Max Fried & Robby Snelling Are Hurt! Did You Realize? (5/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports Got a fantasy question email fantasy baseball at CBSi.com Get ready to win your league Now here's Frank Scott and Chris it feels like every day we either start this podcast with picture injuries or prospect promotions today. It is the former welcome in to fantasy baseball today on Thursday May 14th I am Frank sample join by Chris towers today on the show big picture injuries to both of our teams the Yankees and And the Marlins the Miz looks unstoppable. I have a did you realize segment and much more Let's just start with the sadness Chris and just get it out of the way We don't know what is going to come of these injuries just yet, but they're both elbow injuries So you know, it's kind of scary So in order to get Carlos Rdon and Garicol back to the Yankees there had to be a sacrifice Max freed might be that sacrifice. He left Wednesday start after just three innings due to Left posterior elbow sornous. He will undergo imaging on Thursday It's scary because it's the elbow. It's also scary because Max freed has had Tommy John surgery in his career He is dealt with forearm strains each of the two years prior to joining the Yankees back when he was on the Atlanta Braves But I guess the good news the glass half full here is that the sornous was on the outside of his elbow and the UCL of a ligament Where that often requires surgery is on the inside of the elbow So freed indicated he is not concerned about a lengthy absence here A lot of players are usually positive Dr. Towers, what do you have here on the posterior elbow injuries? Yeah, um, okay one I no medical training. I'm an idiot. I have some data at my hands the thing about this thing though is This isn't a diagnosis. It's the area of the arm where he's feeling pain and so it could be one of eight million things, you know the The posterior posterior means um Fanny so this is on the fanny of his elbow the back and um It sounds like it could be like what colregans has been dealing with In doing a little bit of reading posterior elbow sornous would tend to also coincide with valgus extension overload and so It could just be that it could be a similar thing to what colregans is dealing with where it's not a You know a structural issue. It's just kind of vague sornous. It could be loose bodies. I mean it's it's this is one of those things where We are in the vacuum we're in the information vacuum portion of the injury diagnosis and Until we get more information until he goes for testing we we won't really know how long he's going to miss it could be I mean it could be nothing right it or it could be that there's bone spurs in his elbow that need to be Removed or repaired, you know it it's anything that's off for right now is pure speculating Yeah, it's gonna be pure speculation until the team gives us more information. I think you Anytime a pitcher's dealing with an elbow injury you kind of have to operate under the assumption. They're going to miss A couple of weeks at the very least and Take it from there. So I you know, Garry Cole will probably be back in the next Like think it's about a week by when they have to Have him active if they're going by the 30-day timetable on his rehab assignment So there's gonna be a rotation spot for him and Ryan weather's probably isn't gonna lose his If that's what we were worried about and I think we were so it stinks for max freed Stinks for everyone who has my free on their team. Hopefully it doesn't Stink for more than a couple of weeks, but at this point we can't really say you know back in Early March we do a slow draft every year around the industry set up by Justin Mason friend of the program The great fantasy baseball invitational my third and fourth round picks in that draft We're hunter green and max freed so that's pretty good. Oh Man, I need some elbows on my team. That is not going very well The unfortunate irony which you already alluded to is that just yesterday Scott and I had this lengthy conversation about man Ryan weather says pitch so well What are the Yankees gonna do with him and then the next day life? I mean this is There is no such thing as too many pitchers. It's just It's not a thing. The The twins had too many pitchers. Now they don't Damarlins had too many pitchers. Now they don't like it. Just this is what happens Is there a single team that I guess the Dodgers? Uh, oh no glass that one on the aisle right when Blake snout came back. Yeah There's just There's no such thing as too many pitchers for more than a couple of weeks. That's just the nature of the position Yeah, and look the Yankees won't rush garicole back as a result of this if max freed has to Miss time they've been saying he's still gonna get one to two more rehab starts I think they're gonna stick with that so if they need a spot in the rotation It might be like Elma Rodriguez for a couple spots starts there But uh the hope is that garicole will be activated in the next couple weeks And then my assumption is he'll take that spot in the rotation But again, it's all speculative and my I guess we're going to learn on Thursday because that's when they're getting all the All the testing done there on max freed Over to your team Chris why can't we just have nice things we were so excited about Robbie snelling getting called up last week and his debut was Mixed there was some good there was some bad he was placed in the aisle with a UCL sprain in his left elbow So I think Immediately that is a little bit more concerning than what max freed is dealing with you. We already know we already have a diagnosis of what's happening here With Robbie snelling so If you have an iL spot you throw them on there. I mean my guess is this is probably gonna be a A decent length of absence here For Robbie snelling if you're playing a league where you don't have iL spots and you just blew a bunch of fab on him I am sorry. You're probably gonna have a tough decision to make this weekend but the The chain reaction here is that Braxton Garrett will start Thursday against the twins He's gonna get called up and get thrown into the marlin's rotation And for the most part is pitched well at triple a this year a 230 eRA a.80 whip over a strikeout per inning He has struggled over his last two starts, but he looked really good before that so Your take here on Robbie snelling what do we do with him and I guess your interest level in Braxton Garrett He's gonna miss probably a significant amount of time as my guess. I mean it's impossible to say the marlins are still undergoing testing What I saw from the mlb.com site story about Robbie snelling's injury is they hope it won't require Tommy John surgery, but Elbow sprain is a torn ligament like he has a torn ligament and he has a torn UCL and it's just a question of How severe is that tear if it's you know a grade one very very minor tear then you know it could be a couple of weeks and he's back but It very well could be that this is the end of Robbie snelling season and If you can remember back to 2022 I thought this was how it worked Basically the same thing happened when Max Meyer made his mlb debut He made one really good start. I think he got through Left the first inning of his next start had Tommy John surgery. That does not mean Robbie snelling will have Tommy John surgery as well to be clear but It's within the range of outcomes based on what we know right now and so I I think It would be surprising if Robbie snelling did not miss If Robbie snelling missed less than a month I think it would be a little surprising at this point. So yeah it's um It's a real bummer for a pitcher that we were very excited about and um Who I was still excited about despite the you know Disappointing mlb debut last week. So it's a it's a real bummer for Robbie snelling. I think at this point we can say more concerning the max freed Your interest level in Braxton Garrett It's definitely not zero I'm not saying he needs to be 100% roster to wear anything, but this is a guy who Back in 2023 had like a 360 ERA at the major league level and was a pretty good pitcher And has been like a 360-380 ERA guy for multiple seasons before that and Was really bad in 2024 had Tommy John surgery. He's got a 230 ERA At AAA actually had a no hitter In one of his starts at triple A it was a weird eight inning no hitter in a loss Which is rare? I don't think that would officially be a no hitter I think mlb does have to be nine innings even if it's a complete game. So that's weird But he's also added a mile per hour to his velocity since coming back from Tommy John surgery his