transcript

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Speaker 4:
[01:58] Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email fantasybaseballatcbsi.com. Get ready to win your league. That's where fantasy becomes reality. Now, here's Frank, Scott and Chris.

Speaker 1:
[02:21] Hello! Welcome in to Fantasy Baseball Today on Wednesday, April 22nd. I am Frank Stampfl, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, we have yet another closer injury. We will fire up the loriometer. I will reveal the player I have the most FOMO about so far and much more. Let's jump in.

Speaker 5:
[02:42] You can't put it on the board. Yes!

Speaker 1:
[02:48] There were a ton of runs put on the board for the White Sox here on Tuesday night. We'll get to them in just a second. Scott, you are here and you will be talking within the first minute of the show.

Speaker 6:
[02:59] Yeah, let's go.

Speaker 1:
[03:01] Who is your player of the night?

Speaker 6:
[03:03] Kept the people guessing for quite a while yesterday, didn't we?

Speaker 1:
[03:08] I do introduce both of you guys at the top of the show.

Speaker 6:
[03:11] I know you do. Yeah, so I am going to a game where very few runs were scored, just one between the two teams in Colorado. Specifically, I want to focus on the Colorado side. Chase Dollander of the Rockies, who hasn't been starting, he's been the bulk guy though. He's been following an opener. He followed an opener in this one as well. And was fantastic. He threw six innings, three hits, one run, nine strikeouts for Chase Dollander against the Padres, again, in Colorado. And this is the second straight outing where he's thrown at least five innings and gotten nine strikeouts. He allowed just one hit over five and a third innings in the previous start. And, you know, if you look at his season long numbers, earlier outings were shorter. They weren't quite starters length fully, but he's been dominating over 11K per nine. And look, obviously, there is a high threshold to meet for a Rockies pitcher because you know there are going to be times this year when the home environment is going to wreck him. And for most of Rockies history, almost every pitcher who's pitched there, frankly, the difficulties of pitching in that thin air environment, the way the physics affect the movement of the baseball kind of ruin them for the road too. So in all of Rockies history, I can think of only one starting pitcher who has been an actual standout in fantasy and it was Ubaldo Jimenez. And even that was short lived. Chase Dollander, Chase Dollander, excuse me, might be, actually, I said it wrong then too. Chase Dollander, Dollander, Dollander, Chase Dollander might be the best Rockies pitcher since Ubaldo Jimenez. Not that there have been, you know, that's not a high standard to me because they've been mostly useless since Ubaldo Jimenez, but he might be the best one. And on the one hand, it shouldn't be a surprise because he was such a high draft pick. And I had a theory and he was coming up as a prospect that because his fastball itself is such a weapon, a pitch that doesn't rely so much on movement, it might actually work out. But it was so ugly for him last year that it was pretty easy to give up on that idea. I mean, gosh, he's a Colorado pitcher anyway. He's got to be near flawless to make this work, but it seems to be working. Now nine strikeout efforts back to back, one away, but now one at home. And the fastball, of course, is the big reason for it. Of the 15 swinging strikes he got in this one, eight came on that fastball. He is averaging 99 miles per hour on that fastball. It's hard to tell if the movement is optimized the way the scouting report said it was, but when you're a left-hander averaging 99 on the fastball, it's gonna be a good fastball.

Speaker 1:
[06:23] He's a right-hander, Scott.

Speaker 6:
[06:25] Oh, excuse me, right-hander. I hate what that happens. Yeah, it's gotta be a good fastball. It's been a good fastball. The scouting report said it would be a good fastball. And now he is, I think he's worth looking into. Cautiously, it's dangerous, but I think he's worth looking into.

Speaker 1:
[06:45] Yeah, I agree. You look at his last five outings as, again, a reliever, but most of those being bulk outings, a 171 ERA 0.86 whip, 27 strikeouts to five walks, over 21 innings with a 15% swinging strike rate during that time, and the way that I think it could work is with that fastball. Having a dominant fastball in Coors Field, you mentioned how many whiffs he had in this one. Entering this game, his fastball had a 254 X Woba and a 31% whip rate. That is elite among the elite in terms of whip rate on a fastball, and looking at some of the tools on pitcherless.com, they have their PLV metric, which is like an all-encompassing metric for a specific pitch. And they have Chase Dollander's fastball, even before the start, ranking in the 93rd percentile in baseball. So it has been a really, really good fastball so far. And just a reminder of what he did in the minors back in 2024, 23 starts that season. He had a 259 ERA, 119 whip, 12.9 K per nine, 16.6% swinging strike rate. So his prospect pedigree, his production in the minors before last season, of course, it all lines up. Like I don't know if he can actually defeat Coors Field. Obviously everything is playing against him there, but he is only 18% rostered. So what do we do with this, Scott? You said he's someone to watch. What do we do? Do we add Chase Dollander and see what happens?

Speaker 6:
[08:25] I said he's somebody to look into, I think is what I said. And that means consider adding. Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to say everybody needs to add him everywhere. The odds are still very much against him. The Rockies have been around for 33 years, and they've had one fantasy standout on the pitching side. So some have started out well there and then they quickly crumbled because the Coors Field of it all ruined their ability to pitch. And maybe Dollander will fall into that. Man, I'm going to have a hard time saying that name. Maybe he'll fall into that trap as well. But he has the pedigree, certainly. He has the one pitch that might, his best pitch and it's a truly great pitch, is the one that might be least impacted by the environmental factors of Coors Field. And so, there's a chance. And if you are starved for pitching help, it might be a chance worth taking.

Speaker 1:
[09:33] I told somebody they could drop Shane Boz earlier tonight for Chase Dollander. Would you be okay with that move?

Speaker 6:
[09:41] I'd be okay with it. I haven't seen anything from Shane Boz this year to lead me to believe he's more than mediocre, like he's shown himself to be the past couple years since the Tommy John surgery.

Speaker 1:
[09:55] Yeah, I'll throw a few other names your way. Would you drop a Jack Flaherty for Chase Dollander?

Speaker 6:
[10:00] Yeah, yeah, I'm not even sure Flaherty is mediocre.

Speaker 1:
[10:05] What about Ronaldo Lopez, 79% roster?

Speaker 6:
[10:09] I think he stopped getting away with it, so yes.

Speaker 1:
[10:13] Andrew Abbott, 73%?

Speaker 6:
[10:16] Andrew Abbott's made us look bad over the years for doubting him. And so I'm reluctant to doubt him now coming off two bad starts. So I think I might draw the line there.

Speaker 1:
[10:28] I would make that move. Last name for you, Kodai Senga. Would you drop Senga for Chase Dollander?

Speaker 6:
[10:34] I mean, I don't think dropping Senga in the kind of league where you can think about dropping Senga is going to be met with much of a response. So if you just want to try to chase the hot hand and expand your bench in that way by letting players go who aren't likely to be picked up by somebody else, that's probably okay. The odds favor Senga over Dollander if we're just doing this on a pure projection basis. But if we're thinking strategically, how can I get away with clearing another spot for Dollander? In the kind of league where Senga is droppable, that might be a way.

