy but the deals are seven shy now in 12 more games so that's frustrating he's still running a ton like he's still got 30 steal attempts he's just been a lot less efficient that i don't care about like that that's the kind of thing next year should be fine so um i don't know he's probably gonna drop in drafts and and rightly so but i don't think the outlook for zach netto has changed a ton um um yanni diaz is really good yeah that is that is my main thing there i think he's probably going to be because he is what 35 uh is he older than that he's around there and i believe he's a free agent which kind of he is he just turned 35 he is a free agent at the end of this season um it's going to be interesting to see where he goes but it's not like tampa is a great place to hit and a lot of people doubted him leaving steinbrenner field and he's been awesome at tropicana so i think he's going to be a great agent and i think he's going to be a great agent and i think he's the age is the biggest knock on yanni diaz but he's been one of the most profitable hitters in fantasy for the last i don't know four or five seasons now so i think um more likely than not to continue in 2027 because i don't think the price is going to be particularly
Speaker 5high looks like he does have i'll just mention with diaz real quick he has a vesting option for next year 500 plus plate appearances and a past physical so that feels like that's going
Speaker 6to go through so all right see if you guys think this is right you may not be able to see it but i'm going to go through it and see if you guys think this is right you may not be able to that um akamoto is the the fifth japanese born player with 30 home runs the other four i came up with were hideki matsui shohei otani seiya suzuki and munataka murakami that's that's the
Speaker 5list yeah that's the list all right i did it all right uh who's not hot right now trey turner he hit his 18th home run but man what happened to this guy this season he has this one month with an ops over 800 that was a lot of work but he's not hot right now he's not hot right now he's not that was july he was awesome really outside of that one month he's been quite bad this season is trey turner uh dylan dingler really struggling he was out of the lineup on tuesday he has not homered since august 6th and in 20 that 27 game stretch hitting 117 which is three extra base hits in a 317 ops and then wyatt langford he had a sock in the shoe here on tuesday 16th homer 12th steel but his previous 39 games before this one 175 batting average 619 ops scott what's going on with these three langford dylan dingler and just a down year
Speaker 6overall for trey turner yeah i think trey turner's cooked of all the early round mainstays who have faltered this year he is the one i'm most confident saying isn't coming back not that he's useless now um but you know he's gone the way of mookie bats here who i don't think we considered an early round mainstay anymore but also is not coming back to the mainstays still has his uses but clearly a lower tier now uh langford man it's been bad and i still don't feel like we've gotten what we were promised from him notably during this awful stretch since the start of august uh he has more walks than strikeouts so still has an on-base percentage over 350 and i i think we'll still like him going into next year again there were some injuries that interfered with him this year and but it's been frustrating and one of those situations where he's got to deliver at some point to keep getting benefit of the Dow. He was, he was pretty good last year. I shouldn't be so dismissive of who he has. It just hasn't been who we were promised or when he was coming up, people were drafting him in like round two. You know, he was still like a top 50 pick this year.
Speaker 7I'm pretty sure. Yeah. Yeah. And he hasn't done it yet. But there are still like really interesting skills across the board. And he's on a 162 game pace of 28 homers and 21 steals. And the play discipline is pretty good. And there's still a lot of things to like about Wyatt Langford. But like Scott said, at some point you have to stop just being interesting and start being actually good. And he hasn't done that yet. And he's gotten a lot of benefit of the doubt that, that he has not lived up to yet. I think he probably will still end up being a top 100 pick next season. Probably should be given the skills, but I didn't put him in the outfield outfielder probably, but it is like, I don't know that he will be, this is a, this is a comp that is a little bit unfair, but stay with me. Nomar Mazar was a similar prospect who got a ton of benefit of the doubt right up until he didn't like this guy just kept being just like a two 60, 18 Homer, like 85 RBI guy. And he might've had one year with like 23, 25 home or something like that. But for the most part, he just kind of kept getting the benefit of the doubt for being young and, and having interesting skills. And he just never put it together. And I think Wyatt Langford has been better mostly because he's been a good player. And I think Wyatt Langford has been better mostly because he's been a good player. And I think Wyatt Langford has been better mostly because he's been a good player. And I think Wyatt Langford has been better mostly because he's been a good That's kind of the one thing that at least, you know, having that well-rounded skillset, but also the good play discipline. And he gets on base. Yeah.
Speaker 6It's going to drop the money ball meme.
