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Speaker 2Frank loves him some kind of job. Now let's get on with the show.
Speaker 1Happy Kokomo Kate Anderson Friday and welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today on August 21st. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we got a big bounce back from Jacob DeGrom. I have start, sit, or drop questions for four particular pitchers. And Scott, you're going to have to answer them. Scott, he doesn't know. Scott, he doesn't know.
Speaker 3I knew we'd do Scott. He doesn't know.
Speaker 1The next question is, did those players play on Thursday?
Speaker 3I hope so, because that's the only way I ever know.
Speaker 1That's true. But first, all throughout history, we have had wildly anticipated events. The man on the moon, Y2K. And now, Cade Anderson is being promoted by... The Seattle Mariners. Do you think maybe we're building this up too much? I don't think so. I think we need to build it up even more.
Speaker 3The juxtaposition between those two events you chose to highlight, the man on the moon and Y2K.
Speaker 1I lazily just wrote on Google, what were the most anticipated events in human history? And those were like two of three of them. So that's what I went with.
Speaker 3Like to Y2K, I could just say only one of those things actually happened. And really, like, you know, stir up the internet that way. But would you say Y2K actually happened? Like, when somebody says Y2K, what are they referring to? I mean, I know broadly what they're referring to, but what specifically are they referring to?
Speaker 1I think it was just the anticipation. Like, oh my God, the world is going to end. Right. And obviously that didn't happen.
Speaker 3Like the whole, for our younger listeners out there.
Speaker 1I was only nine years old, so you got to break this down.
Speaker 3Okay. Okay. Okay. Everything was coded. You know, obviously the previous couple decades, everything was made digital and data was stored in computers. And that transition just happened in the couple decades, or really the decade leading up to the year 2000. And so dates were listed by two digits, just the last two digits of the year. And they thought the computers were going to like freak out because that clock was starting over. It was going to go from nine, nine as the year to zero, zero as the year. And like, what was going to happen? Like, were they programmed properly to deal with that transition or was everything going to collapse? And obviously, I mean, look, steps were taken leading up to it, but. Obviously, nothing happened.
Speaker 1Let's hope that Kate Anderson is, it works out a little bit better than Y2K, I guess.
Speaker 3Yeah, I'm sorry for that aside. No, you know what? It just struck me as funny.
Speaker 1A lot of people have written in email tweeted that they listened to this show with their kids. So you know what? Some kids out there just got a history lesson from Mr. Scott White, Jeff Passon reported. The Mariners are calling up Kate Anderson to start on Saturday against the Cubs. And I started working at CBS back in 2020. And I would say in my time being here, this is one of the top three most anticipated pitching prospect debuts that I have seen during that time. I would say Paul Skeens. I think this now is more anticipated than Chase Burns, but I think that's in the conversation. Those those three basically. But Kate Anderson, 22 years old, third overall pick in last year's draft. The numbers, just video game numbers. I'm not going to read them all off, Scott. I'll leave that to you if you want to get into those. But I mean, it's just the stuff that he's doing in the minors is is uncanny. It's video game like it's it's better than what the Miz is doing in the majors this year. And the Miz himself is breaking fantasy baseball. So I will throw it over to you. Your expectations here. The pitch makes your scouting report. What do we get from Kate Anderson?
Speaker 3I think we're going to get an ace right away, basically for fantasy, certainly on an inning to inning base. I think we're going to get an ace right away, basically for fantasy, certainly on an inning to inning base. I think we're going to get an ace right away, basically for fantasy, certainly on an inning to inning base. I think we're going to get an ace right away, basically for fantasy, certainly on an inning to inning base. I think we're going to get an ace right away, basically for fantasy, certainly on an inning to inning base. Him being an immediate call up after a full season spent pitching in the minors, they they may limit him to five innings at a time, at least most of the time. And in fact, looking at his minor league game log, it looks like he went six innings or more just three times. So they kind of already were doing that in the minors. So in the way he'll in the way Kate Anderson will fall short of being ace, I suspect that'll be it. So in the way he'll in the way Kate Anderson will fall short of being ace, I suspect that'll be it. But you could still get a lot of use out of a guy who's going five, five and a third, five and two thirds innings. And yeah, his ERA at double A was 106. His whip was .64. He he was striking out 13 batters per nine innings, walking just 1.3. Here's the thing. I mentioned 106 ERA. He had lowered it in four straight outings. He was just practically untouchable. Only two of his past 11 outings at double A. Did he give up even a single earn run 129 batting average against. If if you take out his one and only hiccup in the minors this season, which was a five run outing on May 15th, Kate Anderson gave up six earned runs all year. It was a .60 ERA. And every start, but that one. So he was basically untouchable. Like I said, now you may have noticed I mentioned double A was where he was doing this. Why didn't we see him at triple A? Is it is it going to be kind of a fake out because he never pitched a triple A and wasn't challenged properly? Well, I I can't say for sure whether he was challenged properly, but I can say the this is standard operating procedure. Yeah. For the Mariners, they don't like their best pitching prospects pitching in the PCL, which is a very tough place to pitch and they have them skip it often. In fact, they had George Kirby, Brian Wu and Bryce Miller all skip it. And I'd say it worked out pretty well in all three cases. Obviously, Bryce Miller's had his troubles more recently. You could say George Kirby has more recently, too, but they were instant successes. And I suspect Kate Anderson will be also he when he was drafted last. Yeah. Last year, he was thought to be a very polished pitcher with a full arsenal. We've good command of everything. We've certainly see that seen that play out at double A. So my expectations are are very high here. I would not hesitate to use him in his debut. I'm immediately ranking him 37th at starting pitcher rest of season. And I attempted to push him up from there. I'm trying to be conservative. Am I ranking at 37? But obviously, 37 means must start, basically, in most form.