Speaker 1:
[11:17] All right, my players of the night, the White Sox offense, they put up 11 runs on Tuesday night and they have 28 homers as a team this season, the sixth most in baseball. It helps when you go back to back to back. Poor Merrill Kelly, we'll get to him later on. Muna Takamorokami, Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery hit three straight homers in this game. Morokami has homered in four straight games after opening the season with a homer in three straight games. So he had four hits, four hard hits in this game. The homerun 113 exit velocity, 426 feet. He's up to nine homeruns on the season with 18 runs, 17 RBI and 978 OPS. We talked about him the other day, Scott. I don't have a single share. And so far, he is my biggest FOMO player. I don't know with his zone contact if this will be able to last. But it's been really fun so far to watch and play. And again, I don't have him anywhere. His obviously his batted ball metrics are outstanding. 95.1 average exit velocity. That's only to go up 26% barrel rate. I mean, that is that's top of the league type stuff. So he might be might be the latest example of a person who can maintain a really low zone contact rate because whenever he does get the chance to do damage, he does a lot of it.

Speaker 6:
[12:45] I mean, the scouting report has been exactly. He's been exactly as advertised in terms of what he's good at and what he's bad at and it is as extreme on both ends. And so I don't I don't really know what to add yet. It's it's an incomplete grade right now. It's looking great. But of course, it's a very long season and it's possible that those very, very severe weaknesses will catch up to him, that the league will catch up to him. I think once there's more of a scouting report because he's made his way through the league a little more, it's pretty likely. I mean, it's not just a bad zone contact rate. It is embarrassingly bad. Maybe it won't matter, but we just kind of have to wait and see at this point. It is, he looks exactly like he was advertised to be. And I will remind everyone, that got him a pretty modest deal from The White Sox on the open market. So teams were skeptical. We'll see. We'll just have to wait and see.

Speaker 1:
[14:02] Yeah. Just to, I guess, put a little context on this, like, it's not impossible, but the the ads, the odds are a little bit stacked against Murakami here for maintaining this level of production with a zone contact rate this bad. It is possible. Like a few examples last year, Rafael Devers had a 74 percent zone contact rate. Nick Kurtz had a 75 percent zone contact rate. So and Murakami's is even lower than that so far this season. Exactly. But those are just a few examples of players who have been able to maintain it so far. Obviously, Kurtz, we don't have a huge track record for him. But Devers has kind of made a career career out of this. But again, he's he's kind of an outlier in that way. So it's something to watch.

Speaker 6:
[14:48] Matt Olson's are usually pretty low. Mike Trout had a stretch for a while where his were pretty low. Yeah. So as in basically anything below 80 percent is low. But the I don't know, six to eight worst hitters in the league in this category zone contact rate are going to be below 80 percent and then everyone else is above 80 percent. So barely reaching 70 percent is very low.

Speaker 1:
[15:13] So would you consider more commie a sell high right now?

Speaker 6:
[15:17] Yeah, I think you'd have to. Obviously, it depends on what you're talking about. If the best you can do in a quote unquote sale sell high deal of Murakami is. I don't know, Wilson Contreras probably don't do the deal. But if you can get if you can get a player that you would have been turning cartwheels to get in the round, you drafted Murakami just a few weeks ago, then I think you should do it.

Speaker 1:
[15:50] So you would do it for someone like Vinnie P and Michael Bush?

Speaker 6:
[15:53] Yeah, I mean, that gets into the combination. You're also buying low and you may not have to do that with as many home runs as Murakami has. You may not have to do a combo. You may just be able to sell high on a player who's not causing too much dyspepsia, but to answer the question, yes, I still would rank Michael Bush and Vinnie Pascuantino high or rest of season.

Speaker 1:
[16:19] All right, moving on here, Colson Montgomery has homered in three straight. He was part of those back to back to back homers and his homerun 440 feet. He has six homeruns on the season and 823 OPS. Strikeout rate is up a little bit. The quality of contact down a little bit so far. Colson Montgomery remains as confusing now as he was for me entering the season. Again, it's like, if you're going to strike out 32% of the time, I would expect his quality of contact to just be better. And obviously, he's picking things up a little bit here. This kind of feels like who he is at least based on what we saw last year. Low batting average, lots of strikeouts, and should be, I think, above average power for Colson Montgomery. That feels like a lot of the White Sox lineup so far. Somebody who I don't believe will have that profile is Sam Antonacci, who went two for five with his first career home run. He had three RBI in this one, three hard hits in this game as well. He's only batting 190 so far, but two walks to one strikeout in the, I think it's like five or six games that he's played so far. 31% roster. Does that number sound right for Antonacci, Scott? Or do you think that should be a little bit higher based on prospect pedigree, what he did in the minors, and should play every day as long as he's here?

Speaker 6:
[17:40] As long as he plays well. And so hopefully, hopefully I can make up for my Dollander handedness gaffe by pointing out that that home run Antonacci hit was not a home run. And by that, I mean it was an inside the park home run. And by that, I mean it was a ground ball down the third base line that the ball boy touched, but apparently it was considered still in play. Lourdes Gurriel gave up on it. So Antonacci made it all the way around.

Speaker 1:
[18:10] I did not. I was wondering why I looked at the exit velocity. It was 98 miles per hour and the hit distance was 57 feet. I was like, oh, that's just gotta be a mistake, right?

Speaker 6:
[18:20] Yeah. Yeah. So I had taken them off the sleeper hitters for this week, even though The White Sox had the second best hitter matchups because he was so bad over the weekend. And I still don't know that we've, like I still think the leash is gonna be pretty short here. He hasn't done enough. Yes, in theory, he should continue to play, but if he doesn't play well, he'll just get sent back down. And so 31%, I don't know, maybe it could be a little higher, 40, 50, but Antonacci clearly doesn't need to be rostered everywhere. I do appreciate though that he has a way of embarrassing other players on the diamond. Cause yes, Lourdes Gurriel gave up on it. Antonacci didn't, and that's how he made it all the way around. So just the motor on this guy and the attentiveness is very impressive. As we talked about from some of the plays he made in the World Baseball Classic, I'm still impressed in Antonacci as a player, but I don't, I don't think he needs to be that widely rostered yet. All right.