Whiff rate is up to like 14% at triple A. Yes, it's triple A hitters so you know skepticism about it caring over but I think Braxton Garrett very well could be relevant in 12 team leagues and I think in 15 team leagues she should be added right now. Yeah Yeah, I agree with all that definitely have interest here in Braxton Garrett, how can you not? You have to have interest in any, you know, pitcher with a modicum of upside right now, based on all the players that we've lost so far this season. So look in shallow leagues. If you lost Max Fried, if you lost Robbie, the two names, we keep going back to lately that look like they have a good amount of upside. Logan Henderson, Max Meyer, Max Meyer had a man start here on Wednesday, but still over a strikeout for ending and he's mostly looked pretty good so far this season. And then we have a couple of other names we'll talk about later on. Ryan Nelson did some good things here. There was Bryce Miller. Looks really good in his debut. So we'll talk about those guys a little bit later on. I mean, the big name from yesterday, Chris, was Bailey Oberg who threw a complete game shut out. Do you have any interest in Bailey Oberg as a replacement in the meantime? I'm not going to say no interest. Like I, I, doesn't even have a good matchup coming up in his next start or something. He thinks is the brewers this weekend and then it's a one-start for next week. Yeah, I thought the start next week was, I don't know, it's at Boston. That's not terrible, but it's not. Yeah, that's pretty good. I guess the Boston's been pretty bad so far this season. So I don't know, that's fine. I don't really have much interest in Bailey Oberg, though. I think great start, but I don't think it's something we need to be chasing. I'd rather have Ryan Nelson. I'd rather have Bryce Miller. I think I'd rather roll the dice on Braxton Garrett, honestly. All right, again, the big news, Max Fried is dealing with left post here elbow soreness. He's getting an MRI on Thursday. Hopefully we learn more then and Robbie snowing placed in the aisle with a UCL sprain in his left elbow. Let's take our first break when we return. Players of the night, news and notes. We'll get into all that right after this. Welcome back in. Fantasy Baseball today. Let's get into the players of the night because I'm the miss. And I'm awesome. Jacob Mizierowski is awesome. Chris talked to me about it. Seven shut out Hening's 10 strikeouts. His last three pitches in this start. Pitched into the seventh inning, finished seven innings. His last three pitches. 102, 101.9 and 103.2 miles per hour. Jacob Mizierowski has now thrown the second most pitches of at least 101 miles per hour in the sixth inning or later since pitch tracking began. Only Justin Verlander has thrown more 101 mile per hour pitches in the sixth or later than Jacob Mizierowski. And Mizierowski's only pitched in the like finish the sixth inning like what? Four or five times in his career? Maybe eight, something like that. Like this is a level of fastball velocity that is basically unprecedented. And I I moved him to my number six starting pitcher this week. Wow. And I don't know if that's too aggressive. I'm sure there are some people in the audience saying that he's been that good forever and we're slow to react and that it's too low even. You know, let's not forget he actually wasn't that good last year. Outside of a handful of starts, history did not begin six weeks ago, but the way I would put it is this. Okay. I would the only pitcher I would give up in a head-to-head for Jacob Mizierowski right now is Paul Schienz. That does not mean that if I had Chris Sale and someone offered me Jacob Mizierowski for him heads up that I would say yes. I think I would probably just not make a trade for sale, Sanchez, Yoshino Miyamoto, Jacob DeGrom. It's just that close for you, basically. Yeah, I think it's that close and the biggest thing is on a skills level, Jacob Mizierowski looks better than any of those guys right now. He's got a 39.6% strikeout rate. His walk rate is like below 9% now, which is wild for a pitcher with his skill set and what he's done. It's a pretty easy recent schedule is one part and I think Yankees has last time out. Yeah, no, that's true. But it's also just it's only eight starts where he's pitched at this level. And so we don't know what the future will hold. There will be tougher times ahead. I don't think he will have a 40% strikeout rate the rest of the way. But the fastball is a killer pitch. It might be, Jacob Mizierowski's fastball might be the 80 grade now because it might be the best fastball on baseball. The slider doesn't miss a lot of bats relatively speaking, but it is just a contact suppressing monster. And I think he had a nine balls in play on the slider today, 79.4 mile per hour average, I was lost. You just cannot do anything with it. And then the curve ball is great when he needs it, which he rarely does. It's really impressive. I still have my concerns about how the control is going to hold up. I still have my concerns about how sustainable this all is vis-a-vis health. But I don't know, like he he's not hurt right now. At some point, you just got to treat him like every other pitcher who's not hurt because Max Fried doesn't throw hard and he just got hurt, you know, like we can't really predict this stuff. So maybe I'm being too aggressive, which is not usually how I roll. I will admit. And so I'm a little uncomfortable with how aggressive I'm being with Jacob. And Mr. Ascii's ranking, but I'm doing it, man. I just there are not more than five pitchers I'd rather have right now. There's only one pitcher I would definitely rather have right now than Jacob. And Mr. Ascii. Yeah. And I think that's acceptable, man. Like to me, there's a pretty clear top five, just guys that have done it for a couple of years now. And they've kind of, you know, built up that cache. Skien, Sanchez, Sale, Yamamoto, DeGrom. That's my top five. Earlier today, I updated my rankings and I moved Cam Schlippler and McLean up to six and seven. I wish I was here to do the thing. But I kind of chickened out and then I moved Brian Wu and Logan Gilbert back ahead of them. But you have inspired me. I'm going to go ahead and do it. I'm going to put Cam and McLean back ahead. But I think Miss Eras, right there. I think it should probably be in whatever order. I mean, yeah, like I think they're all amazing. So if you told me you wanted the Miz at the top of that group, I'm fine with it. But what Cam and McLean have done and what the underlying skills tell us about those players so far too, they're just all fantastic. K-1 to Swalk rate, expected ERA according to stack pass. It's all just really, really great stuff for all three of those guys. So yeah, I think they're all just kind of like bona fide SP ones right now. The way that those guys are pitching. Let's talk about Bryce Miller's season debut at the Houston Astros five and a third innings. He did allow eight hits. Looks really good early on. He kind of, I think ran out of ran out of steam later on in the start gave up some hits. But two earned runs, three strikeouts to one walk, only eight whiffs on 81 pitches. But the velocity was way up here for Bryce Miller, which is what we saw on his rehab assignment as well. The fastball was up 2.8 miles per hour for a compared to last year. He averaged 97.6 miles per hour on that pitch. The splitter was up two and a half. The slider was up 2.8. The sinker was up nearly two. The sweeper was up 1.4 miles per hour. And he's basically just Seth Lugo now with a bunch of velocity. He used seven different pitches in this start between 2% and 40% usage. He did use his sweeper and cutter a lot more in this first start compared to last year. And if stat cast is correct, the cutter had 10 more inches of drop compared to last year. So that is a very different cutter than what we saw from Bryce Miller last year. His fastball is really good. That's always kind of been his main pitch. And I feel like he's always kind of tinkered around to find the secondary pitches that he needs. And I still think he's kind of searching for that just in his career. But he's in a really good organization to help him figure that out. And he pitches in a great home ballpark in T-Mobile Park as well. So look, I remain skeptical. The injury stuff last year was real. It was scary. But we are desperate for pitching right now with any upside. Again, he's 65% rostered. And you know, if you lost out on freed, you lost out on snowing or you just have underperformance from other guys right now, like, yeah, I would take a shot on Bryce Miller. Yeah. And