Speaker 1so that's that's where kate anderson is for me and must roster yeah so i landed in a similar spot i moved kate anderson up to 35 looking at it a little bit more like i'm gonna bump him up a little bit more so he made it up to sp 31 when it was all said and done here on thursday that is just behind sandy alcantara kate cavalli sean burke logan henderson braxton ashcraft pitchers that have been really good for a really long time this season so there is a chance that kate anderson can work his way past those guys i mean if he comes out and it's you know six shutout innings one hit you know eight strikeouts one walk you know it could just be a rocket ship here for kate anderson and a similar thing happened with paul skeens i was i was much more conservative when paul skeens got called up i think i ranked him in like the 40s or the 50s and he just hit the ground running immediately and i think by you know two or three weeks later i was ranking him as like a top 20 starting pitcher so i mean again this could be a rocket ship here for kate anderson i do want to mention some of the rate stats as well 13k per nine 1.3 walks per nine 37 k minus walk rate 18 and a half percent swinging strike rate for reference jacob miziarowski leads major league baseball with a 34 k minus walk 18.1 swinging strike rate i get that the miz is doing it in the majors and kate anderson's doing it in the minors but just for some reference like what kate anderson is doing in the minors is actually better than what the miz was doing in the majors this season so just ridiculous strikeout to walk stuff there as well if you are looking for some prospect grades uh fangraphs gives him a 70 grade fastball 60 grade slider 60 grade curve 60 change up i mean that is that is for like elite offerings uh and 45 command which i'm not so sure that i agree with but it'll be pipeline 60 fastball 55 curve 55 slider 60 change up and uh 60 control that is on the 20 to 80 grade uh prospect scales there again that is kate anderson who's getting called up he's 74 percent rostered on cbs i i don't know what you need to do in the shallowest leagues that number needs to be 100 so i'm sure you can find somebody on your team even george kirby i know kirby's been a mainstay for a while i i've moved them down to like sp40 after this recent blow up i would drop george kirby to add kate anderson so whatever you have to do to get him on your roster uh and it's a lot of people who are going to be on your roster only 36 on yahoo i know yahoo is a lot of daily lineups streamers and you kind of need that roster flexibility but this is someone who could be a league winner down the stretch and that 36 on
Speaker 3yahoo scott up up up must must yeah it's it's it's pretty common for pitcher rates to be lower on yahoo to begin with so that doesn't surprise me but it obviously needs to change i mean ranked starting pitcher puts which is where i said i have kate anderson it puts him uh alongside yeah i mean it puts them up like kyle harrison peyton toley uh troy melton uh right right in that range of of pitchers who are surging up the rank lists and have been among among the biggest risers this year and i would say kate anderson has a higher upside than all of them look i i don't know that it's entirely fair to compare him to paul skeens because i think paul skeens has like better pure stuff than kate anderson does but just kate anderson is just such a well-rounded pitcher and obviously uh has as you just listed off there has multiple pitches
Speaker 1that rate very well yeah and obviously a great home ballpark that helps and so obviously uh the start this weekend will be at the end of the season so i'm looking forward to that and i'm excited to see what happens at home in t-mobile park great place to pitch against the chicago cubs all right so that is kate anderson let's get into the rest of thursday's action the players of the night oh my goodness holy cow do you believe it all right scott over to you your player from
Speaker 3thursday night i think i've this this is the third time i've done him in the last month and it's grayson rodriguez who had another very good start here uh he seems to have them when we least respect them this one was against the astros in houston but he threw seven innings and allowed no earned runs this was his third start in five that i would say was really good and another one of those starts there were still some good signs under the surface so i i think he's definitely trending up here in this one grayson rodriguez really emphasized his fastball through at 64 percent of the time it was responsible for that and he's got a lot of 11 of the 13 whiffs it's always a good sign when a pitcher a pitcher can miss bats with his fastball uh really it had been the the slider and change up that had been carrying previously both have a whiff rate near 40 for the season but they combined for two whiffs in this one it was really that fastball grayson rodriguez was dominating with it the average exit velocity 87.6 so they weren't hitting very hard last five starts like i said three of them were good one still looked pretty good under the hood last five starts it all comes out to a 333 era 115 whip 10.3k per nine i remain intrigued here i think i think he's rounding into form again after all the injuries and uh you know we've talked about the guys we've talked about the last two days the big starting pitcher pickups i think it was aaron nola yesterday and george clausen the day before i'd book grayson rodriguez right in between them in terms of how much i'd want to pick him up behind nola ahead of clausen but i i feel like he has the most upside of the three
Speaker 1i think long term i don't know if we'll get to that upside this season he has looked better as of late but i i think this is still just more actionable i guess for if you if you roster him in like a dynasty or a deeper keeper league and you're just you know you want to see anything out of grayson rodriguez for next week i will point out he faces the guardians and obviously their offense is not great they're 27th and woba against right-handed pitching but i have to imagine in a 12 team league you have to have better options options that you trust more than grayson rodriguez i could see using him in a deeper format i think he's trending up but i do still think that we need to see more i would personally take nola and clausen over him not that clausen has done much but he's just whatever like it's kind of that mystery box and you know he's coming off a really great start himself so uh i like what we've seen i don't know that i would trust it in a 12 teamer
Speaker 3just yet is that fair yeah but i'm not sure why you trust clausen so what about just for next week clausen's going against the phillies and as you said grayson rodriguez against the guardians come
Speaker 1on scott are you kidding me clausen in a revenge game of course there's no doubt in my mind okay
Speaker 3i to be fair i always talk about how hard it is to fill out my sleeper pitcher list for the upcoming week having to come up with 10 that i feel okay about grayson rodriguez didn't quite make the cut for the 10 even with that favorable matchup it it happens to be a pretty good week for sleeper pitchers week 23 coming up here all right uh but i wouldn't mind streaming rodriguez if you're in a situation where you have to stream heavily all right fair enough uh let's go over
Speaker 1to my player of the night and again players of the night it's not always the best performances it's the ones that make you say oh my goodness sometimes what happened there and that's what happened with poor old george kirby yes very good it's like why didn't i do this so much like so long ago right it's just so obvious
Speaker 3i've wanted it i've wanted it like i'm not good enough at social media to figure out the best way to express it there but after a bad kirby start that that's my dream that sound plays in my head every time
Speaker 1i love posting whenever he gets pummeled i just post the the picture of george kirby with the x'd out eyes like he's beat up uh yeah so that's one of my favorites also my favorite kirby game ever kirby superstars for super nintendo if you haven't played it it is awesome and it's also on the nintendo switch as part of like the virtual console so highly recommend playing that nice nice ad read there not getting paid for it george kirby uh george kirby got demolished here six earned runs over three and a third innings nine hits two walks he only had six whiffs on 84 pitches his velocity was down across the board it was down between 0.6 and two miles per hour on all of his pitches 12 hard hits against 99.3 average exit velocity i mean that is among the highest average evs that i've seen against the pitcher all season long he has given up five plus earned runs in three of his last five starts he also has three strikeouts or fewer in five straight and the average evs that i've seen against the pitcher all season long he's given up five plus earned runs in three of his last five starts he also has three strikeouts or fewer in five straight and the average evs that i've seen against the pitcher all season long overall numbers in that five-star stretch 713 era 171 whip 13 strikeouts to eight walks over 24 innings not getting whiffs the ground ball rate is way down as well he's still 96 percent rostered he's 63 percent started he gets the phillies next week at home they're kind of middle of the pack against righties kirby is better at home but i i don't really see a way you could trust him right now so i have a segment for later on he was part of it's got start sit or drop george kirby
Speaker 3so i have a segment for later on he was part of it's got start sit or drop george kirby i i don't think he's beyond dropping at i i don't think he's beyond dropping at i i don't think he's beyond dropping at this point this point this point this is now You gave so many starts there, you may have said it in there, but five straight starts with three strikeouts or fewer?
