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Speaker 2I mean, seeing as he's left-handed, and both of those teams are bottom 10 in OPS against left-handers, I think I'd be inclined to stick with Robbie Ray. I don't have a lot of faith in it either, but, you know, we're streaming here. And two starts with matchups like that, yeah, I think you've got to stick with him.
Speaker 1All right, next up, we have Kevin Gosman, who, coming off another, is a clunker at the D-backs and home against the Reds.
Speaker 2Pretty good matchups, especially that Reds one. So, I think in most cases, I'd start him. I know it's been rocky, but there have been enough good signs in there.
Speaker 1Next up, Ranger Suarez at the Marlins and at the Yankees. He just has not looked the same since coming back from the IL.
Speaker 2Yeah, even so, I think I'd start him with two starts, one being, again, really favorable at Miami.
Speaker 1These next two are much further. Further down the list, but with Matthew Liberatore, the matchups are a little bit intriguing. He's coming off a nine-strikeout start. He's home against the Orioles and the Pirates. It's tempting in a points league,
Speaker 2but ultimately, I think the downside risk is too high.
Speaker 1A.J. Smith-Shauver, rough outing in his first start back with the Braves. The minor league numbers have been fantastic. He has Jekyll and Hyde matchups, one against the Dodgers, one against the Rockies in Atlanta.
Speaker 2Yeah. Look, he's made two starts in the majors this year, Smith-Shauver, and I didn't see many positive signs in either. So, I'm going to pass on this one.
Speaker 1All right, let's slide over to the two-star pitchers that you are looking to add and stream for Week 23. Not many two-start options.
Speaker 2Waubert Arreña is the easy one. He's been very reliable this year. Outings can be short. The walks can be high sometimes, but he's just great at limiting damage. And the first of his two matchups is against the Guardians. That's a very favorable one. But even the second one against the Phillies isn't so bad. Then, much further down the list here, we get Andrew Alvarez. Good thing about him is he's only 10% rostered. So, widely, widely available. He gets the Rockies away from Coors Field and also the Marlins. So, two really good matchups there for Andrew Alvarez. And he has been pitching really well of late. Last five starts, 236 ERA, 101 whip. More of a pitch-to-contact guy than a strikeout artist, but not a bad choice for this week, Andrew Alvarez. And then, finally, Max Scherzer. You might be wondering why I'd suggest Max Scherzer here, particularly when he got knocked around in his last start. Well, the two prior to it were pretty good. And more than that, his matchups this week are the Royals and the Mariners. So, a very, very favorable two-start slate there for Max Scherzer. Probably just a Points League recommendation, but still, one to consider.
Speaker 1All right, let's slide over to the one-star streamers, which is led off by a gentleman making his Major League debut today.
Speaker 2Yeah, Kate Anderson, baby. Let's see how the debut goes. I guess that we had a 101 ERA at AA. It allowed even a single-earned run only twice in his past 11 starts. So, I think it's going to go well for Kate Anderson. And if it does go well, then his second matchup, the one I can recommend him for in Week 23, would be against the Blue Jays. So, the third-worst offense in baseball. I'm suspecting, by the time Sunday rolls around, Kate Anderson will be too rostered to qualify for this list. But since he's not yet, I'd be remiss not to include him. So, that's an easy one. Tyler Malley gets the Rockies, again, away from Coors Field. Easy to pick on in that scenario. And he's looked really good since joining the Braves. Kind of ditched the cutter. It's been working. He's been missing more bats, limiting damage. Tyler Malley, good choice for this week. Aaron Nola coming off a three-start stretch where the strikeouts have been much, much higher, and the run prevention's been improved, going back even longer than that. His matchup this week at Seattle, that's the most favorable matchup of all. Dustin May rocked the last time out, but a lot of the underlying data suggests he just had bad luck in that start. He gets the Mets, so that's a favorable matchup. Shane Drohan against the Rangers. I think he remains one of the most underrated fantasy options. Joey Cantillo gets the Angels. He's good for a lot of strikeouts, and that's a strikeout-prone team. The whip might run kind of high, but I like the matchup enough to recommend Cantillo here. And that's it for the one-start options.
