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Speaker 2Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports.
Speaker 3And first pitch, rushing deep left field. This is what it's like. Walk the walk.
Speaker 2Got 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 1What's up and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball Today on Tuesday, September 8th. I am Frank Stample, joined by Chris Towers. Today on the show, we have a long Labor Day weekend recap. Latest waiver wire names. Jesus Lozardo did something he never did before. Rafael Devers is red hot, probably the hottest hitter in all of baseball. Pete Krohn, Armstrong, I don't know. It's close between those two. But first, Chris, the big man is back. Aaron Judge will return on Tuesday. I don't know how much that helps people in fantasy, but obviously he's one of the biggest names in baseball. And I'm very excited about it. So he's back.
Speaker 4It's very exciting. He is the best hitter in baseball. And I mean, you gotta assume he's just like, I think you compare him and Shohei Otani, right? Like arguably the two best players in baseball. Both, Otani came back from his injury on Monday. It was only a four game absence. I feel a little better about Aaron Judge the rest of the way than I do about Otani, because my only question with Aaron Judge is just whether he'll be rusty. And obviously no minor league rehab assignment. That's a little iffy. But we have seen this from Aaron Judge before coming back in in the middle of a playoff run and no minor league rehab assignment. He's fine. In 2023, he came back. It's at the end of July, I think. But he came out back without a rehab assignment. He had 18 homers in 57 games. He had a 965 OPS. He was Aaron Judge after that. So I think he's probably just going to be Aaron Judge for the next 17 days or whatever it is, 18 days. Otani, I have no idea because he's looked legitimately pretty bad the last couple of weeks. So at least between that, those two, I do give Judge the edge.
Speaker 1Yeah, I said I don't think it matters for fantasy because I assume most people that drafted Aaron Judge in the first round, anything can happen, man. If you hit on mid-round breakouts, you could obviously be competing for things right now. But to go this long, nearly, it was actually 99 games exactly, the number on his back, without Aaron Judge, it's pretty hard to make that up in your fantasy lineup. So if you manage to make it this far, obviously you get Aaron Judge back in there. There is some talk that he could be limited the first couple of games. Maybe it's like five, seven innings, something like that. But he's back. Very exciting times. We'll see what he can do. The Yankees put out this hype video. I actually got kind of emotional. It was weird. But I'm like, yes, Aaron Judge is back. So excited to see what he can do the rest of the way. Let's get into the players of the weekend. Oh my goodness gracious. All right. There is no shortage of names to talk about, Chris. Where do you want to go?
Speaker 4Yeah, there's a lot to go with. I'm going to go with Parker Messick. And part of that is we didn't bring him up in yesterday. Yesterday's podcast with Casey Bubba talking about that meatball draft, the first draft for 2027. But I realized Parker Messick was SP 29 in that draft. He was like a couple rounds after Kate Anderson. He was behind Brian Wu, a couple other pretty iffy names. And boy, I don't know. I mean, I get that the fantasy community has kind of had a little trouble fully embracing Parker. Messick, he was awesome last year, but he was outside of the top 280 P coming into the season and I get it. He doesn't look like your typical ace and he's there in 94 mile per hour fastballs. And he's short and stocky. I mean, he's six feet tall. He's taller than me, but you know, he, he seems short and he plays short. And so I guess people just struggle with the fact that like this guy's an ace, but this guy's an ace, he struck out 12 against the tigers over the week. And it was three earned runs allowed, had a couple home runs, but 12 strikeouts. He has a two 53 ERA for the season. His peripherals are all in the two nine to three one range. I think if you, let me, let me, I wrote this down earlier. It's something like he has like the third best XERA since the start of last season. Yeah. Only. Three pitchers have a lower XERA since the start of the 2026 season than Parker Messick and only eight have a better K minus walk ratio than Parker Messick. And again, he was SP 29 in this draft. It's just one draft, right? Like who, who knows what the rest of it's going to look like, but this guy should be a top 15 starting pitcher. Shouldn't he like, what, what, what, what's the, what, what would be the possible hangup on Parker Messick?
Speaker 1I have him. Ranked close to that. Let's see. I have him right at SP 15. Yeah. Well, obviously, you know, that's not me ranking for next season, but I think he is, should be drafted as an SP two somewhere in that, you know, 13 to 20 range. I think he's probably going to be there for all the reasons you mentioned. He doesn't have like the gaudy strikeout rate, but it's a very good strikeout rate. It's over a strikeout per inning. The control has been better than I think we all thought it was going to be at the major league level. So far and the ratios are there. He is starting to flash even more strikeout upside 10 double digit strikeouts in two of his last four outings. He's had the 12 strikeouts here, 19 whiffs on 103 pitches. His velocity has been up in the second half as well. He's got this really good fastball changeup combination. Yeah. That is a sample of one, the, the first draft that we recapped on yesterday's podcast with Bubba, but I have to imagine he'll, he'll go higher in, in other drafts, but yeah. If for some crazy reason, that's just like the price tag on Parker Messick. That's awesome.
Speaker 4Yeah. Like I feel like people are kind of maybe viewing him like Shody Managa coming off his first season. Uh, I think the skills are better than Shota. Like Shota always had that home run issue that he just danced around as a rookie and it's proven to be a pretty big one. I don't think Parker Messick has any glaring flaws like that. So I just, I don't know. I get that. He didn't come to the majors with hype and that stuff. Does matter ultimately, but I just, I think he's really, really good. And like, who would you rather draft next year? You got to choose one Parker Messick or Yuri Perez.
Speaker 1Yeah. I think two weeks ago, it's a good time to ask that with a Yuri Perez completely falling apart.
Speaker 4I think two weeks ago you might've said Yuri, but he's fallen on hard times again. I think it's gotta be Parker. Messick, right?
Speaker 1I lean Messick because I think the floor is higher for him and I look, I think eventually given the stuff that Yuri Perez has, he could be an ace in the game. I still think that his range of outcomes is potentially wider than someone like Parker Messick because of the control issues that he battles at times and the fact that he gives up hard contact in the air. So it's like home runs with runners on base because you walked some guys like that was part of why I was off of Yuri Perez coming into this year and it's still something that's. It's in the back of my mind when he returned from injury. He went through that stretch where he was amazing and now over his last restarts he has a wait for it 1234 era and a 266 whip so he is really really struggling to the finish line here and uh my theory the past couple of weeks chris is i think yuri perez is just kind of wearing down here sure he's up to 143 total innings last year it was 118 and the year before he didn't throw at all so i i think the innings are just kind of adding up here for yuri perez that could also just be me making an excuse for him so i i lean a bit of both like obviously i
Speaker 4think that explanation makes perfect sense he's also pitching like he did in may you know yeah when he was presumably feeling perfectly fine so i agree it makes sense that that would be an issue but i i can't say that's all the issue is you know yeah again that is uh yuri perez i had a lot
Speaker 1of people asking this weekend whether or not to use him i actually told a lot of people to uh just bench yuri you and the matchups this week were the mets and the dodgers and the mets while they don't rank highly for the season i mean everyone's healthy now it's like lindor and soto are there now and obviously like the dodgers is a really tough matchup so i actually told a lot of people to bench him this week he was still 76 started so uh very rough first one there for yuri and he'll get the dodgers uh later on this week yeah good call yep uh let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my player of the weekend and and really let's get into my And really the player of Monday night, Henry Bolte, huge game here against Dylan Cease. That game is actually still going. Of course, the A's bullpen blew it for Jacob Lopez, who kind of fell apart late there. But while Dylan Cease was in the game, mind you, competing for the AL Cy Young this season, Henry Bolte went one for one, two walks, a homer, three steals, three runs scored. All of that damage against Dylan Cease, one of the best pitchers in baseball. And Henry Bolte's previous 34 games entering this game, 314 batting average, five homers, 23 runs scored, four steals, 867 OPS, 92.6 average exit velocity. This guy and I have talked a lot about him. He is a collection of skills right now. He is still, in my opinion, a raw player because while he does some things very well, he hits the ball hard, he's very fast. A lot of that hard contact is still on the ground. And he does strike out more than you want for someone who's supposed to be like a power speed type player, right? Like with his speed, it's like, man, just try to put that ball in play as much as possible. But I think he's kind of figuring things out, Chris. And we're seeing what the upside could be with the potential power and speed here from Henry Bolte, who is still only 46% rostered. That number feels way too low.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's tough because there's still, like you said, pretty obvious limitations in the way he, goes about hitting the ball. He can hit the ball really hard. He's a great athlete, doesn't elevate the ball very well at all. Doesn't elevate the ball to the poolside very well. Um, and that remains an issue. Like in August, his average launch angle was negative one degrees.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4It means he's hitting the ball right into the ground. In September, small sample, but in September, it's only zero degree average launch angle, 92.4 mile per hour average exit velocity. That's awesome. And you can run high batting averages. And, you know, I think we do get caught up a little bit too much in like the low pulled air rate. What that means is they're not going to maximize their power production. And Henry Bolte is not really doing that, right? He's got, what is five homers in 34 games. You said, uh, on the season it's nine and 102, like, but you can still be a useful fantasy player if you're a 15 to 20 homer guy.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 4You can look at the underlying raw power and say, well, he's hit a 114 mile an hour baseball and he's got 91 mile per hour average velocity. And boy, could he be a 30 homer guy, but not everybody has to be a 30 homer guy and you don't have to be a 30 homer guy to be worth adding, you know, it limits the upside. It limits how good he can be. Um, but I, I think with how hot he's been, yeah, you kind of just have to just add Henry Bolte and don't worry about what he could be.