Speaker 1Yep.
Speaker 3And the ERA has climbed over four. And this was after an underwhelming year last year. So I think, look, George Kirby's had his share of good starts this year too. We haven't seen one in a while. But I think it's probably fair to put him in the same category as like a Tanner Bybee or a Shane Boz. Now, guys who can work deep enough to games that when they're on, you're glad you started them, but you never fully trust them going into an outing. And so you're always looking for alternatives to start instead. Incidentally, all three of those pitchers are on my Scott White Dynasty League team, which is 24-team head-to-head. You know, for a format that deep, as scarce as pitching is, I would say they're pretty valuable. But play that sound again, because that's, I think, what's happened to my season. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sorry. Yep. Round one of the playoffs, I'm already down by like 120 points. And there is a second week. But that's a lot of ground to make up against another good team. I thought the championship was in my sights. And I think I'm going to get knocked out. And round one, not even make the final four.
Speaker 1I mean, that's just a cruel reminder of head-to-head fantasy. Anything, really. I mean, it could be football, basketball, baseball. But all you got to do is make it to the dance, and you've got a chance. I mean, you don't have to be the best team. Your team could just get hot at the right time, and you could knock one of the best teams off. So that's unfortunate, but it does happen quite often in head-to-head. You know what?
Speaker 3I exaggerate. I'm down 65. Oh, all right. I could come back.
Speaker 1All right.
Speaker 3I'm not feeling good today. But, you know, I don't like seeing that minus 10.5 for Kirby today.
Speaker 1Yeah, that kind of set you back quite a bit.
Speaker 3Yeah, I know. I know.
Speaker 1I'm also losing to Chris in the consolation bracket where we're trying to battle it out to get the top pick. So rivalry week not going great on my end. I haven't checked the podcast league between you guys. But I don't know. Do you know offhand how that's going? You versus Chris in podcast league?
Speaker 3I don't know. I can click a button and tell you. Back to George Kirby first. I'm winning by 42.
Speaker 1What's the star count? How's that look?
Speaker 3He has five left. I have three. Oh, all right. But this is also a two-week matchup, right?
Speaker 1Also a two-week matchup. Yep, correct. For George Kirby, I would definitely sit for next week. But I do agree. I don't think that he is beyond dropping. Again, if someone like Kate Anderson is available in your league, I would make that swap with George Kirby. Let's take our first break. And when we return, we will get into the news. I've got some aces being aces. We'll do all that right after this. Remember waking up on Saturday mornings, pouring a big bowl of sugary cereal, and drinking every last drop of the sweet milk at the bottom? Nothing beats that feeling of pure nostalgia, which is why I am completely obsessed with Cachava's new cinnamon French toast flavor. It gives you all those warm, comforting morning feels, but with incredible benefits instead of a sugar crash. Made with real cinnamon bark, it honestly tastes like a warm slice of French toast in a glass. Just two scoops gives your body a massive upgrade with clean plant-based protein, fiber, and greens to support your energy, digestion, and whole body health. It's packed with superfoods, completely non-GMO, and contains zero artificial sweeteners, fillers, or nonsense. Whether you love classic vanilla, rich chocolate, or this amazing new French toast blend, it's the easiest way to give your daily routine a serious boost. Treat yourself to a childhood favorite. Go to Cachava.com and use code FANTASY for 15% off, your first order. That's Cachava, K-A-C-H-A-V-A.com, code FANTASY. Banking on Mercury is the ultimate solution for anyone tired of that kind of busy work. You can set automated transfers to keep your accounts in a specific target range and use their built-in spend management tools to handle employee reimbursements without the usual mountain of paperwork. It's free to get started, and there are no surprise fees for the essential services you use most, like ACH and WIRES. It's the smartest, all-in-one financial home that actually helps you work more efficiently, giving you the data you need up front so you don't have to go digging for it. Visit Mercury.com to learn more and apply online in minutes. Mercury is a fintech company, not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services provided through Choice Financial Group and column NA members FDIC. Hey, before we jump back into the show, let's take a quick break. But not just any break. This is a refreshing break with Snapple. We all know about Snapple's iconic real facts, so let's take a minute to go over some of my faves. Snapple real fact 1417. Before 1859, baseball umpires sat behind home plate in rocking chairs. Snapple real fact 1483. More than 100 baseballs are used during a typical professional baseball game. Snapple real fact 253. The first TV remote control introduced in 1950 was called Lazy Bones. Snapple real fact 2105. Professional athletes used to perform in vaudeville in the offseason. 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. And the D-backs officially placed Cattell Marte on the IL with left knee inflammation. GM Mike Hazen said he expects Marte to rejoin the team following his trip to the IL. But the timeline is very unclear here. We just don't really know. It could be a minimum 10 days. It could be longer. It could be the rest of the season. We don't really know. But the good news for Fantasy is that you can now place Cattell Marte on an IL spot. So that helps a lot more.
Speaker 3I'm so curious as to what's actually going on here. Because now it seems like they've made amends with this agreement that he'll go on the IL. And it sounds like they're expecting a relatively short stay. But what was the story? I mean, they were saying it was a personal matter. So maybe there's some huge detail we don't have yet. But I don't know. It almost sounds like there was some kind of conflict between him and the front office that they had to work out. I don't know. It seems obviously reading between the lines here in a major way. It's a confusing situation all the way around.
Speaker 1Anything that we throw out there is just completely speculative and probably unfair to Cattell Marte. And everyone involved. But I mean, it's, you know, he didn't show up on Monday and he's dealing with a knee injury. So I don't know. Those are the details that we have. Knee and hamstring. Yeah, knee and hamstring. C.J. Abrams was out of the lineup Thursday with a sprained ankle and is likely to sit again on Friday. So if you play in leagues where you could set your lineups for Friday for the weekend, you'd have to have a really good option. But, you know, there's a chance that we just don't see C.J. Abrams this weekend. So he is day-to-day. Brian Wu threw his normal bullpen between starts on Thursday. He left his last outing on Sunday with right shoulder soreness. It does sound like he's going to be cleared to make his start this weekend against the Cubs. So we'll pay attention to velocity and see how he looks in that one. Michael Garcia, who recently returned from a long absence due to a left hand injury, is headed back on the I.L. this time with a left hamstring strain. And there's a chance he could return for the last couple of weeks. But it's just been a disaster year. I mean, it's injury after injury. And even when he's played, he's been a letdown. So pretty big down season here for Michael Garcia. Jack Caglione was out of the lineup after leaving Wednesday with right ankle soreness. Vlad Jr. cleared concussion protocol and played in a rehab game here on Thursday. So it sounds like he could be activated as soon as Saturday. Jeremy Pena was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his hand on Wednesday night. Jacob Wilson is going on the I.L. with that left shoulder injury and is unlikely to return this weekend. This season, Angels reliever Sammy Natera Jr. was placed in the I.L. with lower back spasms. So there is no doubt now that Ben Joyce is the closer for the Angels. And Nationals prospect Seaver King made his professional debut at third base on Wednesday at Triple-A. It seems conflicting reports, or at least the way that I'm reading it between the lines. It seems like they're trying to find ways to get Seaver King up. You know, trying him out. Trying him out at different positions. Maybe this is just a long-term thing for next season. But like, why else would they do that if they weren't trying to get him up this year? But there was a recent report that said they will not call Seaver King up this season. So, I don't know.