Speaker 1:
[19:27] Big thanks to everyone here watching us live. We realize it's very late. Tuesdays are just tough, man. Me and Scott always text back and forth. It's like Tuesday, we have a full slate and it's all the games like jam packed within a five to six hour span. And it's just, it is a lot to get through in a short amount of time. So we do appreciate you being here. Make sure to hit that like button. Subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. Again, we're live Sunday through Thursday evenings, and we have a bunch of short video VOD, video on videos on demand type content that comes out as well. So make sure you're subscribed to the channel for all that. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Support for today's episode comes from Square. And they've got some big updates. They just rolled out a new wave of tools during their latest releases event, all designed to help local businesses run faster, smarter and more profitably. And honestly, you can feel the difference when a business is using Square. I was at my local pizzeria the other day and everything just worked. Quick checkout, tap to pay, and I got my receipt instantly by text. It felt seamless and modern, which makes such a difference as a customer. What's really cool is Square AI. It basically acts like your business partner. You can ask it questions about your sales, trends, or slow days, and it gives you clear answers instantly. Plus, their financial tools help you track spending, save for taxes, and stay on top of your bottom line without the headache. Square launched its most powerful tools yet, designed to give local businesses a competitive edge without the complexity. If you're ready to sell smarter, run faster, and stress less, right now you can get up to $200 off Square hardware at square.com/go/fbt. That's square.com/g-o/fbt. Run your business smarter with Square. Get started today. In business, there's no room for guesswork. Every shipment matters, every deadline counts. When you're trying to keep operations running smoothly, the last thing you need is uncertainty. That's why reliability is at the core of USPS ground advantage. From the moment your package is first scanned in, it moves through a secure nationwide network, aiding in a timely and accurate delivery. You get near real time tracking so you can keep up with your shipments. And with affordable upfront pricing, there are no hidden fees or surprise surcharges to throw off your cost sheets. It all adds up to predictable deliveries you can depend on because knowing your logistics are handled lets you focus on everything else, your customers, your team and the future you're building. Visit usps.com/groundadvantage to start shipping with confidence. USPS Ground Advantage. We mean business.

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Speaker 1:
[23:09] Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball Today. And let's hit the news and notes. We have another closer injury. Raisel Iglesias was placed on the IL with right shoulder inflammation. How bad did he sleep on that shoulder for this to happen? He underwent an MRI that did not reveal any structural damage. The assumption here is that Robert Suarez will close out games in his absence. Obviously Suarez, an established closer, was really great for the Padres last year. He is 61% rostered. So out there in some leagues, at a time when we have a ton of closer madness, closer injuries, does he move to the top of the list, Scott? Robert Suarez, is he ahead of Dodgers relievers, Brad Keller, Brian Baker, who's still 50% rostered?

Speaker 3:
[23:59] What do you think?

Speaker 6:
[24:02] I think he is very high priority in the short term, but this may be a short absence for Raisel Iglesias. There is, of course, a scenario where he's just so good in closing out games for the Braves that Iglesias comes back and they just stick with Suarez. I think it's unlikely because this doesn't sound like a severe enough injury that it's going to keep Iglesias out for long, but there's a possibility of a setback too, shoulder. Those are distinct possibilities that are worth mentioning if you're debating whether to pick up Robert Suarez. Of course, in the meantime, he's must start. Until Iglesias comes back, he's must start. He's going to be uncontested in the role. He has a great history in the role. He's been doing well this year as a set up man. Do you pick him up over Brian Baker? I would say in most cases, yeah. Yeah, I would say so.

Speaker 1:
[24:59] Would you take him over any of the Dodgers relievers? I don't know where you fall on that bullpen, but yesterday Chris and I spoke about it. And I think it's probably going to be a mix and match. I think it's probably a committee. I lean Tanner Scott, maybe getting 50% of the opportunities. And then, you know, maybe it's like Vesia for 30% and 20% goes to the rest. But, you know, someone asked me earlier, Suarez or Tanner Scott. And it kind of comes down to what you want and need. Because I could see Suarez getting 90% of the brave saves over the next month. And then I could see Tanner Scott getting 50% of the Dodger's saves for the next three months. So it's like, what do you value more?

Speaker 6:
[25:41] Yeah, that is maybe the likeliest scenario. However, there is a scenario, certainly where Tanner Scott just takes the Dodger's job and runs with it. They're calling it a committee for now, but committees dissolve very quickly. Particularly if one guy is lighting it up and they realize, okay, we just got to keep using this guy in the ninth, but Scott has the potential to do. That's why he got such a big contract last off season. So it's likely just a short term stint for Suarez, but it's going to be very rewarding in the short term. It's likely a long-term stint for Scott that could be frustrating or could also be very rewarding. So I think if you're playing the long game, you have one shot at either of these guys. You only get one shot.

Speaker 1:
[26:36] One opportunity.

Speaker 6:
[26:38] This opportunity comes once in a lifetime or once in a season. I think you go for Scott. Now, if it saves aren't so scarce in your league, like it's more of a head-to-head situation, let's say. Maybe you just take the easy saves right now in Suarez and trust there'll be some other safe source out there later. But if it's deep league where you only get one shot, I think Scott is the better bet.

Speaker 1:
[27:02] It sounds like Peyton Tully will start for the Red Sox this weekend against the Orioles. And obviously big name prospect, three starts at AAA this year, 3.0 ERA, 107 whip, 11.4 K per nine. He has been throwing a lot more cutters and a new sinker. So not as foreseen fastball reliant, but it is a really good fastball. 44% rostered, Scott, would you consider Peyton Tully a must add while he's in the rotation?

Speaker 6:
[27:30] I think so. I mean, he's not any worse of a prospect than Noah Schultz. And we considered Schultz must add for the most part, certainly before his first start. Obviously, we've seen Tully in the majors before. And so just by virtue of him appearing in the majors and not pitching particularly well, the enthusiasm and fantasy is going to be much less. So you probably don't need to dump the truckloads of fab on him that you did on Schultz. But actually by most rank lists, he was higher rated than Schultz coming into this year. So he's very impressive prospect in his own right. This could be a short term stay or it could not because pitchers get hurt all the time. And if told he's good enough, they'll probably find a way to keep him around. He has worked on expanding his arsenal this year. As he said, that's what he was tasked with. I think the problem for him down the stretch last year when he struggled was being so fastball reliant, but it's a very good fastball and just having that sinker cutter fastball combination, that has tended to work for pitchers with really good fastballs. Just kind of have three variations of the fastball that keeps hitters guessing a little bit.

Speaker 1:
[28:40] Look at Cam Schlitler. I mean, he has done that exact thing this season. So it actually reminds me a lot. Obviously Peyton Tully from the left-hand side and they're not the same type of pitcher in terms of height and weight and how they look and everything. But yeah, from the left-hand side with a really good fastball, I could see that playing out similarly.

Speaker 6:
[29:00] Lance Lin, I think of that as the Lance Lin arsenal.

Speaker 1:
[29:04] Yeah. I guess the only pushback I would have with Tully is that Sonny Gray is in the IL with a hamstring strain. It doesn't sound like it'll be a really long absence. Once he's back, what happens then? I understand life finds a way and someone can get hurt or stink in the meantime. And if Tully is awesome, he'll just stick in the rotation. But there is a chance that he just makes two starts and he's back down in the minors once Sonny Gray is back, so.

Speaker 6:
[29:31] Yeah, do we know what grade the hamstring strain is for Gray?

Speaker 1:
[29:35] I believe it was grade one, so not too severe.

Speaker 6:
[29:39] Yeah, that is possible. I think it is, I think just given the nature of pitching injuries and that there are five potential ways to keep Tully in the rotation. One of them being Gray takes longer to come back than we think and he needs a bit of a rehab assignment at the end of it. And in the meantime, somebody else could get hurt. It would be kind of unlucky for Tully to come up, be great, and then have to be sent down. Not impossible, but kind of unlucky.