Speaker 1Yeah, and it was, this was a good week to add him. And I brought that up last week for all the A's hitters, because again, they have six home games this week, next week they're on the road again. So you do have to kind of play it a week to week situation. It's not the same as Coors Field, but it's kind of close to Coors Field. And, uh, look, he has some other limitations as well. He's much better at home. He's much better against lefties than he is against righties so far. So again, he's still kind of like this collection of skills and we're kind of seeing him like. Mold some of these skills right before our eyes here, but I think he's going to be a pretty fun player for next season as well. Again, one more full season in Sacramento that obviously, um, makes you excited to draft some of the A's hitters again next year, but there's some power, there's a lot of speed. I don't really know what the batting average is going to wind up because he strikes out too much, but interesting player is Henry Bolte. And I think that roster rate for the last couple of weeks of the season, maybe you don't use them next week, you use them the final week, uh, but 46% rostered want to give some shout outs here, Chris. Two of the biggest performances of the weekend, Jesus Lazardo, his first complete game, his first shutout of his career. He is on a crazy run, a two hit shutout with 12 strikeouts on Labor Day here against the Atlanta Braves. Obviously massive game, massive series between the Braves and the Phillies, 23 whiffs on 109 pitches. And he, over his last seven starts, 108 ERA, .80 whip, 64 strikeouts over 50 innings for Jesus Lazardo. Who's down to a .287 ERA overall and Rafael Devers, man, this dude is absolutely on fire. Three for four with a homer, five RBI on Friday, two for four with a double dong on Saturday. And over his last 22 games, he's hitting .349, 11 homers, uh, OPS around 1250. And I heard this on the broadcast on the, the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the, the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the podcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game.
Speaker 4And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game.
Speaker 1And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game.
Speaker 4And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game. And I heard this on the broadcast on the Peacock, I guess it was, you know, Monday night or Labor Day broadcast, but, um, apparently once the trade deadline passed, they said that they were going to be able to play the game.
Speaker 1it is and this is just the latest of many examples and there will continue to be examples like this like it is a long season man you have to let it play out and i understand you want to get off to a hot start in fantasy but also the guys that finish strong are the ones that can help you win your championship down the stretch of seasons as well so i get it like we all we're very excited in april and may and we want every one of our players to get off to great starts it doesn't always happen that way but it is a six-month season and guys that we know are talented you just have to let it play out and we're seeing that right now with rafael devers before we hit our first break make sure to hit that like button if you're watching on youtube we do appreciate you being here if you're listening on the audio side of things and you enjoy the podcast make sure to drop us 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 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 one hundred dollar trade pays out over twelve hundred dollars 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 five hundred dollars in bonus credits when you trade twenty five dollars k-a-l-s-h-i calci 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
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Speaker 1see our seven day return policy at carvana.com welcome back fantasy baseball today let's hit the news and notes and shohei otani missed four straight as a hitter and then returned to the lineup here on monday he went over three with a walk and two strikeouts in that one and it does not sound like he's going to pitch again this season either he wants to focus on getting healthy and getting his swing right ahead of the postseason he's been battling the the knee the biceps the the neck injury so he's trying to get through those things and and uh obviously get things locked in before as a hitter before the postseason but i'd be very surprised if we see otani as a pitcher anymore this year garrett crochet threw a 16 pitch bullpen on friday it was his first time pitching off a mound in over three months he threw exclusively fastballs but it's a good first step and uh he could be back you know by the end of the season as a reliever it's only going to be as a reliever but you know someone that could factor into the uh the postseason bullpen here for the red sox kyle harrison struggled once again on sunday and after the game pat murphy said harrison could be shifted to a relief role or make shorter plan starts and then on monday murphy clarified he said harrison will start on saturday against the reds and that the brewers will probably have a long man ready behind him in that start kyle harrison it was six runs over three and two-thirds four of those earned four walks four strikeouts he's 93 percent rostered uh chris what do you think about dropping kyle harrison sounds like i guess they'll play it inning to inning like first time through the order on saturday if he looks good they'll kind of just let him keep going but if he's bad early on they're probably just going to pull the plug so what do you think about dropping
Speaker 4him at this point i think any player look there's 18 days left in the season yeah if you're playing in a head-to-head points league there might be five days left in the season right like so i yeah i think anybody that you're not using right now you can have the conversation about dropping them and in harrison's case he's been struggling lately obviously and he is i think likely to have some short starts moving forward so yeah i i think it's perfectly reasonable to drop him where it becomes a tricky
Speaker 1situation and i had a few people ask me about this exact scenario is most people think it's people drafted kyle harrison late or picked him up as a free agent if you play in a keeper league he has good round value for next year you might not want to drop him but it's tough because you're competing for a championship so i totally understand that dynamic but at this point i think you have to question like how good is his keeper value heading into next season as well uh the way that you know this second half has played out for kyle harrison yeah it's it's hard because in the
Speaker 4short term i do think hey he had a forearm injury is probably a pretty good explanation for why his season went so sideways but yeah we don't have an especially long track record here for kyle harrison and you know forearm injuries i don't want to say they tend to lead to more forearm injuries but it usually isn't a one-time thing you know it could lead to the worst injury yeah and so that is like i think he's super talented i think the gains he made this season were real that the brewers were able to coke something out of him that neither the red sox nor the the giants were able to um but in the short term i think he's definitely droppable and he's not going to be someone you can draft with a ton of confidence next year i mean in that meatball draft he went top 24 i'm pretty sure um yeah that'll fall down now that's definitely not going to happen and i think it's got to be more like a 40-ish range now because you also just look at the numbers it's 366 era 127 whip 373 xera for as good as he was for a lot of this season the overall numbers look just okay shane oh mac shane mcclanahan
Speaker 1was placed in the il friday with left forearm tightness and uh twins manager derrick shelton told uh reporters friday that byron buxton is likely to require hip surgery so uh if if he needs that i mean so i'm not sure if he's going to be able to do that but i'm not sure if he's going to sooner rather than later would make sense i guess the twins are kind of you know in a post-season wild card battle so maybe they can get like some dh at bats out of him but uh yeah i mean that recovery is probably going to take a while i would imagine for byron buxton
Speaker 4thinking about next year you know so that one's tough yeah i mean they are down to 2.4 percent in the fangraph playoff odds so i let's get that surgery i yeah i am usually a proponent of if you're alive go for it but i'm not sure if i'm going to be able to do that but i'm not sure if I think in this instance, it makes a lot more sense to just get the surgery than trying to have him potentially delay it. I mean, if you're talking, if it's a six-month recovery, well, already you're talking about the start of spring training with no delays. Yeah. Six to eight months, you're talking about May. You're already starting to talk about some pretty worrying timetables there.
Speaker 1Joe Ryan made his return on Monday against the Tigers. Four innings, two earned runs, seven strikeouts to one walk. He had 12 whiffs on 66 pitches. That's a pretty healthy number there for him. 368 ERA, 113 whip on the year, 26% started. I totally get people wanting to play it safe his first time around this week. But assuming he comes out of this weekend all right. I, you know, final couple of weeks, I think you'll, you'll be all right to get Joe Ryan back in your lineups. Jack Caglione left early Saturday and then was out on Sunday. Did they play on Monday? The Royals, they did. I don't think he was in the lineup. No, he was not. He was not. So, so Cags was out on both Sunday and Monday. He was diagnosed with a grade one flexor strain. And this is another one like, you know, would like to see Cags finish the season strong and in leagues where you have. Um, obviously he was playing well, but if it's a flexor strain and it's something that can linger, it's like, dude, just shut him down. You're not really playing for anything else. So, um, we'll, we'll, uh, we'll see if Caglione can make it back. Brian Baker left early on Friday due to an illness. It's nothing arm-related, so that's good news, but hopefully he's all right. We haven't seen him in a game since Friday, so hopefully...