Speaker 3Yeah, I read a couple of articles from Nationals beat writers after seeing that initial report. I don't remember where the initial report came from. But they both worded it more like he's probably not coming up. They're not going to rule it out. They think the Nationals want to see Nassim Nunez at shortstop, which still hasn't happened yet, right? Like, they said Abrams was going to go to second and Nunez to shortstop.
Speaker 1Yeah, we have not seen Abrams play second base at all. I don't know if Nunez has played shortstop yet, though.
Speaker 3And then there also seems to be... I'm forgetting his name now. Eli Willis, right?
Speaker 1Nassim Nunez did start at shortstop. at shortstop on Thursday.
Speaker 3Yeah, Eli Willits. the number one overall pick in the draft last year. He's also a shortstop and has had a huge debut season in the minors. He's still in the lower minors. He's only 18. But from what these beat writers are saying, there already seems to be a consideration of not wanting to block him, which might be why we're seeing Seaver King move around. My understanding, though, is Seaver King is a really good defender at shortstop. So he may still wind up there. But it seems like there are a lot of issues that need to be sorted out here. And I'm not ruling Seaver King being up this year. I don't know that he's necessarily worth a roster spot right now, except in very deep leagues, because I don't see clear momentum toward him coming up.
Speaker 1All right, some aces being aces. We did get a big bounce back from Jacob deGrom. Six shutout innings, one hit, one walk, 10 strikeouts. That puts him over 2,000 strikeouts for his career. 17 whiffs on 94 pitches here. And it was more of the same. It was a big whiff total here. Also, lots of hard contact. We've seen a lot of hard contact against deGrom this year. But overall, he was struggling. And he left his last start with a triceps injury. Previous five starts, 630 ERA, 195 whip. So very good sign for him to get back on track with this one. 58% started on CBS at the White Sox next week. I think it's all systems go. Assuming, you know, we don't get anything the next couple days that, all right, he didn't bounce back right. But obviously, after a start like this, I think you're good to get Jacob deGrom back in your lineups next week.
Speaker 3Yeah, I would say so. It was kind of different. He swapped his slider and fastball use in this one. And the slider was awesome. We needed to see a good start like this from Jacob deGrom because that ERA was verging on four. He looked to be back in form here. Previous five starts for Jacob deGrom, he had a 630 ERA and 1.95.
Speaker 1Yeah, so we definitely needed that from Jacob deGrom. And the other two names here, Garrett Cole, a great outing at the Orioles. Six innings, one run, eight strikeouts to one walk. He had 15 swinging strikes on 93 pitches. And he threw first pitch strikes to 22 of 23 batters, 96%. So getting ahead, throwing lots of strikes. Very good sign for Garrett Cole. Last nine starts for him, 245 ERA, 0.96 whip. And an 11.9% swinging strike rate. So that number has gotten better as the season has gone on. And Gavin Williams, five and two-thirds innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts, 18 whiffs on 96 pitches for him. And his ninth start with double-digit strikeouts this season. And over his last six, 280 ERA, 0.88 whip, 56 strikeouts, over 35 and a third. 14.4K per nine for Gavin Williams over his last six starts. Two. Has moved. I think I have him up to, like, SP12. I moved him ahead of Paul Skeens in my latest update. And I have Cole up to, like, SP15. So both of those two inside my top 15 now.
Speaker 3Yeah, I have Gavin Williams one spot ahead of Paul Skeens. And I have Garrett Cole 15th.
Speaker 1So right there with you. Copy of my homework, Scott.
Speaker 3Who did it first? Check the timestamps.
Speaker 1Do you have anything to add on Cole or Gavin? Gavin Williams. They're good. They're awesome.
Speaker 3Did you give the recent numbers for Cole?
Speaker 1I gave his last nine starts with his swinging strike rate during that span 11.9%.
Speaker 3Okay. Yeah, that's good enough. Nine starts. That was exactly the stretch I had, too. Yeah, I would say Garrett Cole is back. And I think it'll be really interesting ranking him for next year. Because what does back even mean? Does back mean top five? I don't think we're going to rank him that high. But maybe top ten. Obviously, you know, last five and a half weeks, we'll see what happens from there and into the playoffs. But things are really looking up for Garrett Cole.
Speaker 1He is a fascinating one for next season. Because he's in his mid-30s. There's no doubt about that. But, I mean, in terms of, like, the stuff and the velocity, I mean, it all looks like it's there. And I know, I believe it's Eno Saris who's talked about this. There is a Tommy John grace period. Typically, where the first, I think, 200 innings back from Tommy John are, like, the best 200 innings post-Tommy John that a pitcher is going to have. And so, like, buying right after that is usually a pretty good thing to do. I don't know that it's that way for every single pitcher. But, like, that's what historical results show. And I know it was talked a lot about, like, when Verlander came back and won the Cy Young. So, I don't know. Garrett Cole's kind of doing that same thing, right? It's, like, old pitcher comes back. Probably first ballot Hall of Famer or Hall of Famer or whatever. And he looks like himself again. He's just really awesome. Waver Wire Pitchers from Thursday. Shane Bieber, awesome outing here at the Rays. Seven innings of one-run ball, seven strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 101 pitches. Not really sure where this one came from because it's been very up and down. There have been some good starts in there, but, like, warning signs underneath. This start was legitimately just good for Shane Bieber, who gets the Royals next week. That is a good start. That is a good matchup. Grant Holmes took a no-hitter into the seventh inning at the White Sox. Six-plus shutout, one hit, three walks, three strikeouts, 16 whiffs on 94 pitches, threw a ton of sliders, got a lot of whiffs, but also gave up a lot of hard contact. I think he's pretty fortunate to have had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning there for Grant Holmes, who gets the Dodgers next week. So, don't really love that. Anything here, Scott? Grant Holmes or Shane Bieber?
Speaker 3Well, I had the same impression of Bieber's start. Well, this was his second good one in a row. This one actually looked good in every way. The whiffs were there. The contact quality was low. Previous start, 96.4 mile per hour average exit velocity, so he really seemed like he was getting away with it. What actually changed for Bieber? Well, he did have two extra inches of induced vertical break on the fastball. That brought it up to 19, which is a very high number. 17, you know, it gets a little dicey. That's where his season average had been. Is it something he can sustain? I have no idea. And I'm not eager to pick up Shane Bieber off the waiver wire, because even though, yes, two good starts in a row, only this one I consider actually good. So, I just need to see a lot more, given the way he was trending. That matchup was pretty tasty against the Royals. Yeah. Even so, I'd be more likely to start Grayson Rodriguez against the Guardians next week. And he didn't make my... I know you disagree, but he didn't make...