Speaker 1:
[30:13] Would you rather add Peyton Tully or Chase Dollander?

Speaker 6:
[30:18] I knew you were going to ask that. I think Tully, the odds are more in Tully's favor, because Dollander has looked in his last two outings. Man, I gotta say that. I gotta slow down saying that. I had the same problem with Justin Verlander for years. I wanted to say Verlander and not Verlander. And it took a lot of mental training for me to say it right. And I'm gonna have to do the same thing with Dollander.

Speaker 1:
[30:45] I remember listening to you guys before I was on this podcast and I would always hear you say Verlander. And I was like, someone has to tell him. Someone has to tell Scott. It's Verlander, you know?

Speaker 3:
[30:57] But yeah.

Speaker 1:
[31:00] Moving on from Dollander and Peyton Tully. We did get another prospect call up or one that's expected to get a call up. The Mets are promoting Christian Scott to start Thursday against the Twins. Top 100 prospect entering 2024. Missed all of last season with Tommy John surgery with the internal brace. His first start at AAA this year was rough, but in two starts since 10 and a third innings, two runs allowed, 12 strikeouts to two walks. And notice his fastball velocity is up one mile per hour, 95.3 on that pitch, 13% rostered. Scott Rankham, Christian Scott, Peyton Tolley, Chase Dollander.

Speaker 6:
[31:37] I am going to say, hmm, I'm going to think that's a tough one with Scott. Not really sure how to take that one. So for now, I'm going to say Tolley, Dollander and Scott, Christian Scott. But Christian Scott is interesting. We were pretty excited about him before the Tommy John surgery. And I believe he had a good spring as well. And then his last two starts have been strong here, AAA. So he might be a rest to the waiver wire situation if his return to the rotation, that first start goes well.

Speaker 1:
[32:11] Daniel Palencia underwent an MRI that revealed a lat strain. He initially went on the IL with a left oblique strain. Even after finding out it was a last strain, the Cubs sounded pretty optimistic that Palencia's, he's recovering well and he's reacting to treatment very well so far. So hopefully it's not too long for Daniel Palencia. Yohan Duran actually played catch on Tuesday. Rob Thompson said Duran is feeling much better. Thankfully, Ronald Acuna was back in the Braves lineup after leaving Monday night with a hit by pitch on his hand. He is off to a very slow start. He is one that I get a lot of tweets and questions about lately, but again, it's Ronald Acuna and the weather has been cold and he's off to a slow start, but when he's locked in, he's one of the best in the game. So if anyone else in your league is freaking out about Ronald Acuna, send an offer. Try and buy. Wyatt Langford left Tuesday night with right forearm tightness and so far he just has not been able to stay healthy in his career. He will undergo an MRI on Wednesday. He said he felt it on a swing and it's something that he's never felt before. So anytime with the forearm, it could turn into an elbow. So it's a little bit scary. And Langford's off to a really slow start too. So I get that people are frustrated. Juan Soto is planning to return Wednesday against the Twins. Carlos Mendoza also mentioned that they're going to kind of slow play him and they're not going to play him back to back full games, they said, like back to back 18 innings and he's going to get some DH opportunities. So it sounds like the Mets are going to play it safe with Juan Soto, but you know what? They need him 12 in a row, 12 game losing streak for the New York Mets. That is, the sky is falling here in the New York City area, Scott. I'll just tell you that. Zach Wheeler will make his season debut Saturday against the Braves. I understand you might have invested a lot in him, but I in a daily lineup league, I would still take a prudent approach and leave Wheeler on my bench for that first one. Garrett Cole will make his next rehab start Thursday at high A. He got up to 44 pitches in his first rehab outing. Blake Snell will begin a rehab assignment at single A on Wednesday. So perhaps three to four weeks away, like a mid May return for Blake Snell. Carlos Rodan will begin his rehab assignment at high A on Friday. Nick Lodolo threw a three inning simulated game on Tuesday, and I'm guessing it went well because he is expected to make a rehab start at high A on Sunday. Matthew Boyd will officially be activated Wednesday against the Phillies. Jackson Holliday left his rehab game Tuesday due to right hand discomfort, and his recovery is just not going smooth at all. Comparatively to the other hand made bone injuries, Lindor and Corbin Carroll. I mean, those guys just kind of returned and Carroll's looked like himself. I know Lindor, slow star like always, but hit a massive home run here on Tuesday night. It's been a little bit, you know, tougher for Jackson Holliday. Brandon Lau out of the lineup Tuesday due to left knee discomfort. Adley Rutchman and Royce Lewis were both activated off the IL. Adley did go two for four with his first home run, so that was nice to see. Anthony Volpe's rehab is moving to triple A. He was four for eleven with two steals and four games at double A. He actually played his first game at triple A on Tuesday night. He went back to back with Jason Dominguez. So nice to see that from those two. And Andrew Vaughn has started swinging a bat. He's three weeks removed from left hand a bone surgery. The hope is he will return in early to mid May. I do have a note here on Spencer Strider. This one comes via Chris. So thank you for throwing this in the rundown. He pitched at Triple A on Tuesday. Likely has one more rehab start ahead of him. And he struck out eight over four and a third innings. He got up to 65 pitches. His fastball averaged 95.9 miles per hour, which is up from 94.5 this spring. And the IVB, induced vertical break on that fastball, was also up to 18 inches. Only had two starts last season where the IVB was that good and the velocity was that good in the same start. So seems promising. I think that's like a good first start for Spencer Schreider.

Speaker 6:
[36:36] Yeah, it was encouraging. I don't know. I mean, it's possible, I guess, his next start could come in the majors, though they might give him one more on the rehab assignment first. You know, 95.9 on the fastball. He averaged 95.5 last year. So it's not so different from that. I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. I didn't want to point out in this start, though, that on the opposite end was Braxton Garrett of the Marlins. He threw eight no-hit innings.

Speaker 1:
[37:07] I saw somebody in the chat said that he threw a complete game no-hitter and took the loss.

Speaker 6:
[37:12] Yeah, I guess that's right.

Speaker 1:
[37:14] How is that even possible? My gosh.

Speaker 6:
[37:16] So Braxton Garrett might also be somebody who is back in the majors soon. Obviously, not quite the allure of a Spencer Strider but has had his stretches of fantasy usefulness in the past and is looking pretty good in the minors.