Speaker 4And his velocity was down, like, three or four miles per hour in that hour.
Speaker 1And he didn't finish his appearance, either. Like, they had to come get him and take him out of that game, so... Hopefully all is well with Brian Baker. Chase DeLauder left Friday with a sprained right wrist, and then he missed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Manager Steven Vogt said that DeLauder is, quote, feeling a lot better, so we'll see if he's in the lineup on Tuesday. The Mariners promoted another one of their top prospects. This time it was Michael Arroyo, 21 years old, 114 total games in the minors this year, 283, 18 homers, 17 steals, 830 OPS, only 8% rostered. He started at second base on Sunday. Chris, do you have any deep league interest in Michael Arroyo of the Mariners?
Speaker 4So he started just one of the first three games, right?
Speaker 1Yeah. But he didn't get called up until Sunday, right? Okay. Yeah, I don't think he was promoted over there. But he started against a lefty, so he might just be a short side platoon. I'm not entirely sure.
Speaker 4Yeah, I mean, part of me just thinks, like, they should just play him every day and see, because Rosarine is a free agent. No idea what they're going to do there. J.P. Crawford's a free agent. I would assume, you know, Emerson Hancock, or, sorry, Colt Emerson is going to be the main replacement there, but there are still potential spots, for Michael Arroyo, who has primarily played second base. He's played a little bit of shortstop, and I think this season he'd been increasingly playing more left field. So there could be opportunities for him. I think they should probably see what they've got there. He was interesting at AAA. 18 homers, 17 steals in 114 games. If you add in last season, I think, oh, no, he only got to AAA this year. So, yeah, I think he's a pretty interesting player, but not, I think he's a step below, like, Lazaro Montes. Agreed. Yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah, I'm just not entirely sure that he's going to play every day, but I agree with you. I think he should, right? They've been using Rodden at third base, right? Like, I don't know if he's, you know, part of their long-term future, but, you know, they could find ways to get Michael Arroyo in the lineup, and it would be nice to see what he could do. He was putting up some pretty good numbers down in the minors. Stadon Raffaello was placed in the IL with a right quad strain. Eli White started in center field on Sunday against a right-handed pitcher there for the Red Sox. Nick Pavetta returned on Monday against the Nationals. He looked really good in his final rehab start. It was four and a third shutout with seven strikeouts. And then in his return against the Nats, five shutout, two hits, two strikeouts, only one swinging strike on 63 pitches. The velocity was down a little bit here, and obviously coming back from an arm injury, 63% rostered. Looks like he's a two-star pitcher this week against the Nationals and at the Giants. So it's, in most cases, I think, unless you play in a daily lineup league, it's too late to use him for this week. But what do you think about potentially adding Nick Pavetta and using him the final couple weeks of the season?
Speaker 4I don't think he's someone you have to view as, like, a must-add pitcher. He was, look, it will take five shutout innings every time, obviously, but only two strikeouts, one whiff. Velocity down, I think. He seems like a diminished version. And that doesn't mean he can't be effective, but we have seen Nick Pavetta's career is very hit-or-miss, and it feels very risky to take that on.
Speaker 1All right, continuing on here. Next up, reinforcements are coming for the D-backs. Corbin Burns, Zach Gallin, and Michael Soroka will return this week. Burns will officially start and make his return on Tuesday. Coming back from Tommy John surgery, also had a terrorist major strain in his shoulder. I don't think it... It matters for fantasy, Chris, but it'll be fun. Welcome back, Corbin Burns.
Speaker 4We'd love to see him pitch well over the, I don't know, seven innings that he's probably going to throw the rest of the way because he only made the one rehab start, right?
Speaker 1I believe it was only one, and it was only two innings.
Speaker 4Two innings, 17 pitches, no strikeouts. Worked very efficiently. I would guess it's going to be a very, very limited workload. Four Corbin Burns here.
Speaker 1Mm-hmm. And the latest wildcard standings have the D-backs are half a game ahead of the Padres. So, man, that one is... That's coming down to the wire. The other teams, you know, Marlins, Cardinals, Pirates, they're all between five and five and a half games out, so it seems very unlikely. But that final wildcard spot is solely between the D-backs and Padres. That is a...
Speaker 4Kind of annoying. Really close race. The Marlins are one game under .500. They're not going to make the playoffs. They have a... 0.5% chance of making the playoffs. And then you look at the clown show that is the American League, the junior circuit. They would be right in the mix. Yeah, the Marlins would be, I don't know, a game back of a playoff spot right now. It's just a shame that they'll just let any wildcard team in in the American League, huh?
Speaker 1I know you're trying to take a jab at the Yankees here, but I mean, the Yankees... No, I would never do that. The Yankees are doing their thing.
Speaker 4Look at my hat.
Speaker 1117 plus 117 run differential. I'm on your team. What is that saying? It says New York or nowhere. I'm with you. All right, all right, all right. The final wildcard spot in the AL right now is held by the Guardians. The Blue Jays are a half a game out. The Rangers are one and a half out. The Orioles are three out. Are the Mariners... But the Rangers are... Are the Mariners really not going to... The Mariners are not going to make the playoffs. No, no, no. Yeah, they're... They are six games out. In the division, they're five and a half. I didn't realize it was that bad.
Speaker 4I didn't realize it was... I mean, they have a 420 ERA as a staff. That they just haven't done anything well this season. Yeah.
Speaker 1Well, my pick to represent the American League in the World Series before the season, that's not going to happen. Nathan O'Maldy could pitch in a relief role once he returns before hopefully building up enough to make some spot starts towards the end of the season. And there's a chance that the Rangers in the postseason, so I'm sure... I'm sure they would like to have Nathan O'Maldy back for that. Trent Grisham was placed in the IL with a grade 2 right hamstring strain and could miss the rest of the regular season. Bad news for Trent Grisham. Good news for Spencer Jones, who now has a clear opportunity in center field. And we've been talking a lot about Spencer Jones and he's been doing some good things. He's flashing power and speed.
Speaker 4Yeah, his overall OPS for the season is up to like 760, which is pretty solid.
Speaker 1And he's been even better since... Yep. Since coming back, yeah. That second stint. He's up to 64% rostered. I think that number's probably right.
Speaker 4Yeah, it's hard to make the case in a points league.
Speaker 1Yeah, he's going to strike out so much. But I think any five outfielder league, any head-to-head categories league, even with three outfielders in that format, just with his power and speed, I think he probably needs to be rostered in those as well.
Speaker 4I did notice with Trent Grisham, presuming the season ends, he's on pace. He's on pace for the same number of extra base hits as last season. If he had played the same number of games, he would have had 46 extra base hits last season, 46 this season. But last season, 76% of his extra base hits were homers. This season, it was a much more normal 46%. And so he had a huge downgrade of a season, even though in a lot of ways, I think he was a similar player.
Speaker 1I know you referenced that a lot before the year. I believe it was Derek Van Riper who had that stat, right? About home runs turning into dunks. Doubles the following year. So yeah, shout out to DVR. That was a good catch there on Grisham. His stack-ass stuff was still pretty good, but just didn't really play out as expected here for Trent Grisham. Jason Dominguez, by the way, was recalled, but with Judge back, it feels like Dominguez is probably going to get sent back down. Ian Happ was scratched from the lineup Sunday with left knee discomfort. Then he was also out of the lineup on Monday. I have a head-to-head championship in my home league where I have Ian Happ, and I chose not to play, just because, A, he hasn't really been that great this season. He's having a down year. He's been sitting up against some lefties and obviously dealing with this knee injury now as well. Geraldo Perdomo was hit in the helmet by a line drive while running the bases on Sunday, and he left early but did not land in concussion protocol, and he was back in the lineup on Monday. So good sign there for Geraldo Perdomo. Lazaro Montes left Friday's game with left hip soreness then did not start Saturday or Sunday. He did appear as a pinch hitter both days, and I think that's a pretty good sign, especially with the off day on Monday. I would bet on Lazaro Montes being in the lineup on Tuesday, and I picked him up in Tout Wars, which is a 15-team roto, five-outfielder league. So I think any five-outfielder league, I still would have been looking to add Montes this weekend.