Speaker 1No, no, not necessarily. I mean, that's a close call, because Bieber has been pretty volatile himself. So, I'd probably go Grayson Rodriguez as well, but that one's close, yeah.
Speaker 3And Grant Holmes... Look, three of his last four have been scoreless. There are hardly any strikeouts between them. Even this start, he got the whiffs with all those sliders, but three strikeouts to three walks, that's not a ratio that's usually going to yield much success. So, it seems pretty fake. And with the Dodgers coming up, like you said, there's not much reason to be tempted by it.
Speaker 1Can I interest you in a SPARP play for next week? Anthony Kaye turned in a quality start against the Braves. Six innings, two runs, six strikeouts to one walk. 16 swinging strikes on 94 pitches. And he did use a sweeper. More in this one. It was a very good pitch for him. And nine starts now since the beginning of July. 323 ERA, 116 whip. Getting ground balls and limiting hard contact. Like, he's been kind of good lately. I don't know how sustainable it is, but as a SPARP, he gets the Rangers next week. I don't know. I'm kind of in on Anthony Kaye as like a SPARP streamer in a points league.
Speaker 3Do you happen to know, or would you be able to look up his expected ERA during that stretch? Because for the season, it's still five.
Speaker 1I can. I won't be able to include today's start, but I can include the eight before it for Anthony Kaye. Good enough. Yes, I can do that. You could talk about the rest of the start in the meantime. If you see anything that's interesting.
Speaker 3About Anthony Kaye's start? I mean, yeah, it was, it was, he's been hard to figure out. I got to be honest. Because he has, obviously, outperformed the estimators all season long. One of these pitchers with a very diverse arsenal, and you kind of go cross-eyed trying to make sense of what he's throwing from one start to the next. So that makes it even harder to track changes for Kaye. But he's not a great control pitcher, not a big bat misser, not a good ground ball guy. I get why the ER estimators, don't like him.
Speaker 1Yeah, it is a 414 XERA during the eight starts before this, which is definitely better than five. Better than where it's been, but it's still not amazing. Yeah.
Speaker 3No, I'm still pretty cold on Anthony Kaye.
Speaker 1All right. Only in a points league. I wouldn't do it in categories league. One deeper name here is Andrew Alvarez, who pitched well at the Rangers. Five innings, one run, five strikeouts. He did use his curveball more in this one. It was his most used pitch. And that is, Really his best pitch. I don't really think he had has anything besides the curveball that's very good, but he has looked good in August, 242 ERA, .90 whip, and he gets two starts next week, one against the Rockies in Washington and one against the Marlins. So a deep league streamer with those matchups, it's risky, but they are good matchups. Who is this, Alvarez? Alvarez, yeah, he's pitching well, four good starts in August and good matchups next week.
Speaker 3Yeah, no, I actually have Andrew Alvarez among my sleeper pitchers with those matchups against the Rockies and the Marlins.
Speaker 1Nice.
Speaker 3And he has been on a nice run. Outtakes have been short, and so the upside is limited because of that, but 236 ERA, .101 whip in his last five, low strikeout rate. But for the season, it's a 50% ground ball rate, and he's an okay bat-misser. The overall K-9 rate is good, considering he gets ground balls. On half of his bat at balls. So I think he'll be a good damage limiter, and with those two matchups upcoming, Andrew Alvarez might be even more than that this upcoming week.
Speaker 1All right, some waiver wire hitters from Thursday's action. Stephen Kwan continues to get back on track. He went one for two with three walks, a run, and an RBI. Last 30 games, he's hitting .381, only one homer, but that's usually the case for Stephen Kwan. 21 runs scored, four steals, a .929 OPS. He's all the way up to 79% rostered, I don't think he was ever really dropped in that many leagues, but if he's out there in a points league, I think I would take him over some of the scuffling rookie types like A.J. Ewing or Esmeralda Valdez. I would rather use Kwan over those guys in a points league right now.
Speaker 3Oh, for sure, in a points league. Yeah. I'm not sure how much value I'm willing to ascribe to Esmeralda Valdez in any format right now. Fair. I think I have a little more confidence in.
Speaker 1Yep. A couple other outfielders here, much better for Roto Category Leagues. Lawrence Butler is racking up the hits, two for three with a walk and a run scored. 32 games in the second half, he's hitting .269, six homers, three steals, 842 OPS. And next week, six home games, only one lefty on the schedule. So I do like that schedule quite a bit for Lawrence Butler.
Speaker 3Might be a sleeper hitter for next week, maybe. He was not supposed to be good this week, with all those road games, but it's gone okay.
Speaker 1And then Spencer Jones had himself a big game, three for four with a sock and a shoe, his sixth homer, his seventh steal. He had three hard hits in this game, two over 108 miles per hour off the bat. Last 20 games, 243, four homers, six steals, 94 average EV during that time, also 33% K rate, which that's pretty much the Spencer Jones experience. I just don't know if he's going to stick around once Cody Bellinger is activated.
Speaker 3That is a massive question. I felt pretty confident he wasn't until this game. This game, is it enough to save him? I don't know that teams really think that way usually these days, but it makes me personally a little less confident. And obviously they got to figure out some way to get Cody Bellinger on the lineup. And Spencer Jones still seems like the path of least resistance. Or? It could platoon Elliot Ramos and Spencer Jones, given how bad Ramos has been since they acquired him.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3I guess DFA-ing Ahmed Rosario would be the choice in that case. Yep, that's pretty bad.
Speaker 1That's what the Yankee content creators are discussing right now, is DFA Rosario and keep Spencer Jones on the roster, which, I mean, I think it makes sense. Rosario has not hit lefties this year. He doesn't really offer. He doesn't offer anything defensively. And, you know, Spencer Jones has looked okay, and he's, you know, one of your young players that you're trying to develop. But they also traded for Elliot Ramos. So it's like, I see all sides of the, whatever, three-headed coin here, but... You see it all. I see it all. So for that reason, I probably would lean Lawrence Butler over Spencer Jones. But Jones' upside might be higher, but his floor is, he's just not playing, so.
Speaker 3Yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1All right. Ask once again. I brought his name up yesterday, but perhaps a Grand Slam has changed your opinion, Scott. Matt McClain hit that Grand Slam. He added a walk and 21 games since returning from injury, 239, four homers, four steals, 794 OPS, 28% rostered, six road games next week. So unfortunately, we don't get the Great American Small Park there with Matt McClain. Has a Grand Slam changed your opinion? It's okay to say. No.