Speaker 1:
[37:32] So yeah, it was eight innings, no hits, two runs, one earned, two hit batsmen, three walks, six strikeouts for Braxton Garrett. He has made four starts at AAA this season, a 0.77 ERA, a 0.51 whip, 23 strikeouts over 23 and a third. And that comes on the same night that Chris Paddock had another pretty bad outing against the Cardinals. So I don't think it'll be long. I think Braxton Garrett will get an opportunity pretty soon. Kind of wish it was Robbie Snelling. Maybe I'll be wrong about that. I do like Robbie Snelling quite a bit. And he's also off to a great start. But my guess is that Braxton Garrett is ahead of Robbie Snelling in the pecking order right now. Let's fire up the worry-ometer here on Wednesday, one to ten. Ten, you are freaking out. You could not possibly be more worried about this player. One, you are not worried at all. Let's talk about Jarren Duran. He has sat out three of the last four games. Two were against lefties. Tuesday night was against a righty. He has sat out six games total so far this season. So maybe my bus call will turn out to be right. I was a little nervous because he was homering off every lefty this spring. But he is hitting just 162 with one homer, three steals, a 490 OPS. Scott, where is Jarren Duran on the worryometer?

Speaker 6:
[38:57] Oh boy, probably like a nine. I mean, lost playing time, but we're not dropping them if they're a 10, right? Not necessarily. We're just worried. This isn't a drop-o-meter. This is a worryometer. I don't know why it's a drop-o-meter and a worryometer as opposed to a drop-o-meter and worry-o-meter or worry-o-meter or whatever. But anyway, who cares about phonetic consistency? Jarren Duran, I think the biggest concern a player could possibly have is lost playing time and he's losing gobs of it. And maybe when he gets hot, that'll change. And I don't think, like if it was just a poor performance, I wouldn't be that worried. But like from the very beginning, they were sitting him a lot. And that's, I think even if he reverts to his usable production, if he's sitting this often, it's going to be hard for him to be startable in three outfielder leagues.

Speaker 1:
[39:50] Yeah, I can't disagree. So I think in shallower formats, you can look to bench him again. We're not dropping Jarren Duran in five outfielder leagues. It would be tough to bench him. But if there are two to three lefties on the schedule for a week, you might have to do it. You might have to go ahead and bench Jarren Duran, at least until we start to see more. Let's talk about Chase Dollander, who actually had an OK game here, one for four with a triple three RBI, but he last homered on April 3rd. In 15 games since, Chase Dollander is hitting 157 with zero homers, a 596 OPS. The good news is that he still has 11 walks to four strikeouts during that span. Scott, where is Chase Dollander on the worryometer?

Speaker 6:
[40:36] Yeah, I was just checking to see how the strikeouts were going and not many of those at all. And the exit velocities still look great. Pole air rate is still great. What's his playing time looking like? How much has he been sitting?

Speaker 1:
[40:53] I don't think he's been playing against lefties.

Speaker 6:
[40:55] So that is a little concerning. He sat against the last two lefties, but he started against the five previous ones.

Speaker 1:
[41:07] Okay.

Speaker 6:
[41:08] So I imagine once he gets hot again, that'll stop. And I think he will get hot again. I'll put him at like a five on the worryometer.

Speaker 1:
[41:19] And you're holding on to him, right?

Speaker 6:
[41:21] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[41:23] So I agree with that. Chase Dollander has sat against three of seven lefties so far this season, but he did start against four of their first five lefties. So been scuffling a little bit. It's probably not a bad idea for them to give him a few games off here and there against some tough lefties just because he's dealt with a lot of injuries. So I think you want to kind of keep him fresh in that way. His quality of contact is still very good. The expected stats still very good for Chase Dollander. 270 XBA, 501 X slug entering Tuesday. So yes, you should continue to hold on to Chase Dollander. Let's talk about Jesus Luzardo who labored through another start against the Cubs. The overall line, he only allowed one run, but also allowed nine base runners over four and two-thirds innings. He had 13 whiffs on 100 pitches. It's a tough spot for him because he got destroyed last time out against the Cubs. So you have to face the same line up two times in a row. A really patient lineup against the team. I saw there were multiple hitters that just owned him. Nico Horner and Alex Bregman have great career numbers against Jesus Luzardo. So it's kind of a rough spot for him to be in. Yes, I am making excuses for Jesus Luzardo. He has had one incredible start. Oddly enough, it came in Colorado. But everything else has been pretty bad, Scott. So where is Jesus Luzardo on the worryometer?

Speaker 6:
[42:43] I'm going to go three and a half on the worryometer, which for as high as he was drafted. You might reflexively think I'd say lower. And so there's not no concern here. Obviously, he doesn't have a long track record of dominance. He had the tipping issue last year, which really warped his numbers, even though it was just a two-start phenomenon. I think part of what reassures me is that, yeah, it was the same team two turns in a row. And you'd expect most any pitcher facing the same lineup in a consecutive start to struggle. So if this start happened independently of the first start, which was such a disaster, I don't think we'd even blink over it. So in a way, it was good that he didn't get throttled quite so badly, which would suggest maybe there is some tipping going on. But we need to see another good start soon for him to remain a must start pitcher.

Speaker 1:
[43:57] I do consider him one of the clear buys right now. I understand how frustrating it's been. I have him in a few leagues as well. $691 ERA, $154 WIP, but still nearly $11K per nine, $324 FIP, $277 XFIP. He's got a 49% ground ball rate. He has a 395 BIP against and a 54% left on base percentage. Last year, 324 BIP and a 69% left on base percentage. So those are things that just have to naturally regress over the course of the season. And I do think better days are coming for Jesus Luzardo. What about Meryl Kelly? Well, the White Sox hit back to back to back home runs. Who did they do off of? It was poor Meryl Kelly. Four and a third innings, 10 hits, eight runs allowed, three walks, three homers allowed in this one. He still managed to get 12 whiffs on 101 pitches. Everything got hit hard here, 11 hard hits allowed. Scott, where is Meryl Kelly on the worryometer?

Speaker 6:
[44:59] Let's put him at like a six and a half on the worryometer. Because the upside's only so high. So how long do you really need to stick with them? Depends the depth of your league, of course. Most leagues, I think you're holding on after this bad start. I mean, you stashed him in the IL for a long time, but there's only so much upside here. If he continues to falter, we'll see him dropped in a lot of leagues, I'm pretty sure. Seemed like in the start, he was just falling behind everybody. Really low strike rate. And his stuff isn't good enough to get away with that. So probably just a rust thing in his second start back, but we do need to see improvement soon.