I do want to point out it's not just that the fastball velocity was up 2.8 miles per hour from last year. His velocity with the four seamer was 1.5 miles per hour higher than any other start in his career. It only he only got three whiffs on 24 swings. So it wasn't great, but still 19 inches of induced vertical break. So I think there's a lot to like about Bryce Miller's fastball. The splitter ended up being a really good pitch for him in 2024 when he was really good. I just think you all you have to look at is 2024 and how good he was there. He was a top 20 pitcher at least possibly higher. Did he lead the league in Whip that year? I've not just very close. That sounds right. I think he was a top 10 pitcher in fantasy overall. So I don't think he'll be that good, but I don't see any reason not to add him. There's no, no reason he's not going to be in the rotation as long as he's good. I, um, I think you have to be very encouraged by this. It might not work out. Um, and I think the cutter looking at that, um, that's probably just misclassified sliders and he probably wasn't throwing the cutter because his velocity was down on the cutter and the velocity was up on everything else. Um, yeah, that would be my guess. He threw so many different pitches that, yeah, it might have just been hard to track. Um, but look, I think you have to be at least interested in what Bryce Miller is doing right now for sure. So yeah. So two years ago in 2024, uh, he didn't lead the league, but it was a point nine eight whip and he was one of four pitchers with a whip below one that season. Okay. So he, he does possess a, a decent amount of upside there. Uh, would you take Bryce Miller ahead of Max Meyer or Logan Henderson? No, I don't think so. Would you take him ahead of Braxton Garrett? Yes. I think so too. All right. Now, if it was like Ryan Nelson, who I think is doing a lot of really interesting stuff. And I think we have to recalibrate the, the things that we've talked about with Ryan Nelson. I don't know if you want to get into that now later. Let's talk about him. So he was, um, he was at the Rangers, uh, Ryan Nelson seven innings three runs, eight strikeouts to zero walks. He had 18 whiffs on 88 pitches. Uh, he did this in a start where he only used his fastball 45% of the time. Well, Scott's rule is usually 60% of the time it works every time, but he mixed in some other stuff and he looked really good. This is a different version of Ryan Nelson because he did throw, let's see, let me do some quick math. He's 71% fastballs in this start. It's just that it was 45% for seemers, 18% cutters and 8% sinkers and the cutter and sinker are basically brand new pitches for him. He threw the cutter a couple times early in the season, but it's really been only the last four starts. The sinker, I think, is just the last three starts, which have all been really good. And what you're seeing is in this start, 48% for seemers versus righties, 45% for four percent against lefties. So right on 45% 29% cutters against lefties, 21% sinkers against righties. That's the blueprint right there. Cutters are platoon neutralizers. Sinkers are to the same handed batters. And so, you know, you're not going to miss as many bats with your sinker and cutter as you do with your four seamer generally speaking. Okay, maybe there's some loss there, but I think on the whole, it could make him a better pitcher. And he did the same thing with a slider and curve. He only used the slider against righties. He only used the curve against lefties. So he has a, an obvious plan of what to do against righties and lefties. So, and it makes perfect sense. He's not a guy who's ever been able to throw a change up. So you need something to neutralize lefties a little more effectively. Cutter 29%. That makes sense. The curve ball against lefties also makes sense. I think this is all very interesting. I think, you know, Ryan Nelson, I know that the two bad starts were really, really bad. I'm shocked that he's only 56% roster. He was, and one of those was in Mexico City where it's high of elevation. So, and so, yeah, even higher than course field. So I, I think Ryan Nelson is too low rostered. If, you know, him and Bryce Miller, they're probably both available in a lot of leagues. Miller's 65% rostered. Yeah. Ryan Nelson's 56. I don't know which one I've got with. I think it would be Ryan Nelson. But Bryce Miller does have the pitching his home games in Seattle part that, yeah, he could be, you know, if he's pretty good on the road, he might be elite at home. And so that, that could flip it in Bryce Miller's favor. I think I would give Ryan Nelson the edge, but it's very close. And I do think they are, they are both probably should be more like 90% roster. Yeah. I think I would go with Ryan Nelson as well. The main reason is that we have seen him be more effective more recently than Bryce Miller. I mean, we just, we haven't seen Bryce Miller be good for extended period of time in two years. Last year, Ryan Nelson was a, a very viable pitcher for fantasy. So, I mean, it is. I mean, it is. Spark. So, in CBS points, 56% roster just, that's way too low. Even if you don't think he's great. And I think he's good at least. Three starts in May, by the way, for Ryan Nelson, 233 ERA.67 whip. 19 strikeouts of our 19 in a third inning. So, yeah, he's pitching very well there is Ryan Nelson. But I, yeah, I think I would go Nelson just ahead of Bryce Miller, but I think both are interesting. Big thanks to those watching live. We appreciate you being here. Make sure to hit that like button if you haven't already. We have 530 people here watching. So hit that like button. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Let's get into the news and notes. And we did get some big injury scares on the hitter side as well. One soda left early after fouling a ball off his ankle. X-rays came back negative, thankfully. So maybe he gets a day off. I'm sure he'll be in the lineup on Friday against the Yankees. But yeah, sounds like he avoided a catastrophe there. Cal Raleigh left during the eighth inning here on Wednesday manager Dan Wilson said it was precautionary. I'm not so sure that Raleigh is healthy right now, Chris. The fact that he was dealing with that side injury and he just had like an 0 for 38 slump. He's been awful. His underlying metrics are terrible. I just don't know that he's healthy to be honest. It's a it's a reasonable hypothesis for sure. If he's not healthy, then he's not healthy and we'll find out I guess. But yeah, it's frustrating for sure. Yeah, look, he's one of those gamer types where he's going to try and play through every possible thing that he can. But yeah, I mean, it might be to his detriment to our detriment for fantasy right now as well. Nathan of all the three bullpen without issue on Wednesday and expects to start Sunday and Houston. He was scratched earlier in the week with left side tightness. Ronald the Cunia won't be activated during the Braves homestand, which runs through Sunday. He has not suffered a setback. The Braves are just being very cautious, which I do appreciate. Gary. They keep beating all the good teams in baseball. They got the cushion they could they can take their time. They got Mauricio Dubon leading off and hitting home runs for them. So who needs Ronald the Cunia? Gary crocheted through a 20 pitch bullpen on Wednesday and he told reporters he doesn't plan on making a minor league rehab start. It was reading a little bit more into it. I think he would try and throw maybe another bullpen this weekend or early next week. And then if that goes well, you know, maybe they kind of activated him, but he's on a short leash for a couple of stars. So it looks like if there are no setbacks, we could get crocheted back before the end of May. Francisco Lindor will undergo an MRI this week to check on the recovery of his calf. Francisco Alvarez will undergo surgery to address the torn meniscus in his right knee. The meds are hopeful he'll return in six to eight weeks. Luis Torens is expected to take over as the starting catcher. And I don't think Luis Torens is a very good hitter, Chris, but look, man, in those 15 team two catcher leagues, he's going to play. I have a league where I've I had Nick Forte in my Nick Fortes. Nick Fortes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In my line up. So yeah, there are leagues where basically anybody can be relevant, but I have an NL only league where my two catchers were Francisco Alvarez and Joey Bart. Oh, it's good. Both went on the aisle this week. So Luis Torens, come on down. We're going to we're going to be bidding on you this weekend. Jeremy Paine is dealing with neck soreness following a nasty collision during a rehab game on Tuesday. Did you see this collision, Chris? No, I didn't. Oh, man, it did not look good. It was there was a relay. They were throwing it into second. Someone was going for a double, but like the runner slid and kind of like upended Paine and he like flipped on his head. It was it did not look good at all. So hopefully he's all right. Christian Yellitz was out of the line up Wednesday due to back soreness just returned from a groin injury. Not great. The Marlins reinstated P Fairbanks from the aisle. Grace and Rodriguez is a candidate to start Sunday against the Dodgers. Talk about a terrible landing spot, right? You're first starting like two years. You got to face the Dodgers. He made a rehab start at single A on Sunday. He struck out 11 over four and two thirds. This was the lowest level of the minor. So it's still encouraging. It's a good sign there for for Grace and Rodriguez. 