Speaker 3Not really. I mean, it was, yes, these two huge games back-to-back has gotten his batting average up to 239 since returning OPS, almost up to 800. Two days ago, it was 200 batting average, 679 OPS. So we're making a lot of a little here to the degree we're making anything of it. And I just, I don't think there's much here anymore. Like, we were skeptical of Matt McClain from, from the beginning. And then we kept an open mind these last two years, but it's, it's been a lot of nothing.
Speaker 1And this last name that I will mention is for those in the deepest of dynasty leagues. And I know if Nando Dufino was here and he was listening, I could assure you that he's not. But maybe I'll text him on Friday and ask what he thinks about this player. I am pretty sure that he would be in on Daz Cameron, who is with the Blue Jays now, hit his first home run of the season, he went two for five, a 442 foot home run. He's 29 years old. He's a former top prospect. He's just had an interesting year that started in the KBO, where he hit 287 with nine homers and nine steals, OPS over 800. Then he got 23 games in at the Blue Jays AAA affiliate, and he crushed it down there. So, look, it's, this is the deepest of deep dynasty leagues, but I'll just throw the name out there. It is Daz Cameron, who is the son of Mike Cameron, and now on the,
Speaker 3on the Blue Jays, so deep dynasty leagues, let's say Mike Cameron remembers.
Speaker 1Why two K that's he was probably crushing home runs during Y2K, right?
Speaker 3Yeah, he probably was. Let's see in the year 2000, Mike Cameron hit 267 with 19 homers, 24 steals and an 803 OPS was worth four war. That's right, right in the thick of his prime there.
Speaker 1That is pretty good. Let's take our final. Break when we return start sit or drop and Scotty doesn't know. We'll do that right after this. What is Toyota Ford ability? It's buying smart right now. Your local Toyota dealer has great deals available on some of the most reliable trucks on the market, like the off-road ready Tacoma rugged full-size Tundra and legendary forerunner all with the space tech and features to handle it all from the worksite to the trails. It means driving for less with efficient hybrid options. Available extending your overall driving range and delivering great MPGs meaning bigger savings at the pump without sacrificing power and it means trading for more the Tacoma and Tundra are ranked number one and number two in resale value over all vehicles according to Kelly blue book, which can mean thousands more than average right back in your pocket when it's time to trade in that's Toyota Ford ability buy smart drive for less and trade for more shop toyota.com or your local Toyota Ford dealer. For deals and details vehicles projected resale value is specific to the 2026 model year for more information visit Kelly blue books kbb.com Toyota brand average resale value is 53% versus the average vehicle at 45% Toyota. Let's go places. Welcome back fantasy baseball today starts it or drop. We already did this with George Kirby. How about Kyle Braddish not good here against the Yankees five and two thirds eight hits five runs three of those earned. Two homers allowed in this one ten hard hits allowed ninety four point four average EV he was pitching better before this but in a way where he wasn't really getting strikeouts so I don't know not the most impressive way and there's just been too many starts this year where he's just been out of sync it's one thing or another it's the command is off one of his breaking pitches isn't working that day it's just it hasn't really all been in sync for any long period of time here for Kyle Braddish he's able to do a lot of things he's able to do a lot of things here and he's able to do a lot of things here and he's able to do a lot of things here. He's 88% rostered he's 51% started he's at the Cardinals next week start sit or drop.
Speaker 3I'm fine sitting him if you have somebody buddy who's clearly better but I I'd be okay starting him against the Cardinals I think yeah definitely not to the point of dropping him and this is not because I'm thrilled with what Kyle Braddish is doing previous seven starts 330 80 RA that's obviously not bad but he had only six point three K per nine and you're right about that the way the whole season is going to be. It's played out there these glimmers of the guy we expected the last one really came in June but just every everything has seemed off in a way that my years of experience tell me maybe there's some kind of injury going on there that we're about to hear about the reason I'm skeptical of that is because during this time the Orioles just signed Kyle Braddish to a big extension so they're obviously not. concerned,
Speaker 1at least not in that way next up we have peter lambert with a big old regression start against the angels three and two thirds eight hits nine runs allowed here and uh you know under the hood it didn't look that bad 63 of his pitches for strikes 81.3 average exit velocity against didn't get a ton of whiffs but that's not really part of his game his previous eight starts before this one were great 244 era 111 whip 10k per nine for peter lambert he is 83% rostered 58% started at the yankees next week who without judge have been very bad offensively but they might be getting cody bellinger back so uh start sit or drop peter lambert i will definitely not drop who did you say was facing he's at the yankees next week
Speaker 3hmm he is a fly ball pitcher he's pretty good at getting weak fly balls interestingly enough no home runs allowed in this start for as bad as it was i'm curious how many extra base hits there were in general because the contact quality was actually pretty low two extra base hits of the eight hits both doubles uh so i don't know it seems like peter lambert probably deserved better here seven hard hit balls and i obviously he had been on a good run before this and i think i'm i'm not automatically sitting him because he had a bad start this time out am i thrilled to start him at yankee stadium i wouldn't say that either so it's it's sort of like the bradish situation where i'm okay starting lambert but uh if if if i had another good option i wouldn't hesitate to sit him out but i'm not going to sit him either so this is this is very wishy-washy this segment already uh i do agree though i
Speaker 1mean it's not it basically he's not a must start he is a could start uh but i agree that i would not drop peter lambert after obviously a terrible start but he was very good before that what about landon root maybe we can get a definitive answer here another bad start for him this one at the guardians five and a third five hits four runs three of those earned four walks to two strikeouts and over his last five starts 620 era 166 whip more walks than strikeouts 19 walks to 17 strikeouts he is 65 percent rostered and he is home against the reds next week
Speaker 3yeah i think i'm at my limit i think i'm at my landam landon roop limit it was said you'd destroy
Speaker 1the sith not join them i think it's time to say farewell to landon rupee boy all those walks man
Speaker 3that's the problem and maybe he'll stop doing it the same as as suddenly as he started maybe he'll stop but i'm tired of taking lumps in the meantime it's been plenty of good matchups along the way another good matchup next week for what it's worth but yeah against cincinnati but against cincinnati and san francisco but it's not like the home splits for landon rooper so good that i could
Speaker 1justify recommending him again when i'm fine dropping him when scott lays his head on the pillow tonight and he's like i'm not gonna do it again i'm not gonna do it again i'm not gonna do it again and thinks about landon roop this is the song that will come to mind
Speaker 4we had our fun i thought you were gonna play kirby dying again
Speaker 1all right with that it is time for everyone's favorite segment especially scott's
Speaker 5scotty doesn't know oh scotty doesn't know oh all right
Speaker 1three seconds left scotty doesn't know oh scotty doesn't know oh scotty doesn't know oh three names did they play on thursday or not nobody knows actually i know but to scott all right up first among pitchers with at least a hundred innings i have the 12th best k minus walk rate at 21.6 percent all right say it again i gotta get my mind focused here among pitchers with at least a hundred innings i have the 12th best k minus walk rate at 21.6 percent