Speaker 1:
[45:42] I will remind people that last year, Meryl Kelly allowed nine earned runs in his second start of the season. And in 30 starts after that, he had a 319 ERA and a 106 whip. So look, he's getting older. I mean, it could be that he's just kind of hitting a wall here. But remember this for next year. Do not start Meryl Kelly in his second start of the season. That's that's my biggest piece of advice. I would hold on to him. I think he was maybe my most drafted pitcher just because nobody wanted him. And I still think he's solid. I also had him in the lineup for this start on all my teams. So I feel your pain. It was a terrible outing from Meryl Kelly. But I would continue to hold because I do think, I think he'll get back to that, a similar form to last season. Let's take our final break. When we return, I got some waiver wire options here from Tuesday night. We'll talk about those right after this. This time of year always makes me rethink my closet, trying to keep fewer things, but pieces that actually feel special and wear well. That's exactly why I keep coming back to Quince. Their fabrics feel elevated, the fits are thoughtful, and the pricing actually makes sense. Their linen pants and shirts are lightweight, breathable and comfortable. The kind of pieces that make spring mornings feel effortless. Honestly, I didn't expect them to look so polished while feeling so relaxed. And their flow-knit active wear, it's unbelievably soft, moisture-wicking and anti-odor. Perfect for wearing all day. What I love most is that Quince gives you high-quality pieces without the designer markup. By working directly with ethical factories and cutting out the middlemen, they keep prices 50 to 60% lower than similar brands. Everything is made to last, so building a simpler, better wardrobe actually works. Refresh your wardrobe with Quince. Go to quince.com/fbt for free shipping and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada too. Go to QUI, nce.com/fbt for free shipping and 365-day returns. quince.com/fbt. Car shopping can feel overwhelming, but I recently went through the process and found something that honestly made it so much easier. CarGurus. What I loved right away is their new CarGurus Discover feature. Instead of messing around with a bunch of filters, I could just type exactly what I wanted, like something with great gas mileage for road trips and enough trunk space for everything. And it showed me real listings that actually matched. And when I was ready to check things out in person, the CarGurus app came in clutch. Their dealership mode is like having a cheat sheet right in your pocket. You can compare cars, check deal ratings, see price history, and even estimate your final cost while you're standing on the lot. It just makes you feel way more confident in your decision. Plus, with over four million listings, you've got so many options to choose from. It's no wonder CarGurus is the number one most visited car shopping site according to similar web's estimated traffic data. Buy or sell your next car today with CarGurus at cargurus.com. Go to cargurus.com to make sure your big deal is the best deal. That's cargurus.com, cargurus.com. Welcome back in Fantasy at Baseball Today. I do have a couple of other waiver wire pitchers outside of Chase Dollander. Randy Vasquez opposed him and he was excellent in Coors Field. Seven shutout innings with five strikeouts, 12 whiffs on 84 pitches, rough start his last time out. So nice to see him bounce back. Everything else outside of that last start has been really good. And he's been holding the velocity, which is nice to see for Vasquez. Landon Roop struggled with control, but he limited the damage against the Dodgers. Five innings, one hit, one run, five walks, seven strikeouts. Scott, who do you like more between Randy Vasquez and Landon Roop?

Speaker 6:
[49:36] Well, Vasquez, because I can explain his success a little more with the fastball being faster this year and having an extra inch of induced vertical break. It's playing like a good fastball and pitchers with good fastballs, if they throw enough strikes, are usually pretty good. Not saying, I'm totally in on Vasquez at this point, but he's intriguing enough to roster. I'm not saying he can't roster Roop, like he's put together a bunch of good starts here, but you look at the why behind it and every start, it's like a little bit different what he did. The lack of consistency there makes him a bit of a head scratcher. Not only that, but you mentioned that control was bad in this start with the five walks he threw, just 55 percent of his pitches for strikes, which is really bad. He entered this start with less than a 61 percent strike rate, which is still really bad, and now it's gone down. Now it might be below 60 percent for the season. I don't know, I didn't do the math, but it's really low for all the success he's had. It's too low for him to continue that success. Because he's not like a Jacob Mizerowski batmesser, something's got to give there. So again, not saying you can't give Landon Rupp a spot on your bench just to see if he defies all conventional wisdom here and continues to succeed. That does happen sometimes, but I would bet against it.

Speaker 1:
[51:16] The one thing that Landon Rupp does have in his favor is that he gets a good amount of ground balls. So even if he's walking some, I mean, he can eliminate some of that by getting double plays and things like that. But his swinging strike rate does not support the 10.1 K per nine that he has so far this season. Randy Vasquez, I am much more intrigued by so far. You mentioned the velocity being up and this cutter that he's throwing, it was nasty. Six whiffs here, a 50% whiff rate, 48% CSW. I've been incredibly impressed. And it looks like he might line up for two starts next week, Randy Vasquez. So I like what I'm seeing a lot. Scott, would you take Randy Vasquez ahead of some of the young, I guess he is kind of a mystery box with this new velocity, but you know, Peyton Toley and Dollander and Christian Scott, would you just take Randy Vasquez or hold on to Randy Vasquez over those guys?

Speaker 6:
[52:07] I think I'd take him over Scott. I don't think there's gonna be a ton of interest in Scott until he really gives us reason to care about him in Fantasy. So, Vasquez behind Dollander and, who was the other one you mentioned?

Speaker 1:
[52:27] Peyton Toley.

Speaker 6:
[52:28] Peyton Toley, yeah, behind both of them, but ahead of Christian Scott.

Speaker 1:
[52:32] All right, continuing on, is there anything here with these three? Kumar Rocker, a quality start against the Pirates, six innings, one run, five strikeouts there. Foster Griffin, a quality start against the Braves, six innings, three runs, three strikeouts for him. And Luis Heal had his best start of the season at the Red Sox, six and a third shutout, two hits, three walks, only two strikeouts. Scott, anything to see here? Luis Heal, Foster Griffin, Kumar Rocker.

Speaker 6:
[52:59] I don't think so. I don't think there's a lot to see here. Rocker has, is maybe the most interesting, but even though he had a good start here, I didn't see a lot in the underlying data to get me excited. So, I don't know. I'm just not that motivated to move on him. Luis Heal has struggled most to the time we've seen him and is probably gonna lose his job pretty soon with a bunch of Yankees pitchers on the mend. Foster Griffin, he might be a decent streamer type as one of those pitchers who just has so many different pitches he throws, such a white arsenal, so many different looks that he limits damage well enough. But if you look at things like exit velocity and, and, you know, swinging strikes, the angle the ball takes off the bat is, you don't see a lot there to get excited about.

Speaker 1:
[54:00] One thing I'll point out with Luis Heal, his slider was completely different. It looked more like a sweeper while I was watching. It had seven more inches of horizontal break and six more inches of drop. Even with that, he didn't really get whiffs on it. So it might not matter, but it was just a different slider for Luis Heal, who has not been able to recapture his rookie of the year form. And I do agree, you know, once Cole and Rodan are back, I think it's probably Luis Heal, who's on the outside looking in, he's probably more so just like in the bullpen than being in the rotation. Anything here with these three? Dustin May pitched well at the Marlins, five and a third, one run, five strikeouts. Sean Burke, a quality start at the D-backs, six innings, two runs, three strikeouts. Jack Kohanowitz, a solid outing in terms of he only allowed one run. I don't know how he's doing it, but five and two thirds, one run, two walks to just one strikeout here. Anything to see here? Jack Kohanowitz, Sean Burke, and Dustin May.

Speaker 6:
[55:03] I mean, I rode off May pretty hard. And then he had this stretch of three good starts. Don't really see what he's changed to bring it about. The first of the three starts, 33% sinkers, which, okay. Sinkers a good pitch for him. Maybe we contact the next start, 12% sinkers. And then this most recent start, 22%. So it was like the Goldilocks effect there. But I don't know.

Speaker 1:
[55:32] Redlocks, Redlocks, Scott, Dustin May.