Speaker 1All right, let's take a break.
Speaker 2Let me rattle off a few others, because it's actually a pretty good week for them. Didn't quite crack the top 10. We got Brady Singer at San Francisco. Grayson Rodriguez faces the Guardians, and he just had a really good start against the Astros. Uh, Clay Holmes against the Diamondbacks, I don't mind. And Jared Jones against the Cardinals. Those were near misses, one-start options.
Speaker 1Let's take a break, and we'll be back 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. Welcome back, FBT Express, and we are previewing week 23. Over to the hitters, the best matchups for next week. We have the Nationals, Orioles, Athletics, Giants, and Yankees. The worst hitter matchups, Angels, Tigers, Rangers, Mariners, and Padres. Scott, who are your favorite sleeper hitters for this upcoming week?
Speaker 2A lot of Athletics, because not only are they facing weak pitchers with the Twins and Orioles coming to town, but the Twins and Orioles are coming to town, meaning that it's in San Francisco. I'm sorry, in Sacramento, one of the very best places to hit. And a lot of the Athletics have very favorable spots, including, but not limited to, Zach Galoff. Also, Henry Bolte, who I know you like a lot, Frank, and Lawrence Butler. Just seeing if I can give you the numbers here real quick. At home for those three, got away numbers pulled up. Zach Galoff has a 945 OPS at home, batting 311. Henry Bolte, 313 with an 801 OPS. And Lawrence Butler, 243 with a 782 OPS. which doesn't sound that great, but it's way better than his road stats, and he's been hot lately. He has Butler, so good time to use him. Also, only one lefty on the schedule for the Athletics. Trent Grisham with the Yankees having the fifth-best hitter matchups. All of their games are at home, where he has been fantastic this year. That's where most of his power has come from. 11 home runs at home, 934 OPS, and he's been hot lately. His teammate, George Lombard, has been hitting the ball well. The exit velocity has actually been lacking, so that's a bit of a head-scratcher because he is certainly capable of hitting the ball hard. The results have been there, though. He's getting on base a lot, I think, with favorable matchups like the Yankees have this week against the Astros and Red Sox pitching staffs, but the back end of the Red Sox pitching staff is good matchups. I think he could take advantage of that with George Lombard. Nolan Arenado, avoiding an I.L. stint, came back with a multi-hit game. He's been hot. Diamondbacks matchups are pretty good here. They got a doubleheader on Saturday to make for a seven-game schedule. Bryce Eldridge, man, he's always on this list, isn't he? Giants keep having good matchups. They're the third-best this week. It's one of the few seven-game schedules. He did homer recently, so hopefully he's trending the right direction. I think the upside for Eldridge is still significant. Abimelech Ortiz, so far, hasn't done a lot here in Week 22 yet. There's still the weekend to come. It was a righty-loaded schedule, so I had him on this list. It's another righty-loady schedule next week. Only one lefty in the National Seven games, and you may remember it was top-hitter matchups overall, so get that power bat in. Abimelech Ortiz, don't lose faith, even if, so far, his Week 22's been pretty quiet. I don't know. Maybe by the time you listen to him, he's hit a couple homeruns this weekend. It sounds silly what I'm saying, but yeah, I like Abimelech Ortiz. And then a couple of Orioles here, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Kobe Mayo. Not only do the Orioles have the second-best hitter matchups, but they have four lefties on the schedule, and both of these guys have been lefty mashers so far. Encarnacion-Strand, 1142 OPS against lefties. Kobe Mayo, a 1080 OPS against lefties. The problem with them, why they're 9th and 10th here, is they kind of cannibalize each other, play in the same positions. There is opportunity for them both to play, but so far, with Samuel Basayo returning from the IEL, he hasn't caught yet, so he's robbing it best from them, too. Hopefully, Basayo just moves behind the play full-time, and you can get Encarnacion-Strand and Mayo in for that lefty-heavy schedule. And if that's the case, they'll both be worth streaming as corner infielders.
Speaker 1All right. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-length podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today Express, and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye! Bye-bye! © transcript Emily Beynon
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