Speaker 3okay all right good k minus well that's the only clue i get right that's the only one the stupid game um k minus walk rate's really good hundred innings so some some pitchers virgin on like 150 at this point i'm gonna say that the pitcher you are talking about is none other than does he have a hundred innings there's no way he has a hundred innings i'm just gonna say it to keep this show moving ian seymour oh god he's did again he did it i got it
Speaker 1yeah he did pitch on scotty does know i was trying to do the reverse i you know a lot of times i i just didn't have enough time the kate anderson stuff i you know i had to add that into the rundown but scotty does know eventually i'll get you on these uh ian seymour i will eventually come
Speaker 3on i will get you my pretty you're batting like 800 at least ian seymour he did struggle with
Speaker 1the long ball here against the blue jays five innings three runs eight strikeouts to one walk three homers allowed three hard hits in this game those were the only three hard hits they all went for homers that seems a little unfortunate uh fourteen whiffs on ninety pitches here he does kind of have a home run problem though yeah eighteen homers allowed one point six home runs per nine uh his fly ball rate is up his barrel rate is up so look he's been much better as of
Speaker 3late but he does have a home run problem that's he and seymour yeah i i think i think it's going to remain a home run problem i think he's going to be he's trending toward being one of these pitchers that looks awesome except the era is a little higher than he'd like which is very much what joe ryan's been in his career and that's the comparison i've made before uh for a lot of reasons one of them being they both came up in the rays organization uh but that i think is the ideal scenario we're looking at seymour he's like a left-handed joe ryan and we'd all be really happy with that especially given the way he was regarded just a couple months ago and we're thrilled to have him now top 40 pitcher rest to season i i think i actually move have seymour one spot ahead of kate anderson that's the picture i moved kate anderson behind uh which again i'm ranking anderson conservatively i think he has more upside than seymour but in a
Speaker 1way it shows that i do like seymour yeah seymour is 84 percent rostered he's 64 started he's at the tigers next week and they are 22nd in home runs against lefties so i think that should work out kind of well here for ian seymour and i think he's someone that you i don't i don't yeah i mean i guess you could say he's a must start i i would start him with pretty close yeah i would start ian seymour with confidence next week all right let's see if i can get him all of a sudden scott does now in 17 games since returning from the il i am hitting 328 with three homers a 929 ops and just an 18 percent k rate
Speaker 4hmm
Speaker 3just returned from the il a couple weeks ago ah i am gonna say not the guy who got five hits today i know he hasn't been hitting that well man i feel like it's gonna be an oh yeah yeah once you say it i can't come up with a name um uh okay i gotta i gotta say something i'm going to say who just can't who came back from the il recently uh matt mcclain matt mcclain yeah no it's not him frank i'm struggling to come up with somebody who came back from the il recently even just to throw a name out there i don't want to tank it but i can't i can't think of it um how about okay ellie de la cruz i know you did it scotty doesn't know
Speaker 1oh scotty doesn't know the name we were looking for i was scared you were gonna get him cory seager cory seager
Speaker 3i would not have got him i had no idea it was hot coming back from the il
Speaker 1yeah so in 17 thank goodness in 17 games since coming back 328 three homers 929 ops i wanted to highlight the strikeout rate 18 percent uh since returning and before the injury it was 27 percent and it was kind of looking like cory seager was uh might be a little washed here but i like the fact that the k rate is down and obviously uh he's hitting much better there's not enough time for him to deliver what we wanted from cory seager but i mean he could be a contributor for the final you know five weeks of the season here
Speaker 3ellie de la cruz has been back from the il for 50 games so definitely wasn't gonna be him yeah cory seager i i i had started to lose faith i i wasn't really reading too much into the data because i just feel like it's one of those things where when a guy's struggling he's struggling across the board and the track record the history of His success is so consistent, so high for Seager. I just figured he'd come around eventually, and hopefully that's happening now with this latest IL stint.
Speaker 1All right, the latest one. The last one, excuse me. My expected stats have dropped from a 251 XBA and 495 XLUG last year, 251 and 495, to just 198 and 383 this season.
Speaker 3Hmm. The name that came to mind, and I'm not sure I'm going to come up with a better one, is Joe Adele.
Speaker 5Scotty doesn't know. Oh, Scotty doesn't know.
Speaker 1I was so scared because for the previous one, you were like, it's not the guy who had five hits today.
Speaker 3But it was Zach Netto for this one. Zach Netto's expected stats are that bad? I knew they were worse.
Speaker 1198 XBA, 383 XLUG for Zach Netto, who just had a monster game, 5 for 6 with his 21st home run, 7 RBI. I mean, that was just a complete rout. It was like 18 to 3 in that one. There was a position player in there pitching towards the end. And in his previous 39 games before this one, since the start of July, 218 batting average, 2 homers, 592 OPS, 30% K rate, 88 average EV, 8% barrel rate. So he's going through it. Zach Netto, he needed this game.
Speaker 3He did. He did. Man, I am stunned that the expected stats are that bad. I knew they were worse. I knew he'd been worse. But obviously, the gap between the expected stats, much, much bigger than the gap. But the actual stats, I think, I've said it before, that I feel like 2025 was probably the best Zach Netto we're going to get. And that I think there's more downside than upside from there. I know I was one of the few people touting Pete Crowe Armstrong over Zach Netto in drafts this year. So I guess I could pat myself on the back for that one. But look, he's still a 2020 shortstop. He's just, play discipline's bad. So he's not nearly as good in points leagues. And I think he's going to be a liability in batting average.
Speaker 5Yeah.
Speaker 3For what it's worth, Joe Adele's expected stats are actually pretty good. So that was another bad guess by me.
Speaker 1All right. That was Scotty Doesn't Know. Zach Netto, by the way, just want to point out, why are those expected stats so low? His fly ball rate and the pop-up? Pop-ups are up this season. He is also up to a career-high 31% K rate. I forgot who said it. It was, I believe it was an Angels legend that was commenting on Zach Netto and said something along the lines of, like, he's just swinging for the fences every time he goes up to the plate. So certainly seems that way based on some of the underlying metrics here for Zach Netto. The leftovers from Thursday. Jordan Walker hit another one. One for four with his 26th home run. And the updated August numbers for him, 333, four homers, three steals, 967 OPS. Kazuma Okamoto added to his home run total. He went two for five with his 26th homer. Has two home runs in his past three games. So hopefully looking to get back on track. It's been a very rough second half here for Okamoto. Bobby Witt Jr. is picking up the power. He has three home runs in his past five games. And in 16 games since returning from injury, 328, three homers, 20 runs scored, three steals, 967. So we're going to have to wait and see if he can get back on track. We're going to have to wait and see if he can get back on track. We're going to have to wait and see if he can get back on track. So we're going to have to wait and see if he can get back on track. But it's been a pretty slow build here since joining the Yankees. So hopefully next week they have seven games at home. We can get some home cooking there for Luis Garcia. And then the last two were Seager and Zach Netto. But Scott, anything to add on Garcia, Bobby Witt, Okamoto, and Jordan Walker?