Speaker 6:
[55:35] Yeah, yeah, fair enough. Yeah, look, he's been of interest in the not too distant past in fantasy. So I don't think we can ignore it. And it was probably too quick to write him off. But even at his best, he's not gonna be a big strikeout guy. So I don't think, like I think at his best, Dustin May is more of a floor play than an upside play. In most leagues, I just don't have much interest in floor plays right now. So, Kochanowicz, is that how you say it?

Speaker 1:
[56:05] Kohanowicz.

Speaker 6:
[56:06] Kohanowicz, thank you. The Jack Kohanowicz of the Angels. Has always been a good ground ball pitcher. Even better ground ball rate this year. Still don't think it's gonna be enough.

Speaker 1:
[56:18] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[56:19] I think you can pretty safely ignore him.

Speaker 1:
[56:21] 19 strikeouts to 17 walks over 29 innings. So, that Kata Walk obviously is atrocious. Dustin May, I'll point out, it looks like he does line up for two starts next week at the Pirates and home against the Dodgers in a revenge game. But when things go bad for Dustin May, they could go really bad. So, proceed with caution. Maybe it's like a points league streamer, but categories, it could be pretty scary with Dustin May.

Speaker 6:
[56:45] Yeah, I don't think I'll even have him in the, with those matchups, probably won't even be in the points league tier of the two-star pitcher rankings for me.

Speaker 1:
[56:55] I do think Sean Burke is starting to enter streamer territory too. He's pitched well so far this season. I don't see anything that overwhelms. He doesn't get a ton of strikeouts or a ton of ground balls, but three of his five starts have been solid so far this year. So, in the right matchup, daily lineup streamer, maybe, but I still am not seeing enough underneath the hood there for Sean Burke and, hey, Patrick Corbin has two solid starts in a row. That's it. I don't, it doesn't matter, right?

Speaker 6:
[57:26] No, it doesn't.

Speaker 1:
[57:27] Yeah, AL only leagues, there you go, Patrick Corbin. Waverwire hitters, a name to watch. If he was dropped in a shallow league, I don't know that I would go ahead and add him, but some interesting stuff under the hood for Spencer Steer. One for three with two walks in his fourth home run. His expected stats don't look very good, but his barrel rate was 17% entering this game, and that's like close to an elite mark. So not really sure what to make of it, but it stood out to me.

Speaker 6:
[57:58] So his number should be better. He's barreling it up that much, probably won't barrel it up that much forever.

Speaker 1:
[58:03] Right, right, right.

Speaker 6:
[58:04] I get their stats now, Spencer Steer. Yeah, I don't know. I think he's still fine in like a Roto context where you got that extra corner infield spot, you got the five outfielder spots where he's now eligible. Yeah. I wouldn't want to leave them on waivers in such a format.

Speaker 1:
[58:26] Two other names here. Angel Martinez, two for four with his third home run. Oddly enough, he set out three of their past seven games. Not exactly sure why it could be a splits thing. He's been much better against righties this year, but he was much better against lefties last year. So do with that what you will. I still kind of think there might be a player there with Angel Martinez, but if he's not playing every day, then it might not matter. And then Luis Garcia Jr. had himself a huge game, four for five with three RBI and his second stolen base. He has started 10 straight, including three of their past four against lefties. So could be an improvement on playing time here for Luis Garcia Jr. Right around 50% rostered, Scott, do you think those numbers need to be higher for either Angel Martinez or Luis Garcia Jr.?

Speaker 6:
[59:16] I don't. I think they're both right around where they should be, 50% having playing time issues. Martinez, still a question who he is. If they were to play every day and continue performing like they did here on Tuesday, yeah, I think they have the upside to be rostered more or least than that, but they don't need to be right now.

Speaker 1:
[59:37] If you need speed and nothing else at all, Nassim Nunez continues to run, one for four with a walk and two more steals. He has 10 steals on the season, which is tied for the National League lead, and the Nationals as a team are tied for third in stolen bases. So they have been very aggressive early on. He's hitting 181, so you won't get anything else, but if you need speed, Nassim Nunez. And one very deep name. We've somehow brought him up a few times already this year. Nathan Church, two for four with a sock and a shoe. His second home run, his third steal. He has started six of the past eight games for the Cardinals, put up some interesting numbers in the minor leagues last year, and had this game, but outside of this one game, there hasn't been much else.

Speaker 6:
[60:26] No, there hasn't no reason to care about Nathan Church as of now.

Speaker 1:
[60:31] Some improvements that I've noticed on the hitter side, Ellie De La Cruz continued his strong start three for six with two Sox and a shoe, two homers, one steal, same game, five RBI, one of the home runs did come off of a position player. The other came off of a lefty. Five of Ellie's eight home runs have been off of lefties this season. All of last season, just five of 22 home runs came off of lefties, so kind of in an O'Neil Cruz way, Ellie Dela Cruz has looked much improved against lefties so far.

Speaker 6:
[61:02] Always finding ways to link those two, aren't we?

Speaker 1:
[61:06] James Wood destroying baseball is one for two with four walks in his eighth home run, 114.5 exit velocity, 412 feet. His pulled air rate is just five percent. It does not matter when you are James Wood and you hit the ball as hard as you do to all fields. Pulled air rate does not matter for someone like James Wood. It's kind of crazy to think about what he could do if he did pull the ball in the air, but I really don't think it matters. And the improvement I noticed here, he somehow has improved his quality of contact. 96.7 average exit velocity with a 28 percent barrel rate. That was before Tuesday night.

Speaker 6:
[61:45] So yeah, I think he is looking like a pretty strong bet to live up to his draft position at this point.

Speaker 1:
[61:52] Yeah.

Speaker 6:
[61:53] And that's really all I have to say about it.

Speaker 1:
[61:56] Drake Baldwin continued his great start. He went one for four with a walk in his sixth home run. The homer came off of a lefty. He leads all catchers in runs and RBI so far this season. And the one improvement I wanted to point out, while it's negligible, his ground ball rate down is is down three percentage points. And I just wondered if that could be enough, Scott, putting the ball in the air a little bit more is kind of what we needed from Drake Baldwin to elevate him. He was already amazing last year, but for him to get to that next level and maybe hit 25 home runs this season, having a 45% ground ball rate will help him get there.

Speaker 6:
[62:32] I mean, look, he hit 19 in 124 games last year. So for me, it was just how much would he play. And when Sean Murphy, before his timeline was revealed and the expectation was there'd be something of a time share there, I had some doubts. But once we learned Sean Murphy would miss about a quarter of the season, obviously he's on a rehab assignment now. He's going to be returning sooner than later. But without him, Baldwin has started literally every single game for the Braves, most to catcher, but seven at DH. And hopefully that continues when Murphy returns. The way it's been working is basically when they face a left-hander, Baldwin goes over to DH and Jonah Heim starts a catcher. What weiss might continue with that arrangement. That might be, there might be enough bats for Murphy doing that, but Murphy is much higher stature and much better paid than Jonah Heim. So it's, it's not a certainty. And Dominic Smith has been performing well. He's the alternative at DH when Baldwin doesn't start there. So it would be tough to completely eliminate him from the lineup.