Speaker 4Yeah, I think that's fair. Man, sorry. I was just looking at one of my teams, and who would have thought we'd be at this point? I benched Kyle Tucker, for Jung-Hoo Lee in a league. I just got distracted by the reminder that I did that, and that I don't feel bad about it.
Speaker 1Yeah, this weekend, I have Tucker in a few NFBC teams, and I benched him for Lars Neupahr in one of those. Neupahr against three righties. I'm like, all right. Kyle Tucker, although he was on the road, and he did home runs, so maybe not the best call. But man, whenever Tucker's at home, just don't play that guy. so bad in Dodger Stadium this year. So Ryan O'Hearn should be getting a rehab assignment early-ish this week, and he has been out since August 1st with a quad strain. He is 55% rostered, first and outfield eligible. Could return this weekend, could return early next week. Very productive player when he was healthy this year, so I would be okay in deeper leagues if he's out there still, re-adding Ryan O'Hearn. Max Meyer has resumed his throwing program. He's been out since before the All-Star break with a neck strain. Just not sure he has enough time here to get built back up. Ronaldo Lopez will return and start Wednesday against the Rays. He is 22% rostered. He had a .364 ERA and a .134 whip. Chris, do you have any interest in Ronaldo Lopez?
Speaker 4Very, very limited interest in a points league because he's SPARP eligible. I think that's about it, though.
Speaker 1All right, the D-backs, DFA'd Max Kepler, which I think is good news for Ryan Walshmit, potentially good news for Jordan Lawler as well. Lawler, unfortunately, still not playing against every right-handed pitcher, which is annoying. The Yankees optioned Elmer Rodriguez back to AAA, which means Will Warren should start on, I believe, Wednesday against the Rockies here. That start in New York. So I know Will Warren has not been good in the second half, but a home start against the Rockies, I think that could work out pretty well for him. Emmett Sheehan is scheduled to be the bulk reliever. In fact, that happened on Monday. It wasn't just a bulk reliever. He was the starter, and he was pretty awesome. He was great, yeah. Start against the Reds, reminding us what his... potential could be. Five and two-thirds, one run, ten strikeouts to one walk, 18 whiffs on 82 pitches, and in his four starts in the minors, 150 ERA, .94 whip, 12K per nine, 35% rostered. I just... I don't know if he sticks around. What do you think? Is there anything for Sheehan?
Speaker 4I don't know, but look, he's clearly talented. As tough as this season has been. I mean, imagine telling us before the season that Emmett Sheehan and Chase Burns would be starting against each other in early September, and neither would really be worth using. Or at least neither would be likely started in most fantasy leagues. That's a pretty big disappointment, although Chase Burns is obviously just because he was limited. But, yeah, Sheehan, I mean, there were some differences here. His velocity was the same, but the movement profile on his four-seamer was different. He was getting one inch less of induced vertical break. Which usually is not a good thing, but you have to keep in mind, it's not just number go up equals good when it comes to induced vertical break. There's also the relationship between horizontal movement and release point and all this stuff. And he had a couple more inches of horizontal break with that pitch as well. The changeup looked way different. Had five more inches of drop than it did before. It was about a mile per hour slower. It got three whiffs. Maybe the combination of those two, two pitches played better in this permutation. But I, look, when you've got a pitcher as obviously talented as Emma Sheehan, who we've seen flashes from, you're always going to look for positives. And I think we saw some here. So I don't know what the role is going to be moving forward or if he even sticks around, but he's pretty talented and this might have been a turning point of some sort.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think it's a deeper name that you can look at. The Dodgers are still running with a six-man rotation and Eric Lauer and Roki Sasaki are on the IL. So Sheehan and Robleski are in the rotation right now. And Robleski was not good in his first start back or relief appearance, whatever it was. So I think Sheehan probably has gained a leg up on Robleski. And so perhaps could stick around for like two or three starts the rest of the way. Again, that's Emma Sheehan. He's 35% rostered. Dalton Rushing was placed in the IL after, re-injuring his right elbow. And other names who went on the IL this weekend, Willie Castro with left heel inflammation, JT Ginn with a right elbow impingement, and Luis Robert with left hamstring discomfort. Poor Baltimore Orioles who just picked him up and Luis Robert's already on the IL. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll see if we can get through all of it. I've got a bunch of waiver wire names, some polarizing pitchers to talk about, all the leftovers. We'll do that right after this.
Speaker 9We'll be right back.
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Speaker 1Welcome back, Fantasy Baseball Day. And we'll start off here with Waver Wire Hitters. And the A's, I wanted to point out, they are doing their thing. Mentioned Henry Bolte up top. But Zach Gelof, he had two more steals on Monday. Last six games, three homers. Four steals. And lots of improvements this year for Gelof. 17 homers, 14 steals. He's all the way up to 78% rostered. But even if you are in a shallower points league, I know his play discipline isn't the best, but he's just making things happen, man. Power and speed, so.
Speaker 4Yeah, that's tough because it's just, it's a points league. And it doesn't, it's not his best format. It's a pretty bad format for him. But he's eligible at three different spots, and it's always nice to have a guy like that around. So I don't.
Speaker 1Third base is still so bad, man.
Speaker 4Yeah, I don't hate the idea of adding him. And if you've been starting like Kazumoka Mota or somebody, you could probably start Gelof ahead of him at home at least.
Speaker 1Yeah. Jeff McNeil, previous 38 games entering Monday. 3.33, five homers, six steals, 8.58 OPS. The strikeout rate just 10.5%. Tons of line drives. We know who Jeff McNeil is. His first half was dreadful. Obviously his second half numbers. Don't expect him to be that player. And, you know, an 8.50 OPS bet. But everything is kind of evening out here. And I think he is a name that you could stream whenever the A's are home.
Speaker 4Had the game-winning hit off of all-universe closer Louis Varland on Monday night. And it didn't even get out of the infield, right? It came off the bat 51.9 miles per hour.
Speaker 1It reminds me of the scene in Benchwarmers where he's like pointing to the sky like he's going to hit a home run, and then he just keeps lowering the bat. And he's like, actually, I'm going to hit it right here, right in front of home plate. And that's exactly what he does.
Speaker 4That's Major League, right? That's what he does, right? He calls his shot and then bunts for the game-winning hit. Henry Dorn, is that that guy's name?
Speaker 1I'm due for a re-watch of Major League. I watched it a bunch when I was growing up, but I probably haven't seen it in 15 or 20 years. And I remember liking it a lot.
Speaker 4It's a great movie. It's been a few years. I'm sure I butchered the name. I don't think Henry Dorn is the name of that player. That sounds Roger Dorn.
Speaker 1Roger Dorn, yeah.
Speaker 4No, Jake Taylor. Jeez, we got all of it wrong. Wow, unbelievable.
Speaker 1All right, deleting that part from the podcast.
Speaker 4Yes, take me.
Speaker 1And Chris has gone. Shallow league names. Waverwire hitters from the weekend. Josh Baez is picking things up here. Two for four with his seventh home run on Saturday. He went two for three with a run and an RBI on Sunday. And now in 23 games, 244. Batting average is low. He strikes out a lot. But he's got seven homers, two steals. The OPS is up to 866. That number looks pretty healthy there. For Josh Baez, who's 77% rostered. I think any categories league, yes. Any points league where he loses points for strikeouts, it's a no for Josh Baez. And other names here. Tommy Edmond is picking things up. Homered on Saturday. He had two more hits on Sunday. And he's got six homers and six steals in 67 games. It's around a 15-15 pace. Not a high-ceiling player, but I think a pretty good floor here in the Dodgers lineup. Second, third, and outfield eligible. And Eugenio Suarez has looked more like himself over the past month. He homered twice this weekend. Last 30 games, 232, eight homers, 24 RBI, 907 OPS. 69% rostered. Chris, if you were just looking to continue stashing, not stashing, streaming a third baseman, how would you rank Suarez, Edmond, and Zach Gelof? I know the matchups would probably decide that answer, but I guess matchups aside, Gelof, Edmond, and Suarez, How would you rank those three?
Speaker 4Probably Gelof, Suarez, Edmond. But since two of them have really good home parks, it might just be whoever's got the most home games. Yep.