Speaker 3Maybe Garcia will hit a home run off Peter Lambert. Who knows?
Speaker 1It's possible. It's possible. It's possible. It's possible.
Speaker 3Yeah. I hope this will get people to quiet down about the home run derby ruin Jordan Walker talk because three home runs in his last six games. And, you know, overall numbers are still incredible.
Speaker 4Yep.
Speaker 3We talked yesterday about that first NFBC draft. Jordan Walker was a first-round pick in it. Again, I think there was a lot of talk about that. There was a lot of recency bias at play there. So I don't want to make too much of it. Like, Ronald Acuna went round five, was it?
Speaker 1Or three.
Speaker 3It was round three in a 15-team league, though. So, like, close to pick 50.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3I think it's not going to happen. But I don't want to make too much of it, but it's still an interesting talking point that we may be looking at at least a borderline first-rounder here in Jordan Walker. Next year.
Speaker 1All right. The call to the bullpen for the Reds. Emilio Pagan was unavailable. Brock Burke got the ninth inning with a one-run lead, and he gave up six unearned runs on three walks and two hits. Dane Myers dropped the ball in the outfield to end the game, so it was just completely brutal there for the Reds. On the other side, for the Cardinals, Riley O'Brien came on to get the final out. He barely got it. It was two walks and a hit, but he picked up his 33rd save. For the Guardians, Cade Smith walked. He walked two, but he picked up his 32nd save. For the Braves, Rysel Iglesias. He's been bouncing back lately. Good to see he got the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out two for his 26th save. For the Brewers, Trevor McGill picked up his 23rd. And for the Rangers, Jacob Latz picked up his 25th. And just want to do a quick recap of relievers to add from this past week. Obviously, going into the weekend, people might have to put their claims in, put their bids in. Obviously, number one with a bullet, Tanner Scott. Who is 68% rostered. He's above everybody else in this group. But the other names, we have Kodai Senga, Ben Joyce, Mason Montgomery, Steven Cruz, and Dylan Smith. How would you rank those five, Scott? Senga, Ben Joyce, Mason Montgomery, Steven Cruz, Dylan Smith.
Speaker 3Montgomery, one. Senga, two. Let's see. Okay. Here are the names. Oh, I'm sorry. Was Tanner Scott part of it or no?
Speaker 1No, no, no, no. I just think he's way ahead of this group. Yeah, obviously, he'd be way ahead.
Speaker 3Okay. Let me start over. Mason Montgomery, one. Kodai Senga, two. Ben Joyce, three. And not a strong opinion between Steven Cruz and Dylan Smith. I guess I give the edge to Cruz just because I think the Royals are a little more predictable in their bullpen use than the Giants.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think that's fair. To stream or not to stream on Friday. We have Sean Minaya at the White Sox. JT Ginn is at the Astros. Joey Cantillo is at the Rockies. Nick Lodolo at the D-backs. Connor Prelip at the Padres. Bubba Chandler at the Dodgers. And Hayden Wisniewski home against the Athletics.
Speaker 3Let's say JT Ginn. High floor play there. Sean Minaya. Don't totally trust him, but he's a player. Better than the alternatives here. And what was my third choice? It was different from yours. I don't think he's here anymore. You said Nick Lodolo at Arizona. I don't feel great about that. But of the names you list here, that's my third choice.
Speaker 1Yeah, I think there's one person that's become a... Oh, it was Hunter Dobbins. The Cardinals starter for Friday is now a TBD. So I don't know what's going on there. But yeah, I agree. I would go Ginn, Minaya, and Lodolo on Friday. But not much confidence. And Ginn is okay. The other two are a little bit more risky. On Saturday...
Speaker 3Prosper Resource still lists Dobbins for Friday, for what it's worth. All right. I don't mind him against the Phillies.
Speaker 1For Saturday, we have Andrew Painter against the Cardinals. Brandon Young is home against the Rays. Jacob Lopez is at the Astros. Luis Castillo home against the Mets. Drew Anderson is at the Royals. Jared Jones is at the Dodgers. David Peterson is at the Mariners. Patrick Sandoval. Home against the Giants. And Dean Kramer is at the Padres.
Speaker 3Other than Jacob Lopez, who feels pretty close to must start at the moment. This is an uninspiring group. I could get excited about Jared Jones, but not at the Dodgers. Luis Castillo let us all down earlier this week. Better match up here against the Mets. He might be my second choice.
Speaker 1I think I might go Painter against the Cardinals. Yeah. I was thinking about David Peterson at Seattle. Obviously, it's a good place to pitch. I feel like the team is just going to be so jacked up because it's Kate Anderson's debut. But that could work out, David Peterson at the Mariners. It could.
Speaker 3I don't think there's a lot of upside to it, but you could get away with starting Peterson there, I think.
Speaker 1And even Patrick Sandoval against the Giants. I think it could be okay. So, I agree that Lopez is at the top of the list. It's pretty risky. I'd probably go Painter second. And then if you're really, you know, digging deep, Peterson and Sandoval is the third. the third and fourth options on Sunday. We have Shane Boz against the Rays revenge game. Bailey over at the Padres. Walker Bueller is against the twins. Andrew Abbott at the D backs. Shane drone against the Braves. Christian Javier against the athletics and George Clawson at the Rangers.
Speaker 3I think drones. My top choice is usually my top choice. Braves offense has been in a rut lately. So I like that one. Second choice, probably Clawson at Texas. I have my doubts, but Boz revenge, baby. We're Boz revenge against the Rays. Yeah, that's my third choice, but raise a pretty good.
Speaker 1Yeah, now they are. I would. Yeah, I would go to throw in same three, but I would swap Boz and Clawson. So draw in.
Speaker 3You're the Clawson guy. Yeah,
Speaker 1but I mean,
Speaker 3you got to get your claws into Clawson before I do.
Speaker 1I don't even want him. It's not a revenge game yet.
Speaker 3So that's all that matters to you.
Speaker 1Yeah, I mean, where else are you going to get analysis like this? This is just top notch stuff. But I do. I feel like Shane Boz has had really good starts against the Rays already this season. Let's see.
Speaker 3He's already shown his best stuff.
Speaker 1Two starts against the Rays. Seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts, six innings, one run, six strikeouts.
Speaker 3Book it. They're ready this time, Frank. Boz, baby. Not gonna. It's got no new tricks to show them.
Speaker 1You might be right. We are going to wrap. There for Scott. 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 next week. Bye bye.
Speaker 4Paramount Podcasts.
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