Speaker 7But it feels like that where at some point you've got to just do it. At some point you've got to stop getting the benefit of the doubt. And I do think 2027 has got to get, if it's another like 18, 18 season or whatever from Wyatt Langford in 2027, his, his ADP is finally going to drop. Like a rock.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 6It'll drop a significant amount this year, but it'll, but like a rock. Yeah. I think that's, if he doesn't, if he doesn't have a year, like his 2025 again, probably it'll drop like a rock.
Speaker 7I also just, we should mention Dylan Dingler. I think the likeliest explanation here is being a catcher is really hard. He's been like, his underlying numbers are disaster. Over the last hundred played appearances. It's like a one 95 X Woba. That is like, you don't belong in the majors kind of production. Obviously he belongs in the majors. He's a very good player, but it looked like he might be a top five catcher for 2027. And I guess one thing that helps is everyone else. A catcher has been bad in the second half. So he's not alone. It's like Cal Raleigh and Gabrielle Moreno have been great and everybody else has been terrible. Um, and so that helps. But yeah, I think this was a guy that, you know, we looked at and said, okay, he might be an elite catcher. The underlying numbers were certainly there. His underlying numbers are actually worse than they were last season now. Um, so certainly a top 12 catcher, but not the guy we thought was a difference maker.
Speaker 5Some pitching leftovers per Opta stats on X since ERA became official in both leagues in 1913, no MLB pitcher has finished a season with a sub 2.50 ERA and 200 plus strikeouts after entering that season with fewer than 75 career innings to his name. Both Jacob Mizurowski and Cam Schlittler are on pace to do that this year. Jacob Mizurowski, six and a third, one run, nine strikeouts. And, uh, you know what they say about them is because I'm the Miz and I'm awesome.
Speaker 6He's pretty awesome. You need to come up with a sound clip for Schlittler now.
Speaker 5Uh, yeah, that one I have to be careful with. So, uh, Cam Schlittler monster start here against the Rockies, seven innings, one run at 10 strikeouts to zero walks. And, uh, the updated Cy Young numbers, Cam 5.7 F war Dylan sees 5.5. Uh, they're both awesome. Anything on Cam and the Miz?
Speaker 6I think Schlittler probably locked up the AL Cy Young with this start. Of course, there are, technically he could be awful in his last two starts and blow it, but, uh, he, he clearly pulled ahead of Dylan cease with the late way their last two starts went and, uh, overcame that little control lapse he had in August. And, uh, looks great.
Speaker 7Certainly doesn't hurt that he's thrown 17 and a third more innings than don't cease this season.
Speaker 5Yeah. Uh, for the Miz, I will just point out nice bounce back. His last start was his only start with more than three, three earned runs all season. So he, uh, was allowed to have a bad start, but obviously, uh, bounce back here in a big way against the Cubs. Other standouts. I'll just mention the names, uh, Tarek Scooble, Reed Detmers, Freddie Peralta, Michael Waka, and Jose Soriano. Five names here, Chris, all of them pitched. Well, uh, anything that you'd like to quickly mention on Soriano, Waka, Peralta, Detmers, and Tarek Scooble.
Speaker 7Well, Detmers, I am just always going to struggle to fully embrace him. Um, there's a lot of McKenzie Gore there where the talent is obvious, but he's been so disappointing for so long, but he has been spectacular for long stretches this season. And, uh, over the next couple of weeks, beginning next week, I'm going to be writing like a toughest players to rank at every position. Cause first weekend after the season, I plan on the first Monday after the season, I plan on publishing the first top twelves. I think Scott, you're going to have a similar, you're going to have a similar cadence, but they'll probably come out a little later. Right. Um, yeah.
Speaker 6I mean, one position at a time. Yeah. I don't know if you were planning to do. Yeah. I'm just going to drop them all on Monday. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I'll go a little deeper and a little more thorough and yeah,
Speaker 7but I think Detmers is definitely going to be one of the player toughest pitchers to rank for next season because I just, he's been really good and he's doing it and I, I want to believe, but it's so hard to actually believe.
Speaker 6He's been good for the last, like good is understating. He's been an ace for the last two thirds of the season. The only way he hasn't been an ace is because he hasn't won games. Yeah. And that's not his fault. And one of the reason, you know, he, I may have a bold prediction for Reed Detmers in that bold predictions article that'll eventually come out. Also, uh, if I could quantify it last 19 starts, say two 47 era 0.9, one whip and 10.4 K per nine. That's pretty good. That's amazing.
Speaker 5And then 0.91 whip over a 19 star stretch. Yeah, that's amazing. Yeah, that really is awesome.