Speaker 1Let's talk about those fighting fish. Heriberto Hernandez, big game on Sunday, two for four with a sock and a shoe. He has started 23 straight games for the Marlins. And over his last 24 games, he has eight homers, three steals, and OPS around 950. Still only 45% rostered. And Javier Sanoja, two for four with his eighth home run on Sunday, had two more hits on Monday. He has started 16 straight for the Marlins. And over his last 21, 375, four homers, three steals. The OPS is around 1,000. And I did not write down his roster rate, but I'm pretty sure it's sub 40% here for Sanoja. Let's see. It is actually 44%. So that number's getting up there. Second, third, shortstop, and outfield. Do you think these roster rates need to be significantly higher for either Hernandez or Sanoja?
Speaker 4Yeah, I think Hernandez has just been under-rostered for a couple of months now. I know part of the problem was he started to get really hot, I feel like in like July, and started hyping him up a lot. And then he had like a two-week period where he just went completely ice cold. And he's been pretty good since then, but that'll happen. And when you're talking about a fairly marginal player, I think I understand why people would get scared off. When they add him and he goes cold. But I think Gariberto Hernandez is just a good hitter. I don't think it's ever going to be a good batting average. I think he's probably like a 240, 250 guy. But I think the power is real. He has a 248 XBA, but a 490X slug. 242 ISO there is very good. So I think he's a legit 25 homer guy. It's not a terribly exciting profile. It's kind of in like a Lourdes Gurriel kind of way. But in a five outfielder league, that matters.
Speaker 1I think his power is more legit than anything we ever saw from Gurriel. And not to discredit Gurriel, he was a fine player in his prime. But I think he probably maxed out around 20, 25 home runs. I think if Hernandez just gets full runs, like he's at 24 home runs, and he wasn't even an everyday player in the first half of the season. So I think the power is pretty legit here. Very similar roster rates. Who do you like more, Hernandez or... Henry Bulte, rest of season?
Speaker 4Oh, it's clearly Hernandez for me. Bulte, or sorry, oh, sorry. Yeah, sorry, I thought you were asking Heriberto versus Javier Sanoja, who's also 44%.
Speaker 1Hernandez versus Bulte, yeah.
Speaker 4Gosh, I think I would still go Heriberto, but it's closer. Bulte, you know, the batting average especially really helps him, but that's very fickle. So yeah, I think Heriberto. Heriberto has stronger skill set overall as a hitter.
Speaker 1It is super close. I lean Bulte, but it might just come down to what you need the rest of the way for chasing categories. I think batting average and speed will probably favor Bulte. And I think the power will favor Heriberto Hernandez. A couple of catchers here. Mickey Gasper homered again on Friday. Last 19 games, 327 batting average, eight home runs, 15 RBI. He has started eight straight with Wilson Gutierrez in the IL, 34% rostered. Welcome back to Kyle Thiel, who returned on Friday. He homered on Sunday. It was a three-run homer. The numbers this season, very bad. He's dealt with so many injuries. Last year, he was much better. We know it was a big prospect pedigree as well. Chris, if you're looking for a second catcher in like a 12-team league, who do you like more, Gasper or Kyle Thiel?
Speaker 4Thiel's the better player, but I'd just go with Gasper. The way he's locked in right now, just ride it until it falls off. I haven't seen any updates on Wilson Gutierrez. So I don't think he's going to come back this week. So I would just go with Gasper here.
Speaker 1And then some deeper names. Thomas Adjaci, last eight games for him, 15 hits, three homers, two steals, second, third, shortstop, and outfield eligible, getting some consistent run here with the Cardinals. And Kobe Mayo had himself a big game on Monday, two for five with a double dong, three RBI. In the second half, he's hitting 279 with nine homers, two steals, a 905 OPS, also a 31% K rate. He plays against every lefty, sits against some righties, like every second or third righty on the schedule, 31% rostered. Do you have any interest in these deeper-ish names, Adjaci and Kobe Mayo?
Speaker 4Yeah. The one thing I've noticed about Kobe Mayo is in their last, I think it's 22 games is what I looked up, they have had 12 lefties start against them. And I would guess, the numbers haven't updated yet, I would guess because he homered against a righty today, that he does have an OPS over 500 against right-handed pitching this season. But it's very close. And obviously- Did you say an OPS over 500? OPS over 500 for Kobe Mayo. Let me make sure, because I know Baseball Savant updates that, 513 OPS against right-handed pitching. Wow. Kobe Mayo has 16 homers against lefties, that is two more than anyone else in baseball.
Speaker 11136 OPS against lefties.
Speaker 4He is crushing lefties. He has five homers and a 513 OPS against righties. I generally don't put a ton of stock into can-hit lefties, can't-hit righties profile. There aren't a lot of guys who are actually good against lefties and not good against righties. He seems to be one of them, and he certainly hasn't proven anything beyond that. I'm pretty skeptical that Kobe Mayo has suddenly figured it out. So I don't think he ... If you want to do a hot-hand play, I don't know how many lefties they have coming up, but I think you should approach it very, very skeptically for both of them. So Jaycee, I don't think the skill set is especially strong. He's hot right now, but it seems pretty Babbitt-fueled, and I don't see a lot of reason to believe that the underlying skill set is strong. That's Jaycee. All right.
Speaker 1Some waiver-wire pitchers from the weekend and shallow names here. Tyler Mallee, another solid outing, six innings, two unearned runs, three strikeouts, last 10 starts, 210 ERA, one whip. He is 73% rostered. He gets the Phillies again this week. Walbert Arana took a tough loss at the Pirates, eight innings of one-run ball, only four strikeouts here. Has been much better over his last two outings, 15 innings, two runs, 12 strikeouts to one walk. I think is a very big key here for Urania. And he is at the Nationals this week. Shane Boz took a tough loss against the Red Sox, six and a third, one run, six strikeouts for him. And Jared Jones had a great outing here against the Angels, six shutout innings, nine strikeouts to one walk, 21 whiffs on 91 pitches, 19 of those on the slider, which was awesome. He is 61% rostered. He's at the White Sox this week. We've talked about the Liverpool. We've talked about the limitations. This is just the fourth time that he has gone six innings in the 17 starts that he's made. I'm going to be really excited to draft Jared Jones next year, Chris. I'm pretty sure everybody's going to be excited to draft Jared Jones. I still don't know about his utility for this season, but I am excited long term. How would you, I mean, we're probably going matchup to matchup, but these names are already locked in. How would you just rank these four rest of the season? Jared Jones, Shane Boz, Walbert Arana, and Tyler Malley. I would probably just rank these four rest of the season. Jared Jones, Shane Boz, Walbert Arana, and Tyler Malley.
Speaker 4I want to say Jones at the top, but I just don't know if he's earned that. As good as this start was, and the slider was just absolutely absurd. He threw it half the time. He got 19 whiffs with it. It was just, he didn't need anything else with how good that pitch was, but he also only threw 91 pitches as his season high in this one. I would love if the Pirates are just like, "Look, we got three starts left from you. Let's let the leash out and see what you look like getting closer to 100." I don't have a ton of faith in that. It's been more like 84 pitches for most of the season, and they really haven't gone away from that. I don't know if Jones can be at the top. I think Tyler Malley has to be at the top with how he's looked since he got to the Braves, throwing that split or more. We saw a stretch like this from him last season as well. Then Walbert Arana. I just continue to be very impressed by what he's doing. He's not bad. He's not getting the strikeouts that you want to sustain a sub-3 ERA, and that makes it harder to buy into, but he does a lot else well, including limiting hard contact. I would go Malley, Arana, Jones, and then Boz. He's giving me real Trevor Rodgers vibes where I don't really have a good sense for why he's turned his season around. I think he's not terrible. I don't think he's great though.
Speaker 1Yeah. Over the last 20 starts for Boz, it's a 333 ERA. But a 125 whip, and that whip doesn't really line up with a 333 ERA, so one of these things is not like the other. I think Arana versus Malley is close. I might favor Arana, but Malley gives you a better shot of getting wins with the Braves backing him, obviously. Then I would also put Jones third on that list, and then Shane Boz fourth. I don't really buy it with either of these two, but they are pitching well right now. That is Grant Holmes, who threw six shutout innings at the Phillies. He had six strikeouts. He had 17 runs. on 89 pitches. The velocity was up slightly in this one and uh, He did mix in some other pitches more, but he also gave up 10 hard hits and 98.7 average EV. Every Grant Holmes start just kind of feels like you're walking a tightrope. And then Walker Buehler has pitched well lately. Five innings of one-run ball, six strikeouts against the Yankees. Last five starts, 257 ERA, .89 whip. A ton of ground balls during that stretch. He gets the Nationals this week. I don't really buy it. They're pitching well, Chris. Any thoughts here on Buehler and Grant Holmes?