56% rostered. What's your interest level in stashing, adding? See what happens? Below Miller and Nelson for sure. Below Garrett probably, but I'm interested. Yeah. I'm just going to hold the results against Grace and Rodriguez going up against the Dodgers. Hoping we haven't gotten stack S data for his rehab starts yet. So I'm just kind of hoping we see some positive signs. Is the fastball 96? Is the, I think it was the sweeper he was working back in. Either the sweeper or is the cider just looking more like a viable swing and miss pitch. Those are the things I'll be working looking at. I don't expect him to be good against the Dodgers and his first start since July 31st of 2024, I believe. Yeah. Yeah. I agree that he's behind all those other pictures we've talked about already. today. But if you just have a dead roster spot, take a shot and just see because on the off chance that he goes out there and doesn't even have to be an amazing star. But like five innings to runs seven strikeouts against the Dodgers with like 13, 14 swinging strikes and all of a sudden like, all right, this guy might go for a lot of fab. So if you have a spot to mess around with just why not? Let's see what happens. Lucas Giledo is expected to make his Padre's debut this weekend in four minor league starts a 476 ERA 141 whip. He was okay last year. He's 21% rostered. Where does Lucas Giledo fit into all these pictures we've talked about so far? Probably below them. I know he had a 341 ERA last year, but he was not very good. Otherwise, it's a good home park. Maybe there's something there, but I'd be I don't think there's much upside with Lucas Giledo at this point in his career either. So not not a high priority. I think the only thing that's working in his favor in very deep leagues, 15 team, rodeo leagues and only leagues is just his home park. He's going to be pitching in San Diego. So perhaps could be a streamer in the right matchups. Jocolo Stanton has not yet been cleared to ramp up his running after an MRI on his injured right half to not show enough healing. And the reds put retlouter on the aisle with right shoulder discomfort. They signed Chris Paddock who was expected to start on Saturday. Chris Paddock in Great American ballpark. Yeah, that's having a problem. What can go wrong? Did you realize let's see look at some players some interesting numbers here. Show how tiny another great start here against the giant seven shutout innings with H. Shrek out. He had 17 whiffs on 105 pitches. Chris, did you realize he is now seven for seven in quality starts the season? Yeah, I think I realized that. Yeah, he's been awesome. Arguably the best pitcher in baseball on a perning basis so far this season. And he is he going to get the day off tomorrow entirely. Yep. So he's not going to hit or pitch tomorrow. So it's cutting into his hitting value. We've talked about it a handful of times this year, but I still think you should start Otani as a hitter rather than as a pitcher. I think it's just a slow start for Otani. I actually discovered, I don't know, I someone was having a meltdown about how bad show Hey Otani has been so far. And I discovered a, I don't know, 41 or 37 games stretch, whatever we're at last year where he had the exact same woba that he currently does. I'm not concerned about show Hey Otani as a hitter. He's still my number two overall player. But if you have the luxury of using him as a pitcher, he's incredible. I think he's at least top 15, possibly top 12 at this point. I think he's writing that mix with the Miz, Camsel, itler, Nolan McClean. I think he's right there with those guys. I think he's a top 12 starting pitcher the way he's pitched. He won't give you as much volume. You won't get to start weeks out of him. So that's why I would put him at the bottom of that, that quartet. But look, when he does pitch, he's, he is giving you volume in that way. He has gone seven innings and back of back starts. He's gone six or more in all seven starts that he's made so far this year. And you know, Scott, I brought this up yesterday and leagues where he's one player, it is starting to be more of a conversation about whether to use him as a hitter or a pitcher on a weekly basis. Not for me personally, but I get it. Like if you, if you are the type of person who believes that recent results tell you something about how a player is likely to do in the near future, sure. I don't really believe in the hot hand all that much. I tend to just view players at what I think their talent level is. And I think Shohyotani is still one of the two or three best hitters in baseball. So I would probably not be hitting him, benching him as a hitter. But look, you're, you're not likely to regret it. He's an awesome pitcher too. Yeah, that's the thing I was going to say is like, I don't think you could even be upset if you used him as a pitcher in a week where, let's just say in a week as a hitter, he hits like two or three home runs. But if he goes out and throws seven innings of one run ball with eight strikeouts, I don't think you could really be upset about that either. So it's just that there have been a lot of weeks in his career where he's hit like five home runs exactly and stolen four bases and that you would have regret. That you were regretting not there right now or at least not as much. He's only got five. But yeah, I think you're on the whole, I think he's a better hitter than a pitcher for fantasy. And so I would probably not be sending him, but your specific search and chances, you might have, who did I had to bench? Ivan Herrera this week because I had a better catcher available or catcher with better matchups this week. And so, you know, I could see in that situation using where you have a viable extra hitter, put them in the D H spot and start Otani. Yeah, I think that's possible. But I think he's a better hitter fantasy than a pitcher. So let's talk about Kyle Bradish who makes it to quality starts in a row. Wow, what do you realize? What do you know? The baseball season didn't end in April. That's so crazy. How that works. Kyle Bradish against the Yankees six shout out innings one hit three walks, seven strikeouts, 14 whiffs on 100 pitches. His last two starts now, 13 innings, three runs, 17 strikeouts to four walks. He is a very talented pitcher. He went to a rough stretch for sure. He couldn't throw strikes. He's he's been better the past couple of times out. Chris, did you realize that part of the reason he's been better curveball usage up over 30% each of his past two starts. Yeah, I did realize that today. And it is worth pointing out these are not this was not your grandfather's Yankees lineup. This was not yesterday's Yankees lineup. This was one of the worst lineups. The Yankees are likely to have out there all season. This was very much a getaway day lineup. The bottom four in the lineup. Ryan McMahon, Spencer Jones, Anthony Volpe, J.C. Escar. That's pretty bad. But I think part of why he threw his his curveball more in this start was it was a very lefty heavy lineup. I think 80 of his 100 pitches were to lefties and he throws his curveball Morgan's lefties. So I think that probably explains some of it. But I think the biggest thing is just he wasn't pitching well and now he's pitching a little better. Three walks still you'd like to see him tighten that up. But I remain optimistic about Kyle Bratish. I'll even go beyond hopeful. I will go optimistic on Kyle Bratish moving forward. I think if you dropped him you made him a stake. I think he will be very good moving forward. And you might have missed your by low window. You could point to hey man. This guy