Speaker 7And then, um, I just, Freddy Peralta, like I know he's on a nice little run here, uh, two or runs over his last three starts. Um, there have been some changes to what he's done since getting to the raise. Most notably, he's pitching out of the stretch full time after going back to his windup with the Mets. Um, it's not the Freddy Peralta of old. Certainly like they've, they've found success with him, but he's kind of pitching like Nick Martinez right now, you know? And like, look that if, if the rays get Nick Martinez out of Freddy Peralta for the next month, uh, heading into the playoffs and into the playoffs, they would feel great about that. But when you're positively comping Nick or Freddy Peralta to Nick Martinez, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong for Freddy Peralta.
Speaker 5The call to the bullpen for the twins. Yo, Endress Gomez picked up his 22nd save for the Astros. Josh Hader got the ninth inning with a two run lead. He allowed a run, but he picked up his 24th save for the Mets. Kodai Senga got the ninth with a three run lead. He allowed a run, but picked up his seventh save for the Yankees. Tim Hill started the ninth inning with a four run lead. He gave up a two run homer. David Bednar came on to get the final out for his 32nd save for the raise. Brian Baker made a save for the Yankees. His first appearance since leaving Friday with an illness. And he came into the game with a six run lead. It was a clean inning, but his velocity was down quite a bit. So I just think it's something to watch here for Brian Baker. Fastball was down almost two miles per hour. His changeup down almost four miles per hour for the D backs. Kevin Ginkle recorded four outs across the fifth and sixth innings. Then Juan Morio later got the ninth with a two run lead. He allowed a two run homer. He took his fifth blown save. It was lefty Blake Walston who wound up getting the win in extras. The D backs bullpen remains a pretty, pretty messy. I would say right now.
Speaker 6Yeah, it's a three headed closer. I would have put Mario at the front of it. Maybe this blown save changes that, but Kevin Ginkle and I don't know that the top one to rosters is probably Brandon Garcia again, though. I he's the least likely to become a set closer since he's the left hander for the Cubs.
Speaker 5Jacob Webb got the ninth with a two run lead and it was his first time pitching. since he took a comebacker off of his right arm and he gave up a two-run homer. He took his seventh blowed save and the Cubs would lose in extras. Daniel Palencia has been bad since returning as well. Is there anybody to speculate on in the Cubs bullpen right now?
Speaker 6Not really.
Speaker 7Other guys have had the opportunity and it's only those two guys have been any good. So it's hard to get excited about anybody here. Zephyr John's been terrible. Yeah, he's been awful. I know there was some excitement about him, but yeah, the control's gotten worse. Yeah, it's bad. I don't really see anybody else here that you're... Can we just like... The Chicago Cubs are nine games back in the division with 16 games left. They had two different 10-game winning streaks this season. How wild is that?
Speaker 5Very weird. They also had a 10-game losing streak. Yeah.
Speaker 7That is just... What a weird season.
Speaker 5Yeah. For the Blue Jays, Louis Varland was unavailable. Spencer Miles tossed two perfect innings for his second save. And for the Dodgers, Tanner Scott got the ninth with a one-run lead. He walked one, but he picked up his 22nd save. To stream or not to stream, on Wednesday, we have Will Warren up against the Rockies in New York. Zebby Matthews is at the Tigers. Kader Montero is home against the Twins. Andre Palante is at the Giants. We have Cody Bradford at the Mariners. Walker Bueller home against the Nationals. Shane Boz home against the Guardians. Griffin Jacks at the Braves. Davis Martin home against the Pirates.
Speaker 7Yeah. I could see five good innings from Will Warren. I don't have a lot of hope for much beyond that.
Speaker 6I'm into Andre Palante at the Giants.
Speaker 7Yeah, I guess.
Speaker 6I feel good with a lowercase g about that one.
Speaker 5Yeah. I think Boz, Palante, Boz, Warren. Boz is okay. It's probably why I write those three.
Speaker 6I kind of want to start Griffin Jacks, but it didn't go very well last time, so we got to see another one.
Speaker 7Are the Braves a good matchup or not? I really cannot figure them out.
Speaker 5Their offense has been up and down this season.
Speaker 7Matt Olsen, I feel like, has completely fallen apart in the second half.
Speaker 6He's batting under, I think he's batting under 250 now for the year.
Speaker 7Yep. Yeah, he's down to like the, the eighth best fantasy first baseman now.
Speaker 5On Thursday, we have just a five game slate, so I guess just rank these three. Jared Jones at the White Sox, Martin Perez against the Rays, Christian Javier at the Phillies.
Speaker 7I will go... Jared Jones, end of list.
Speaker 6I'll put Martin Perez ahead of Christian Javier since he's a lefty and the Rays struggle against lefties. Sure.
Speaker 5All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks. As always, for listening 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. Bye-bye.
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