Speaker 4I don't buy it at all with either of them. With Grant Holmes, I mean, okay, this start, he went six innings. It's usually even the good starts are five, and he doesn't get a lot of strikeouts, and it's just you're really not getting a lot out of him. So, I don't know. In deeper leagues, he's an okay streamer, but I don't have much faith in Grant Holmes. And then Buehler, it's kind of the same thing. There are very few deep starts. There are very few strikeouts. It's a good home ballpark, and he's got a good supporting cast. And so you'll have stretches where he's going to get a lot of strikeouts. He's useful, but I don't think either of these guys need to be added.
Speaker 1I did have two post-hype names here. One of them was Emmett Sheehan, the other being Jonah Tong, who made his return to the Mets on Monday. He was at the Marlins. Five innings, four hits, four runs, seven strikeouts to one walk. A mixed outing because he had 16 whiffs on 87 pitches, so you like that part. The one big mistake he made was he gave up a three-run home run to Graham Pauley. And, you know, Chris, looking at his pitch mix here, it was fastball. Change-up cutter, mostly. I see the vision. I see a Logan Henderson vision here for Jonah Tong. The problem is that his command is just much, much worse than Logan Henderson's. Henderson on the season has a 107 location plus, and Jonah Tong entering the start 91. So I see the vision, but I just... He needs that command to be better to make it work.
Speaker 4Yeah, and it was a lot of... I was watching this start. It was a lot of buried change-ups, you know, non-competitive pitchers. I think there's talent here, and it's a name I want to keep an eye on, but, like, when you're giving up home runs to Graham Pauley, it's hard to get excited, you know?
Speaker 1Yep, no, I totally get that. Anything to see here with these? Let's see. One, two, three, four, five, six. Six names. They're very, very deep names, but they all pitched well this weekend. Ryan Johnson of the Angels, Brian Baio with the Red Sox, Yusei Kikuchi with the Angels, Jeffrey Springs with the Athletics, and then... Anthony Molina and Cesar Perdomo with the Giants. So, six very deep names here, Chris. Anything to see here?
Speaker 4Kikuchi and Springs, we know what they are, and in both cases, it's not very good. At least Kikuchi occasionally has, you know, the big strikeout outings, so you can keep an eye on that, but I don't think either of them is someone you rush out to add. I know... I know Ryan Johnson is someone that... people have liked and have gotten interested in. I don't really see it. There were some interesting changes to his approach here, throwing the sinker less, the cutter and sweeper more. Maybe there's something there. I need to see more, because, you know, he's got a 163 ERA recently over the past five starts. It's not even a 1.5 K to walk ratio. That's just untenable. That's not going to last. So, I don't have a ton of faith in it. And then... Bayo. He's turned his season around. He deserves a lot of credit for that. It's largely been as a bulk reliever. He's been really good in that role. It was good to see him get over whatever mental hurdle might have existed by getting a start in this one, but, again, I don't know what the next outing would look like even, like who he's going to go up against, so it's hard to suggest.
Speaker 1We have one name I wanted to bring up as a potential drop. We did see the final plan here for Chase Burns against the Dodgers. It was three no-hit innings with five strikeouts. He looked great, but I think this is part of what we're going to see. Three innings, 44 pitches for Chase Burns. He's still 97% rostered. I could see potentially holding him in a categories league, Chris, but I think in any head-to-head points redraft league, if it's a head-to-head points keeper league, obviously you're holding on to Burns. You keep him for next year, but head-to-head points redraft, I just don't think there's going to be enough volume for him.
Speaker 4Yeah, I don't actually. I think in almost any league, it's hard to justify because, like, let's just come up with a random relief pitcher name who's got incredible numbers. Let's look at, okay, they're all closers. They're all closers.
Speaker 1What about, like, Adrian Morejon?
Speaker 4Yeah, I'm sure he's widely. Tyler Rogers has a 184 ERA on the season. Paul Blackburn somehow has a 172 ERA. I don't buy that. He's been really good. But, like, Abner Uribe is probably pretty widely available. We know there are relief pitchers who can give you three good innings in a week who actually have a better chance of getting a win. Then Chase Burns now. Like, that's the thing, is that you might get three great innings out of him. Heck, if he has two starts one of these weeks, I think it would be this week, you might get six great innings from him. If he gives up one three-run homer, that's it. It was not worth starting him. And he has zero chance of getting a win because he's not going to be in a position to qualify. So I just, I think you are better off using most good middle relievers. Than, than Chase Burns, unfortunately.
Speaker 1Two very polarizing pitchers that we've talked a lot about lately. They looked pretty good this weekend. Zach Wheeler actually looked great against the Braves. Six innings of one-run ball, nine strikeouts. He had 19 whiffs on 95 pitches and he used the four-seam fastball more in the start. It was a mixed results. Obviously, 10 of his 19 whiffs on the fastball. That's very good. But also 94.4 average EV against his fastball. Overall, great start. Two quality starts in a row for Wheeler. You'll take that. And then Paul Skeens was okay against the Angels. Five and a third shutout, four hits, one walk. Good whip, good ERA. Only two strikeouts, 11 whiffs on 87 pitches. Limited the hard contact here. What'd you see, Chris, from Zach Wheeler and Paul Skeens in a great and good start from these two?
Speaker 4- Yeah, with Skeens, it just seems like it's going to be a good start. It seems like he didn't have a ton of confidence in the non-fastballs. And he had a lot of trouble putting hitters away as a result. I think I saw something. I want to say he only had two swinging strikes in two strike counts. I think it might have been just the two strikeouts he got. That's really tough to go, because he pitched well. He got ahead of a lot of hitters, I think. I think the number was something like that. Like 37 pitches in two strike counts was what I saw. And he just couldn't put guys away. He just doesn't have that extra gear right now. And that's really tough, because Paul Skeens is supposed to be a stuff monster, and he just isn't right now. As far as Wheeler, I kind of think looking ahead to 2027, we kind of just have to take it as a whole and say, yeah, I know it got real ugly in August. And maybe there's some downside here. This guy's going to be a top 15 starting pitcher in fantasy this season, despite not starting until April 24th, I think, as his first start. You probably just have to draft him as a top 12 starting pitcher next year. And it's going to be hard, because we saw how ugly things can get. But now he's put together a couple of really good starts in a row. I think you mostly just give him the benefit of the doubt there. I get it if you don't want to be the one to do it.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 4But yeah.
Speaker 1I hate being the person because we just did this this year doubting Zach Wheeler. I don't want to be that person. But at the same time, it's like I'd rather get off one year early rather than one year late. And it's, you know, I just don't know if a guy in his late 30s who, again, is like second year removed from the thoracic outlet and, you know, hasn't looked the same in the second half.
Speaker 4But also 323 ERA, 304 XERA. He has been amazing. Elite strikeout rate. Elite walk rate. Like, there's no doubt.
Speaker 1Yeah, look, if he if these last two or three starts are awesome and he like shoves in the postseason, like maybe I could talk myself back into it. It shouldn't be that hard. Like you're saying he was amazing this year. But it's just these things that popped up in the second half where the velocity was down that one star. And then ever since then, it just hasn't looked the same. It's like this makes me a little weary here of Zach Wheeler for next season. But we have a long time before we're done. Before we get there, I did. We did have a pitcher's duel this week and we had a few. But this one I would like to focus on. It was out in Texas.
Speaker 7It's time to do.
Speaker 1Drew Rasmussen up against Jacob DeGrom. Rasmussen, seven innings of one run ball, seven strikeouts, zero walks, 14 whiffs on 97 pitches. And that is three straight quality starts. I mean, what an awesome season for Rasmussen. 288 ERA, 0.91 whip. No doubt a league winner this season is Drew Rasmussen. Jacob deGrom getting himself back on track, six innings. two runs, seven strikeouts did allow two homers in this one actually used his changeup more in this start and it was pretty good for him. Seven of his 18 whiffs. That's back-to-back quality starts after a disaster outing on August 25th. Chris, anything here anything you'd like to mention with Jacob deGrom and Drew Rasmussen?
Speaker 4I mean are we going to have to draft Rasmussen as a top 12 starting pitcher? Top 15 starting pitcher next season?