is a 153 whip. You might want to trade him while you still can. But my guess is you probably missed out on your by low opportunity there with Kyle Bratish. Framber Valdez bounce back at the Met six and two thirds innings two runs seven strikeouts. He had 11 whiffs on a hundred six pitches. You know he's allowed two or runs a fewer in seven of nine starts. That sounds good. The other two he allowed seven and eight runs. So I know like 10 hits. I think an eager was just disasters in both starts. Yeah. So that is what has inflated his line so far. But Chris did you realize in this start that he used his slider a lot more in this one 16% usage. It was only 2% entering the start and it was a really good pitch. So I thought that was kind of interesting. What do you think? That is surprising. And I'm going to try to see when the last time it was 16% today. Yep. Last time he threw his slider that often N.A. start was June 20th, 2023. So almost three full years ago last year he threw it 10% of the time or more only twice. That is interesting. That's a that's a significant change and it always has been a good pitch for me just doesn't throw it. Yeah. And so that's I don't know that's interesting. I generally don't think going away from the the curve ball is ever a good idea for a framber. But the curve ball hasn't been as effective this season as normal and that happens sometimes for him. We talk about this a lot. I think it was the second half of 2024. The curve ball just went nuts and he was starting at like 40% of the time and it was dominant and it was the best stretch of his career. And then last year he comes out I think early on in the season the curve balls were working really good and he lost it for a little bit. It just kind of happens when when you're throwing one pitch you know 30 to 40% of the time and that pitch is an 80 mile an hour big loopy like it doesn't that that curve balls never going to tunnel well with other pitches. It's just kind of does he have the feel for it? Can he throw it consistently where he wants to or if you can't it's not going to be great for him. So I think that's an interesting wrinkle. It's an interesting thing to have in his back pocket when he needs it. Let's talk about Mickey Moniak who just continues to crush things. He finished a single short of the cycle. His 12th homer. He had five RBI in this game. He's hitting 315 10 51 OPS. He does sit against lefties. But when he's played against righties man he has mashes here. Did you realize Mickey Moniak entering today was the 12th outfielder in Roto so far and averaging 3.3 fantasy points per game. Yeah that sounds right. That sounds right? He's been really good and he never plays against lefties. So that'll inflate the per game production. I don't think this is real at all. He has a 426 Woba entering today. Sorry, entering today. He had a 426 Woba. He has a 329 X Woba, which is actually worse than it was last season. So I don't know if you can sell Mickey Moniac for anything, probably not anything worthwhile. So if you want to just keep riding Mickey Moniac, I think that's fine. Do not yell at me for not having Mickey Moniac in my top 30 outfielders or whatever, because I'm just never going to do that. I did move them up to like 45 today, though, which is perfectable. But I'm just I'm never going to buy into Mickey Moniac as a legitimately good major league hitter. If you want to say he's like a top 50 outfielder, sure, my last update was 58. So it would not take very much eight spots. I'll move them up eight spots. I hope that makes everyone happy. I mostly agree. He's not going to keep this up, but I would I want to give him credit because last year he made some changes in the expected numbers were solid under the hood. And you know, he put the ball in the air a lot more and he barreled it up more than ever before. And he is barreling up the ball a lot this year. And he's pulling it in the air more than ever before a 29% pulled air rate. That doesn't typically lend itself to a good batting average. So I think that of all things is going to come down. But like, can he wind up hitting 30 homers for the first time this year? Yeah. I think that's possible. And he's already at 12. So he's at 12. I was going to say I don't think so, but yeah, he's at 12 already. So 18 the rest of the way like probably three quarters of a season. That's like a 25-homer pace. That's probably possible. But I yeah, I don't think it's like it's kind of similar. Brand of marsh where it's like, yeah, credit for being good so far. But we have a fairly lengthy track record of these guys not being anywhere near as good. So right. Enjoy it while it's hot. I'm fine playing the hot hand with hitters more than pitchers because they can't hurt you for very long. You can't get that 10 earn run start from a hitter that that blows up all the good that they've done. But I don't buy it now. The one thing in his favor versus someone like marshes that he does play in course field. So sure. And again, if you pick your spots, like I think you'll you'll more often than not like just playing him at home will be pretty good. Even though let's start player at home for sure. He hit this he had this huge game on the road in Pittsburgh here on on. Oh, yeah, I would imagine he's just been good everywhere. But 12 55 OPS at home 823 on the road once once the road once that the once everything slows down. Yeah, I could see him being like an 80 OPS bad at home and being a mustar guy. I think it's probably more like what was it last year? Six 80 OPS on the road. That's how I just don't think he's going to be very good on the road. Yep. Dalton varsho hit a walk off grand slam. It was his fifth home run of the season. We haven't really talked about varsho, but did you realize basically everything we were excited about last year is gone. The average exit velocity is down almost four miles per hour. The barrel rate has been it's down from 16% to 5% his x-slug is way down his bat speed his fast wing percentage. Basically everything we were excited about is gone for Dalton varsho. Yeah, yeah, he did have an injury in like mid-April. I thought it was earlier and that might explain why he's been struggling, but I don't think that's a good explanation. It might be that last year was just a fluke and he was hitting the ball harder and traded some contact for power and was really leaning into being a powerhitter. Well, this year his strikeout rate is down to 19% from 28% last year and the quality of contact has evaporated. So the fact that he's done it before does make me still hope that he can do it again, but yeah, we haven't we haven't seen it from him yet so far this season. So it's pretty bad right now. All right, let's get into waiver wire hitters here from Wednesday's action. On Hill Martinez is going off with the spiked week after being on the most dropped list this weekend. One for four with a sock and two shoes, Homer two steals his last two games. He has two homers and three steals during that time. He is 49% rostered. Dalton Lyle had a huge game two for four with a sock and a shoe. He has also had two massive games in a row. Five hits three homers, seven RBI one steal. Carson Benj stayed hot three for five with RBI and his seventh stolen base. He had a walkoff hit in this game last 18 for Carson Benj. He is hitting three 33 with two homers, 10 runs, 10 RBI and a steal and Justin Crawford. I didn't realize this, but he's playing much better. He hit his second home run last 15 games for him. Three 13 two homers three steals 886. Oh, yes. Yo, did you see the bomb here tonight? No, I did who was it on Sunday or Monday? We talked about it. Someone hit a bomb to center field dead center at Fenway Park. Oh, it was junior coming arrow junior coming arrow. Well, Justin Crawford hit one to center field today out in in Fenway Park. It was not hit as far as junior coming arrows. It was only like 405 feet or something, but it was the the announcers on the Phillies broadcast were shocked. That Justin Crawford got it out. But that's always been the thing that we've talked about. Justin Crawford is actually better raw power than you think. He hits the ball pretty hard. He just does not optimize for it. Never hit it in the air. Never hits it to the pull side. He caught that. Yeah, I don't think he will. I don't think this is like, oh, Justin Crawford power hitter. But the thing that I like to see is the three steals in last 15 games. Two in the month of May so far, that was the biggest concern and surprise early on in his career was he just wasn't running. And this whole thing doesn't work if Justin Crawford is not at least a 30 