Speaker 1I'll probably rank him as a top 20 pitcher. I don't know that I will be the one to want to use that price tag on him. Yeah, because he's
Speaker 4not going to get quite to 170 innings probably and I guess it's possible he goes six innings each of the next three and gets there but he's at 153 right now with probably three starts left. It's a good team. It's a sub-3 ERA literally every season of his career since 2021. Whenever
Speaker 1he's pitched, I mean if you just look at his career, it's a 289 ERA and a 103 whip. Yeah
Speaker 4it's hard to dispute it. Yeah, I it's going to be hard to, that's going to be one I'm going to have to wrap my head around is if Rasmussen is going to be a top 15 starting pitcher I'm going to struggle with that even though I know he's probably worth it. That might be a version of what you're going through with Wheeler where maybe I'll rank him that way. I probably won't draft him that way.
Speaker 1Who do you think will be higher? Rasmussen or Parker Messick for next year?
Speaker 4I mean it's got to be be Messick, right? It seems like a similar
Speaker 1range. Like Messick is younger and I would bet on the volume being better for him.
Speaker 4Yeah, and I think the I mean he's having the better season.
Speaker 1But we also just have a longer track record of Rasmussen just being good whenever he
Speaker 4pitches. Yeah, yeah. That's a fair one. I think it has to be Messick. I think you're always going to have to have some kind of downgrade for Rasmussen for the injury risk. I mean he's a I don't think he's a three-time Tommy John guy because I think it was Tommy John twice and then internal brace. But that, yeah, that always feels risky. With DeGrom, it was really nice to see. This is something I mentioned in a recent start when he was struggling. Like, is he going to start reacting to his struggles by throwing more of the changeup and curveball, which both rate out as excellent pitches and have for years. And against a very lefty heavy lineup, he did throw his changeup a lot more. And it was excellent because it's a really good pitch. He got seven whiffs with it, 54% whiff rate, a bunch of hard contact, a bunch of soft contact. I do think there is a world where DeGrom diversifies his arsenal, starts mixing in those secondary secondary secondaries a bit more and kind of finds a way to reverse some of the slide we've seen. So that's something to keep an eye on the next couple of starts. Bunch of leftovers.
Speaker 1From the weekend, on the hitting side, P. Crow Armstrong stayed red hot. Two for four with a sock and two shoes on Monday. That's a home run, two steals. He also homered on Sunday. He had three steals this weekend. He's up to 41 homers, 35 steals. He has 18 games to get five steals and I think that PCA will do that easily. Bo Bichette, finishing strong here. Last 30 games, 310 batting average, six homers, a 927 OPS. Cal Raleigh, he homered on Friday. He had three hits on Saturday. Last 15 games for him, 358, eight homeruns, 1338 OPS. Ronald Acuna has been raking since he got that mental day off. He homered on Saturday and Sunday. A huge game tying home run on Sunday. Last 10 games, 459, three homers, two steals for Acuna. Kyle Schwarber has homered in three straight. He leads baseball with 43 home runs. Riley Green has been on fire since returning from the IL. He had a two homer game on Saturday. He had two more hits on Sunday. Also homered on Monday. Ellie De La Cruz has homered in three straight. No quad, no problem. He seems he is awesome. He remains awesome. He has two quads. Yeah, but one of them is, you know. One's a little bulky. Compromised, I guess you could say. Vinny P! Baby! Vinny passed Guantino two more home runs this weekend and he has looked much better since returning. Jake McCarthy, man, just want to give this guy a shout out. Legit one of the league winners this season. Preseason NFBC ADP 416 as the 108th outfielder off the board. Probably picked him up off waivers. How about this, Chris? I think the first month of the season, I dropped him in towers. 15 team Roto. Five outfielder league. Like, he wasn't playing every day and he was
Speaker 4just bad to start. Well, that lineup was a disaster early on and they were just like, nobody was playing every day except like Ezekiel Tovar and Hunter Goodman. I completely fumbled.
Speaker 1The bag there with Jake McCarthy. I did keep him on my NL labor team and it looks like I'm running away with that one. Knock on wood. So we'll see if I can hold it down. But yeah, lots of Jake McCarthy this year and then a welcome back to Connor Griffin who didn't do anything this weekend. He went 0 for 10. Did flashes blazing speed on Friday. He scored from first on a double and that was the lone run in the game. So we'll see what Connor Griffin could do to finish it out. Lots of names here, Chris. Anything that you would like to touch on?
Speaker 4Really good to see Kyle Raleigh finishing strong seemingly. I mean, I know there's about 18 days left. We'll see if that changes, but we needed to see something from him and we are and I don't think that means you should take Kyle Raleigh as if 2025, 2026 never happened. It did and we saw what the downside can look like for him. But I do think it's pretty clear that the oblique injuries he played through were causing him a lot of problems. He's healthy now and can still be a big difference maker. So in that draft we talked about yesterday, I think he went around 100, maybe 120. That'll be the range and I didn't catchers went pretty early in that draft. Yeah, Drake Baldwin was a second round pick. I haven't even like Augustine Ramirez was like a top 150 pick. They pushed up catchers. I thought a lot and I think Kyle Raleigh 100 to 120 is going to be the right range. Maybe he forces his way even higher with a big with a final three weeks that are even better, but I'll stick with 100 ish and then really love seeing Ronald Acuna just signs of him getting back on board because it's been a very rough season for him. Two different IL stints with the hamstrings. Given all he's been through, it is fair to wonder if Ronald Acuna can still be that guy. On the other hand, his pace for the season now, you've got it here. 28 homers, 35 steals. I understand injuries have been an issue and it's been a frustrating season, but this is still a difference maker when he's healthy and on the field and you know he might drop outside of the top 30 like he did in that meatball draft, but I I'm probably still going to rank Ronald Acuna as a top 24 player I would guess.
Speaker 1Yeah, I wrote in his full season pacer the problem with Acuna obviously is the injuries and he's only he's only even hit 150 games twice in his career. So it's it's just hard to bank on like how many games are we going to get from Ronald Acuna, but he's a name where like the shallower league I would take a shot on the upside, but the deeper it goes like if you play a 15 teamer you just really want to prioritize floor and guys that like are healthy and have done it before and it's I think Acuna probably slips in a draft like that some pitching leftovers and the first group. I'm just going to mention names. There's lots of names here, but Gavin Williams another 11 strikeouts. He has double-digit strikeouts and eight of his last 11. That's crazy Peyton Tully had 12 strikeouts Brian Wu eight shutout with nine strikeouts here and Cade Cavalli another quality start facing the Dodgers didn't matter guys has been so consistent here in the second half Chris anything to add on Cavalli Brian Wu Peyton Tully and Gavin Williams
Speaker 4no, it's good to see signs of life from Brian Wu. He's turning it around here in the past month or so. Um I never had a good explanation for why things went so wrong for Brian Wu beyond just the you know, we saw the home road splits and then that wasn't nothing but it wasn't a particularly like we've seen him be good on the road as well. So it wasn't particularly convincing explanation for what changed. So I'm glad to see him looking like himself again. That was one that you know, when I was looking at the draft results and he went ahead of Parker Messick and that was one that I flagged and then I was like, I'll probably still take Brian Wu over Parker Messick. Maybe that's dumb, but we've seen a dominant season from Brian. We've seen the top five season from him before. Um, so I still think I would go that way. The peripherals are still very good. I do wonder just on the whole, but I don't know if you have Logan Gilbert in here, but he had another bad start. Uh, seven earned runs in four innings, I believe. I do wonder if the Mariners have to just kind of clean house with their pitching coaches because that pitching staff has just been everyone. But Emerson Hancock has been a disappointment this season. I think I
Speaker 1saw over the last 30 days they have the highest starting pitcher era in baseball, which is just insane to think about.