steel guy. And now he's starting to look like he might be a 30 steel guy. He was more like a 4050 steel guy in the minors. And we were hoping that kind of upside would be there. And I think he's going to hit, you know, it's 273 right now. I think it's 272 80 hitter. And gosh, I'd be thrilled if you got to 10 home runs, probably five to eight. But you can get to a very interesting player if he's stealing bases. And now he's starting to. So I think that's pretty interesting. I would rank these four. And I would assume that's the question you were going to ask. Yeah. Um, Dale and Lyle Carson Bench, Justin Crawford on how Martinez is how I'd rank them. But there is a world in which you would rather have on how Martinez than any of these other guys. And it is if you need a second basement because he's the only one of them who is eligible at second base. Right. Um, he had on how Martinez is a better hitter this year than he was last year. The problem is last year, he had a 255 X-wova, and this year he has a 309. So that's got to be one of the bigger improvements in baseball. But a 309 X-wova is still pretty bad. He does pull the ball well. He has increased his bat speed and his average ex of velocity and max ex of velocity this season. There are things on how Martinez does well. I think he's still a pretty marginal figure for fantasy. And I would rather have these other three guys. I think Dale and Lyle clearly at the top. But yeah, Bench and Crawford, there are paths to them unlocking more upside. Yeah. Then Dale and Lyle. I just think Dale and Lyle, my expectations for him are still something like a 280 batting average 15 to 20 homers. The steals are the one thing that I'm just and he's fast enough to do it. He's super fast. He's 95th percentile. But he is like the most wasted speed in baseball. He has a terrible defensive player. They DH him sometimes. He is like 12 for 22. I think on stolen base attempts in his career at the major league level. It's wild. How bad he is at the things that typically you would apply to athleticism for a guy who's 95th percentile sprint speed. You know what it could turn out to be is kind of like what Brian Reynolds was year in and year out right 260 to 270 20 to 25 on runs, you know, 10 to 12 steals. It's a really useful player if you can get there. And so far the skills that kind of looks like he can get there. The one thing with on Hill Martinez, I'll point out and I brought this up yesterday. He has started against every lefty this season on their schedule except for one. He has started against just 19 of 31 righties. So I don't know. I mean, clearly they and he had this game against the lefty and redebures. So clearly they value him more against lefties. So that's another thing. You just you have to factor in with with on Hill Martinez. Some corner infield guys here. No one aeronauto continues to hit well two for four with two doubles, two runs to our BI. Last 26 games. He is hitting 329 with six homeers, 18 runs 17 RBI in OPS over a thousand at a really bad third base position. TJ Rumpfield has actually been solid. He had his six home run last 15 games hitting 295 with four four home runs. And Jake burger had himself a big night two for four with his seventh home run for RBI. But he was dreadful for the past 20 games before this. So I think we need to see more from Jake burger. He is someone that can, you know, get hot and hit a bunch of home runs. and a short amount of time, but I think we need to see more. Maybe that's coming. TJ Rumfield, I like more as a corner. No one are an autocris. Like, man, if you just are getting nothing out of your third basement, he's hitting well right now. - Yeah, I don't have much faith in it, but his ex-woba is the highest. It's been since 2023. I don't quite understand how that's happening because he has a higher strike out rate than ever, I think, since his rookie season at least. - And his average exit velocity is like Chandler Simpsons. - His average exit velocity is 84 miles per hour. His hard hit rate is 28%. I mean, these are dreadful numbers, but there's something about the way he's hitting the ball, which also includes a 15% pop-up rate, which is highest since 2020. - I don't get it. - I don't get it. I think it's a total fluke, but again, if you want to play the hot hand, it's fine. I think that's defensible. - Yeah, and you said that his ex-woba is the highest it's been since 2023. He had 26 home runs that year. Like, he was still really good that season. One thing I'll point out, I read off the numbers, his last 26 games for Aranado. During that stretch, it's a 298xBA 503x slug. Again. - I don't understand that at all. - I don't know how, but I don't think that that takes into account like pulled air. So this is like context neutral, assuming that he's a really good hitter. And I don't understand how that works, and I don't think it will continue to work, but I'm fine if you want to continue to play the hot hand with with Nolan Aranado. I just, I think at some point, you should definitely not treat him like a foundational player or anything. - Some deep league names, JP Crawford, has turned up the power recently. Last 13 games, he has four home runs and an 850 OPS. Zach Cole with the Astros, went three for four with the RBI in eight games. He is hitting 304 with two homers. And Henry Bolte got to start against the lefty. It feels like that's how they're going to use them for now, short side platoon. He started it in center field. He was batting fifth. He went two for two with a walk in a RBI. He actually had some really good at bats when I was watching. So perhaps he earns more playing time. - Look, I think at five out through the leagues, we definitely have interest in Bolte. Do you have any deeply interest in JP Crawford or Zach Cole? - Crawford's always been a weird player 'cause he's a point-s league player who's not good enough to actually matter in a point-s league. - He's good in like OBP RODO leagues, yes, but yeah, yeah. - Yeah, which is the same thing. Yes, so if you're in an OBP RODO league as a middle-infielder, he's probably okay, but you're just, you're never gonna get much power or speed from him, you know, this little hot streak notwithstanding. I think we know who JP Crawford is. Is that Cole? Man, if he struck out 30% of the time, I think he'd be a really good hitter. And instead, it's 38% of the time with a really bad play discipline. So it's just, I don't know. He's certainly got some skills. There's power and speed there, but it's just so hard to make it work. - Let's take a look at some waiver wire. Our pitcher has already spoke about Ryan Nelson. I think a deep league name. If you're looking for two starts next week, JP Ginn, another solid outing this one against the Cardinals. Six innings, nine hits, that's a lot. One under and run with three strikeouts, throw a bunch of sinkers in this one, got the ground balls, limited the heart contact, and he is in line for the Angels and the Padres next week. So deep league, two-star streamer, I think that's fine. These other names, Chris, I think they're mostly scout team, just guys to watch for now. But I do remain intrigued. So Griffin, Jacks, he threw five shout out innings, also four walks to one strikeout, but he's been such a good reliever for so long and the race just have done this so many times. Christian Scott, he was okay against the Tigers, four and two-thirds innings, but bad whip, two runs, five strikeouts. The whiffs have been there the past couple starts. Andrew Painter, we need to see a lot more, but he lowered his fastball usage through his breaking balls a lot more. And this was one of his best starts of the season, five innings, one run, four strikeouts. And then JR Richie, I just don't think it's there. The command is not there. The biggest thing he has going for him is just that he was a good prospect coming into the season, but I think he needs to go back down and work on some things. But Scott and Griffin, Jacks, are names that I am, kind of intrigued by? - Yeah, the match just have no leash with Scott. He's maxed out at five innings so far. Not really sure he has any weapons to get lefties out. Kind of seems like the sweeper is the best thing he's got going and that's a really hard pitch to get the platoon guys out with. - He does have a cutter, but I don't know if it's actually good or not. - Yeah, I think that is a new pitch for him as well. I don't know. I think he's interesting. If you want to stream him at Miami next week, I think that's probably okay, but not great. They do have some lefties who can hurt you. - Two starts next week at Miami at Washington. - Yeah. Griffin, Jacks, I