Speaker 4Or one of the worst. given the talent there and given what those guys have done like it's not like it's just blind faith and talent these guys have all been yeah I mean Wu Gilbert and Kirby at least have all I would imagine have all finished top five in Cy Young before so it's just weird to see how bad things have gone for them this season you can make sense of it from a hitting perspective but having a 420 ERA for the team when you're the Mariners when you have that talent and when you pitch half your games at Safeco yeah T-Mobile that is um I think that's gotta engender some kind of change in in thought process and you look at the way like especially Gilbert and Kirby have just been they've both just felt kind of lost this season like Wu it just seems like there's been some bad luck but Gilbert and Kirby it's like different pitch mixes different approaches what what's working what's not you know Gilbert introducing the change up uh introducing the cutter throwing some sinkers like it just I don't know what the plan is and I do wonder if they just kind of need collectively a reset with that team pitching
Speaker 1leftovers part two Ranger Suarez had his best start in a while uh first quality start since coming off the IL on July 26th Max Freed looked much better in his second start back from the IL the uh velocity not all the way back but it was uh it was up from where it was in that first outing Blake Snell another great start uh here against the Nationals five starts since returning 0.93 ERA 0.93 whip and uh Sonny Gray is closing in on 20 wins that is insane 17 wins leads all of baseball and he had an IL stint that's crazy uh I know he's under he's over performing his peripherals by quite a bit but just based on results I had Sonny Gray as a bus this year and I have been dead wrong about uh Sonny Gray really really good season for him even at his older age anything you'd like to add on Gray Blake Snell Max Freed and Ranger
Speaker 4Suarez um I will just say I'm gonna have Sonny Gray as a bus for next season maybe he'll just make me look bad this year uh but that's fine and then I mean what else can we say about Blake Snell he is going to be the best pitcher in baseball for exactly two months every year and no more than two months every year and figuring out how to value
Speaker 1that is impossible I won't draft him I'm just as long as he's on the Dodgers I will not if his ADP is inside the top 150 which I'm sure will be I I'm not drafting let me find it uh okay
Speaker 4his top his finishes over the past five seasons not including this year SP 61 SP 43 SP 2 SP 49 SP 78 like it's it's the kind of thing I know you know Scott always says like well the numbers end up being there at the end it's like well kinda it's also volume yeah like you just I'm not gonna say he can't stay healthy next season but given that he's on the Dodgers given that we know that team does not care about anything but what happens in October I just don't think you're ever gonna get more than two great months out of him every year and so I I know that he's on the Dodgers I know someone's gonna draft him as a top 30 starting pitcher next season in every draft
Speaker 1because that's what happens it just it can't be me it will not be me either pitching leftovers part three Fran Brevaldez big bounce back start for him he did change up the pitch mix quite a bit in that one Aaron Nola kept it rolling last eight starts 231 ERA 118 whip over a strikeout per inning Eduardo Rodriguez another strong start he has legitimately been much better lately last six starts 196 ERA 106 whip nearly a strikeout per inning and 12% swinging strike rate like for most of the season that was
Speaker 4eight or nine percent yeah he was lowest strikeout and swinging strike rate pitchers in baseball
Speaker 1he's I can't even say he's getting away with it Chris he's now just doing it he's doing the thing
Speaker 4that we want and that's because that's annoying but it's also like that happens sometimes where guys pitch over their head from a result standpoint but then the results can catch up too and that's
Speaker 1interesting with Eduardo Rodriguez I I think that happened with Robleski earlier in the season too yeah and then he fell apart again but you know he did have a stretch where okay the skills actually
Speaker 4improved yeah I don't think Eduardo Rodriguez is someone we need to be drafting as a top 50 starting pitcher next season no matter how he finishes the season but it looks like he's gonna run through the finish line that's props to him um Fran Brevaldez I don't know what to make of this good start very few strikeouts only five whiffs he threw his four seamer a bunch more I don't know if that's the answer especially if it's not missing bats like that that'd be the the one thing you could say is like okay he's going away from the sinker throwing four seamers up in the zone try to miss some more bats well he had five whiffs in this game so I don't I don't buy that um the one thing I'll say with Valdez he gets the Rockies
Speaker 1in Detroit this week so if you hold on to him this long I I would have used him for that start
Speaker 4and then Nola I think this is just clearly a case of a guy's locked in and it's nothing more than that uh he his location has been much better in the second half of the season and that's great I don't think we're witnessing a skills change here from Nola he's pitching well and that deserves credit but I don't think it changes how we view him all right
Speaker 1and then the last group of pitching leftovers Trevor Rogers was great once again uh his last 17 starts 288 era 105 whip Noah Cameron another great start for him uh last nine games 168 era 0.77 whip and uh Logan Webb bounced back I think last time it was like eight or nine earned runs uh six innings of one run ball here eight strikeouts against the Cardinals anything on Webb
Speaker 4Cameron and Trevor Rogers Rogers I I can't make any sense of I just don't understand what he is who he is what kind of pitcher he is I when things are going poorly for him when things are going well for him you watch him pitch and it doesn't look that different and I don't know maybe there's just some Ron Harris Suarez in him where it's just the margin for error is super slim and you know he's not a similar pitcher to Suarez in that he gets more strikeouts doesn't have quite the command that he does um but it does seem to be a similar thing where just it's just a question of if the feel happens to be there in that moment in time and it's there right now I I still don't have a ton of faith in in Trevor Rogers
Speaker 1though all right the call to the bullpen for this weekend for the Rockies on Friday Jordan Romano got the ninth with a two-run lead he allowed three runs two of those earned he took his fourth blown save and third loss and then on Saturday Romano got the final two outs for his 15th save uh it's mostly been very good with the Rockies he is just their closer um don't trust it long long term but he is the guy for them right now for the athletics it was looking like Elvis Alvarado was taking that again but on Friday he got the eighth inning with a two-run lead he was facing the heart of the Mariners lineup he gave up a run but he got out of it and then Hogan Harris got the ninth he picked up his 15th save and then here on Monday uh Hogan Harris got the ninth inning with a one-run lead and he gave up a solo homer to tie the game took his seventh blown save but he wound up with the win because the A's walked it off uh I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I thought they were moving back towards Alvarado Chris I
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Speaker 4Do I trust anyone here?
Speaker 1There are a few names that I kind of like.
Speaker 4Mania. I don't really have a ton of faith in Wes Neskey, but the Astros have gotten good results out of him. The Phillies, it's like, you just got to get past two guys really in that lineup. So he's okay.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think Wes Neskey. And then I like Brandon Young has been okay. The Guardians lineup is not very good. And then I think both guys in the Cardinals-Giants matchups could be all right. Quinn Matthews at the Giants. He's really only had one very bad start. And then Landon Roop, who I don't fully trust still, but he's looked better over his last two starts.
Speaker 4I just don't trust either of those guys to throw enough strikes. That's fair. Yeah. There's a lot of risk with both of them. But yeah, I think in terms of talent, they might be the two most talented pitch. Well, Bubba Chandler, but that's a different question because that's, yeah.
Speaker 1Yeah. On Wednesday, we have Will Warren against the Rockies in New York. Zebby Matthews is at the Tigers. Kader Montero against the Twins. Walker Bueller gets the Nationals. Shane Boz against the Guardians. Ryan Johnson at the Red Sox. Griffin Jackson at the Braves. Davis Martin home against the Pirates.
Speaker 4Yeah. I want to, just see, because Will Warren seems like the right call, but he only threw 28 pitches his last time out.
Speaker 3Yeah.
Speaker 4Before that, it was 98. I know he had gotten switched to the bullpen. So how comfortable do they feel letting him go 80 pitches? That might be the distinction, right? Because you could get five good innings out of Will Warren over 80 pitches. It's just, is it 80 pitches? Is it 60 pitches? Is it 90 pitches? I have no idea. I would still think Warren is the top choice. Probably Boz versus Cleveland.
Speaker 1Yeah, I like Boz. I like Warren.
Speaker 4I wish I could say Griffin Jacks, but I just don't trust it.
Speaker 1Yeah. First start back was terrible. Yeah. At the Braves, it's a tough, tough lineup to face.
Speaker 4Yeah.
Speaker 1If I had to choose a third, I think I would say Walker Bueller, but that's pretty gross. Yeah. Fortune favors the bold. John Griffin Jacks, but I really would rather wait and see on him before throwing him back out there. We are going to wrap there for Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Speaker 11Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. College football season is Modelo season. There's nothing quite like a college football Saturday. The fight songs, the rivalries, the traditions passed down from one generation of fans to the next, and of course, they're settling in for a full day of football with Chris Modelo because Saturdays are for the gridiron and Cervasus. College football is built on tradition, and no one knows tradition like Modelo. From the fan quakes that shake the stadium to the rivalry trophies that mean everything year after year. These traditions are a part of the tradition. These traditions are what make Saturday special. So if you're listening to this, consider it your sign. Grab a Chris Modelo, settle in, and enjoy a full day of college football because it's just not game day, it's tradition. And those who keep college football traditions alive deserve a Modelo. Modelo is the official beer sponsor of the college football playoff. Drink responsibly. Modelo Especial beer, imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, Illinois.
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