think it's still just a scout team guy. I do want to point out, 'cause in the notes, you say he has four starts, one start away from becoming a spark. That is why Peyton Tully is not in our SP rankings. I just, we get so many comments about it and people fight us on it. Like, boy, he says PL's won. My like, okay, but we rank based on CBS eligibility. Peyton Tully is not SP eligible. He will be with his next start. - We physically cannot. - That is like, we are legally prohibited from putting Peyton Tully in our SP ranks. That is why he is not there. It is not like anything. There's nothing we can do about that. But after his next start, he will rank. I would imagine somewhere around 50 to 60 for me. I haven't quite done it yet. - I'm looking at that now to try and figure out where we'll totally slot in. I think, you know, I have Kyle Harrison will Warren Ryan Weathers 51, 52, 53. - That seems like the right one. - That feels like the right spot, right? - Maybe at the bottom, 'cause he's a little less proven. But yeah, I think that makes sense. Jack's is really interesting. Scout team him, the velocity has kind of been there as a starter. I did notice in his previous start, it faded as the start went on. That happened again today, although I think it was better on the whole, 'cause the average 97.5 in the first inning held that in the second. By the time he pitched in the fifth, it was 95.2. I think his previous start, his last inning, it was down to like 94. So that's what I wanna see is the stuff holding later into the starts for Griffin Jacks. And we're starting to see that. Now he's gotta turn it into results. Only H Strike out some 14 innings since he started. Needs to be better than that. Andrew Painter, I love seeing him go away from the fastballs. This is what we talked about. The last time we discussed Andrew Painter, I think on the weekend podcast was, there is something here. The arsenal is not hopeless. It's just mediocre to bad fastballs, especially the four seamer. So good to see him putting that work in. Jared, this is actually one of those ones where I don't think it's a control issue, the walks. I think he just can't get chases, 'cause it's stuff's not good enough yet. And that can manifest in a lot of walks, 'cause you're gonna have to pitch out of the zone. And if you can't get chases, you're gonna just walk a lot of guys. So I think that's the bigger thing. Richie is just the stuff's not there. Not giving up on him, but he's been really unimpressive so far in a way that I don't think you have to hang on to him in most leagues. - All right, what do we do with these four pitchers? Read Debtmers. Over his last five starts has a 506 ERA 143 whip. Still over a strikeout per inning during that span. And the underlying numbers still really like him, but we've said that about Richie and Richie in the past. Seth Lugo, the regression is hitting here. Five runs allowed over five innings. Last four starts, 759 ERA, a 216 whip. Noah Schultz struggled once again. And he allowed three runs over four and a third. He had five walks to three strikeouts. He has four or more walks in four of six outing so far. And then Nick Liddolo, he has just been pretty bad so far, his first two starts. Bad landing spots too. He got the asterisans in his first start, the nationals in his second. Yes, we all think the nationals are going to regress, but they actually have crushed lefty so far this year. And it was insincentity. So I think I'm making excuses for the guy because I like Liddolo. I think he's still fine. And I would try to buy if you can, but my guess is most people who have Liddolo, they held on to him all year. They're probably not just going to sell him for anything. So, but I would be looking to buy if there was an opportunity. The other three Chris, what are you doing with Schultz, Lugo and Deppmers right now? So Schultz kind of has a lot of the same issues as Jeri Richie, except it shouldn't be. I think this is a gigantic lefty who throws 95, 97, 98 with his fastballs. I don't know why he can't miss bats, but he just doesn't. Four whiffs. He can't throw strikes either. It's a massive problem. Yeah, and well, and that's in theory, like Dylan Seese is an effective pitcher despite not throwing a ton of strikes because he gets a ton of chase. And Schultz just has not shown the ability to garner swings outside of the strike zone at a high rate. And that's going to be a problem when you throw a lot of pitches outside of the strike zone. So clearly talented. There's going to be a lot of people who are going to be here. clearly a lot to like here, but also clearly not a finished product. No, it's sholts. And so I don't think he's someone who has to be rostered. Now that being said, two-start week at Seattle, at San Francisco, two best pitching parks and baseball. Great matchups, but man, he's really hard to trust him. He's looked so bad. Yeah, he just hasn't shown it yet. So I would be wary of starting him, but I would also not be surprised if we got a couple of good starts out of him. Debtmer's, he's a spark. So I'm not dropping him to a points league in a road league. I don't think he's must roster though. He entered this start with a 290 XERA. It's like, man, I still want to believe, but I agree, but we're going on like, I don't know, five, six years of redebtmer is just not getting good results. So fool me once. It's hard to, it's hard to have faith. I mean, are you starting him against the A's and Rangers next week in a point. So definitely. It's not bad matchups. Yeah. Lugo definitely holding in a point league. He's just such a good source of volume when he's right, but I just don't think he's all that good. I think this is just pretty natural regression. Look, he was pitching to a sub to ERA for the first, whatever, six starts of the season. And if you look at his underlying stuff, like it's still a 270 fifth and a 395 X-Fib. Yeah, I think he's probably going to be probably close to that X-Fib, like a high 3ZRA. But that will have some value. It's just, I don't know, trying to figure out when to use him, I guess, because on paper at the White Sox shouldn't, well, I don't know, the White Sox. I think about we have to give them more credit. Yeah, the control's been bad this season though. That's true. It's like a 9% walk rate, 3.3 walks per nine. That's unusual. I think it's, yeah, 380-ish ERA. The whip is 140. That should come down. If it doesn't, then I just don't think you want Seth Lugo on your line up in a road league because then you're getting, oh, great. Seth Lugo pitches deep into games, but that's like a, the food was terrible and the portions are too big kind of thing. It's like a worst version of Logan Leff. Yeah. So I think you're a little worried about that. But I think the whip will correct. It'll be more like 120 and 125 and it'll be fine. But I just don't think Seth Lugo has a difference making, Petcher. Let's wrap up with some leftovers here. And Adley Ruchman continues to impress. He hit his sixth home run at a three RBI. Zack Netto dropped his sixth in the lineup and he responded with his seventh home run. Jose Ramirez is running wild. He went over to, but he had two more steals. His line this season is so weird. He's hitting 207 six homers, 26 runs, more steals than RBI 18, 16 RBI. It's just like, what is going on? How about a guy who turns 31 and is on pace to set a new career high for the third year in a row, starting in his age 31 season? I mean, he's got to be on pace for like over 60 steals, right? Yeah, he went 41, 44 and he's at 16 in 44 games. It's probably right or right on 60, if not like 58 or something. I would be surprised if Jose Ramirez steals 55 bases, but not going to be surprised if he gets to 40 again. Yeah. So yeah, he's, he's awesome. The underlying number suggests that whatever's wrong with his bat is mostly bad luck and he'll be fine moving forward. So very excited about that. And Adley Rutsman looks back-ish. You know, I don't think he's a 381 Woba guy, but his X-Woba is the best it's been since that 2023 season when he was an absolute must-start player. So I think he's back in the top 12 at catcher. I think I have him like top eight. Yeah, and I said in a point, especially, I think, I think you're feeling very good about taking the flyer on on Adley Rushman. Turns out, yeah, 28 year old superstars don't generally just fall off the table all the way forever. Two other names here, Bobby Witt. He continues to rake in May. He's sitting 347 with five homers, two steals, an 11-01 OPS and we're only 13 days into the month. Byron bucksing at two for four with a double dong. He was moved to the lead off spot in early April. 32 games since he's hitting 288 15 homers, 31 runs, four steals, OPS over a thousand. So just a hell. Two, two homers today, right? Yep. Two more homers for Byron bucksing pitching leftovers, Parker Messick, another quality start this one against the Angels, six and two thirds, two runs with seven strikeouts. Sunny Gray, one of his best starts of the season against the Phillies, six innings, one run, six strikeouts to one walk. Dylan C's continues to pitch very well this time against the raise, seven innings, one run, nine strikeouts. He has gone seven innings in three straight and showed to Emanaga. He is also dominating seven innings, two runs, six strikeouts, the zero walks, 14 whiffs on 96 pitches. Last three starts for Emanaga, 20 innings, three runs, 21 strikeouts to four walks. I moved him up to like 15th in my starting pitcher rankings. He's, I just think he's all the way back to the pitcher. He was two years ago. So I'm there. What are you, any thoughts on these four Emanaga, C's, Sunny Gray, Parker Messick? I haven't been quite as aggressive with Emanaga, but it's, let me just make sure it's 27. That feels low. There's a couple of guys right in front of him. I can definitely get him into the top 24 when I officially update tomorrow. Sunny Gray, boy, I don't have any faith in in him right now. He had a 10% strikeout rate coming into this game. It was nice to see him strike out six in, six innings, but I don't know. He's starting to sink or more. He's starting to cutter more, I think. I don't really buy the approach for him. I think the, I think there's some real risk of the wheels falling off here for Sunny Gray. So I'm not, I'm not super enthused by what we've seen, but good start. Parker Messick, I mean, I don't know how high to rank him. 30. That's where I have him now. That feels low. I have him at like 26. Yeah. He's got like a 245 ERA since he made his major league debut. I don't think he's that good, but yeah. I think he's definitely good. So yeah, I have message all that. Messick 26 and Wheeler 27. Okay. Yeah. And then, you know, Shoda, just the funny thing was I literally only saw one play to parents from this game. I tuned in. He gave up a home run to Jake, Jake Baldwin, and then I switched to the channel. And so I, it was like, oh, once I was checking the boxers, I was like, oh, okay, you had a good game. Great. So my takeaway there was mostly. Drake Hall was really good. Yeah. You are banned from watching show to even August. Yeah. Yeah. I can't, I can't put it on. Yeah. Now Drake, Baldwin is, he's an absolute stud. I think I rank him as like a top two catcher rest of season. I have moved, I mentioned this last week, but I moved Raleigh down to like fourth. I moved Ben Rice, Drake Baldwin and Langaleers all ahead. It's just like, I think that top four is very close together at the very least. Yep. Call to the bullpen for the Guardians, Kate Smith, struck out the side for his 13 save for the red socks. A role to Chapman walk to. He struck out three for his ninth save for the raise. Brian Baker came on in the eighth inning to face the top of the blue J's lineup. He allowed a run on four walks and a sack fly. He only recorded two outs before he was pulled. If there's one downside, I guess two downsides to Brian Baker walks, Ken being issued at times. And they still use him in the eight games sometimes like when it's, now that's the high second time. Second time last five days and his last three appearances. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Not great. For the Braves, Rice Hill, Ignatius walked one, but picked up his eighth save for the Reds Graham Ashcraft, got the ninth inning with the game tied. He walked one, but he got out of it. Tony Santine got the tenth with the game tied. He allowed two runs and he took his second loss. As of now, I'm kind of leaning Graham Ashcraft and Pierce Johnson for the next Reds save opportunity. Yeah. So typically when you're at home and the game's tied, you would use your closer in the top of the ninth inning if it's tied. So I that does seem like a signal. I think the biggest promise I just don't think anything is going to be very good. Yeah. And so that's why I'm not overly excited about any of the Reds closers for the White Sox or Anthony Dominguez got the ninth with a three run lead. He allowed a two run homer, but did pick up his tenth save for the Brewers. Abner, Arie Bay got the ninth inning with a one run lead. He allowed a three run homer to Gavin Sheets. And he took his second blown save and second loss. He's mostly been good. He's had a few hiccups here and there Trevor McGill has given up a run and I think like two outings in a row. So something to watch. Abner, Arie Bay has had the opportunity to just run away with this job, but he's just kind of shot himself in the foot a few times. He hasn't run away with it yet. McGill hasn't been perfect either. So it's hard to run when you shoot yourself in the foot. Chris, you know, yeah. Sure. For the Padre, his Mason Miller picked up his 13th save for the Dodgers. Tanner Scott got the eighth inning with a four run lead facing 9-1-2 in the Giants lineup. He allowed a hit but got out of it. I just thought it was worth mentioning. He's kind of like the Brian Baker I think of the Dodgers bullpen right now, like he's not just the set closer, but I think he'll get most of the save opportunities there while Edwin Diaz is out. And then this Rangers debax game, it was just a rough one all around for closers. Jacob Latz entered the ninth with a one run lead. He was charged with three runs on a walk and three hits. He did not record an out. He took his second blown save on the other side. Paul C. Wald entered the bottom of the ninth with a two run lead. And he allowed three runs on a walk and three hits. He took his first blown save and fourth loss of the season. So I mean, does the imagine being a Rangers fan at that game, Chris? And like your closer comes in blows the lead does not record an out and you're thinking, wow, man, I was here for the whole game. And now this guy just blew it. And then boom, walk off right away off of Paul C. Wald is crazy game. That's baseball soon. To stream or not to stream on Thursday, we have Chase Dolander at the pirates. Carmen Maginsky, I believe will be the bulk reliever against the Rockies, Braxton Garrett at the twins. Zebby Matthews making a start here against the Marlins Griffin Canning at the Brewers, Luis Castillo at the Astros, Mike Burrows against the Mariners, Mike McGrieve and Jacob Lopez are going up against each other and Ben Brown is at the braves. Dolander for sure. Yep. Maginsky versus the Rockies for sure. Um, there are some interesting ones here. Burrows has looked a lot better lately. McGrieve has had some good starts lately. I don't really buy it. I want to see Jacob Lopez finally had his good start, his first good start recently, but I don't really buy it. Ben Brown, I know he was good. I can't start him against the braves. I'm interested to see what Ben Brown does, but I would not use him. And then I could see either side of the Garrett, Zebby Matthews matchup going well, but I would probably go Dolander Maginsky and Braxton Garrett of these actually a burrows ahead of, yeah, Garrett. I agree with that. Dolander, Maginsky and, uh, and burrows for Thursday. Then on Friday, we have a bunch of TBDs on MLB.com, but the ones that are available, Shane Bos at the Nationals, Andrew Abbott at the Guardians, Jansen junk at the raise, Dustin May against the Royals, Randy Vasquez at the Mariners. May has really turned things around. He's actually been really good for his like six starts in May, May and May. Yeah. Randy Vasquez at Seattle. I think that's okay. And Jansen junk at Tampa's okay. Yeah. I think there's some okay ones both Thursday and Friday because I don't mind Andrew Abbott either. I know he's been not very good, but yeah, I think there's, there's some interesting ones on Thursday and Friday. Let's see if ESPN has any other interesting names. Connor Prelip is going up against the Brewers. He's gonna push back. They did say they're gonna try to get him extra days of rest when they can. So that's why Zebby Matthews was called up to start Thursday. Merrill Kelly, buddy's in course field. You can't do that. Tyler Malley at the athletics, Aaron Savali against the Giants. I don't think Sean Burke is too highly roster. He doesn't count for this anymore. I'd probably just say junk Vasquez, May. Yeah. Yeah. I think those would be my guys. All right. We're gonna 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'll be back in tomorrow. Bye.