Speaker 1:
[63:44] And Nico Horner continued his early power. He went two for five with his fourth home run. He's been one of the best players in Fantasy so far. He's hit in 326, 22 RBI, seven steals, a 935 OPS. Another kind of negligible improvement here, but his pulled air rate, Nico Horner, is up from 17 and a half percent to 22%. I don't know that we want Nico Horner to try and be a power hitter. I don't think he's really trying to do that, but I wouldn't be surprised if by the end of the season, Scott, we kind of get a career power season out of Horner, where it's 12 to 15 home runs instead of the eight to 10 that we were expecting. And if he can get 15 home runs with his 30 steals and he's leading off for a good lineup, I mean, this might just turn out to be a career year for Nico Horner.

Speaker 6:
[64:33] Yeah, if he sustains a career high pull air rate, it probably will be, but obviously that number could regress too over the small sample we've seen.

Speaker 1:
[64:44] So just wanted to point that out. Some things I've noticed early on. Some young studs on the mound. How did they do? Parker Messick, not as good this time out. Probably should have expected that after throwing 112 pitches in his last start. He was okay. Five innings, three runs, four strikeouts here against a really good Astros lineup. Chase Burns finished one out short of a quality start at the base, five and two thirds, two runs with eight strikeouts. Noah McClain had a perfect game through five. He did unravel a bit down the stretch. Six and two thirds, three runs, ten strikeouts to zero walks. His 26% K minus walk rate is fourth among qualified starting pitchers so far. So Noah McClain has been the real deal. Anything else Scott on these three? McClain, Chase Burns and Parker Messick.

Speaker 6:
[65:35] I don't think I have anything to add here. Chase Burns continues to impress Parker Messick. Let me see if he ditched the sinker for a second straight start. Cause that was part of why I thought he missed so many bats last time out against the Orioles is he did away with his worst pitch. But the sinker was back 16% usage in this one. I'm not sure that's the best plan for Messick whose four seamer misses a lot of bats itself. And the change up is really good. And I don't know that the sinker does enough for him to keep it around, but he brought it back and got a worse result. So we'll see. He's good even with it. It's just a question of how many bats he's gonna miss.

Speaker 1:
[66:22] Yeah, I don't mind it as much just because I like the improved ground balls he's gotten so far this season. So as long as he's getting enough whiffs of a fastball and a change up, I think it's all right to mix that sinker in. So again, help get some early outs and counts and get ground balls, which typically not a lot of damage on those bad balls. So I don't mind it as much. I did move up Parker Messick to SP 40 in my ranking, Scott. I feel like maybe update on Wednesday nights.

Speaker 6:
[66:50] Yeah, I'll get that updated tomorrow.

Speaker 1:
[66:52] Yeah. Does that sound right to you? Too high? I moved them just ahead of Mackenzie Gore, Bubba Chandler and Emmett Sheehan, Parker Messick.

Speaker 6:
[67:03] Yeah, that that it would be in that same range for me, I think.

Speaker 1:
[67:06] OK.

Speaker 6:
[67:07] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[67:08] Moving on to some leftovers here. Sal Stewart just keeps on hitting and running two for four with three RBI and his sixth stolen base. John Carlos Stanton woke up here two for four with his third home run and three RBI his previous 15 games before this. A 145 batting average, 33% strikeout rate. It's been an OK season so far for Stanton. Nothing too crazy. Sayo Suzuki is on the board with his first home run. He went two for four with two RBI and that one, Luke Kieschel had a nice game, but he is off to a slow start. He went two for four, two RBI, his fifth stolen base, hitting just 222, one homer, a 557 OPS. And that comes on a twins team that has surprise and offense has been really good. Kieschel hasn't really been a big part of that. What have you seen here so far with Luke Kieschel, Scott?

Speaker 6:
[68:02] Well, I haven't seen improvement in the areas where I wanted to see it, namely pulling the ball in the air. He is not like, like the biggest problems for him last year as a rookie, didn't hit the ball that hard, didn't pull it in the air very much. And both have gotten worse here in the early going. So kind of the opposite of what we hope to see, especially since in the minors, part of the reason Keisha was a good power hitter down there is because he excelled at pulling the ball in the air. So he figured a little more experience. Maybe he'd recapture that ability. So far that hasn't happened. He has maintained the low strikeout rate. So that's encouraging. He's running when he gets on base. But I wanted to see more power from him this year and could turn it around. I'm not saying it's time to dump Luke Keishel, give up on him. Even if he doesn't become a power hitter, he could be a poor man's Niko Horner and that would probably be close to must start at a thin position like second base. But I'd hope to see more at this point.

Speaker 1:
[69:09] Some pitching leftovers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto turned in a quality start at the Giants. Seven innings, three runs with seven strikeouts. His first inning was a little weird. It included an error and there was a collision in the outfield, but he is now five for five in quality starts, including seven innings in back to back outings for Yamamoto. Shota Imanaga did not get the whiffs, but another quality start for him. Up against the Phillies, seven innings, three hits, one run, one walk, one strikeout. That is three straight quality starts for Imanaga. Chris Bubich settled down. He got off to a bit of a rough start, but a quality start against the Orioles. Six innings, three runs, three walks, three strikeouts. And Luis Castillo, solid against the Athletics, five innings, two runs, with six strikeouts. Went back to using that slider a lot, and it was really good for him. Eight of his 14 whiffs came on that slider. So that kind of feels like the recipe for Castillo, and I kind of hope that he sticks with it. So any other thoughts here, Scott, on Castillo, Bubich, Imanaga and Yamamoto?

Speaker 6:
[70:14] Yeah, I think Castillo buys himself some more time, if nothing else. In Shallower Leagues, you're probably on the verge of dropping him, but he showed enough here that you gotta maintain that shred of hope, I think, given his track record. Bubich, I don't know what to make a Bubich right now. He looks so good two starts ago, but there have been a lot more starts like this, where he's just kinda okay, and he's not missing a ton of bats, and the individual pitch characteristics still look strong, so I'm hopeful, but a little underwhelmed with the results. Still hopeful, though, for the kinda year he's gonna have.

Speaker 1:
[70:59] Yeah, to me, the biggest thing for Bubich, I feel like his command is not there, coming back from the shoulder injury. He has exactly three walks in four or five starts, and while he typically doesn't have the best command, I mean, last year was like three walks per nine, that just needs to be better, and I think if he gets those walks down, he could be more efficient, and hopefully, he's still getting a decent amount of whiffs, so yeah, to me, the biggest thing is the walks for Chris Bubich. The call to the bullpen for the Astros. I think this bullpen is just bad, man. AVL De Los Santos got the eighth inning with a two-run lead. He allowed three of the first four runners to reach. He was relieved by Brian King, who walked the bases loaded and then allowed a bases clearing triple. Both De Los Santos and King were charged with three earned runs each. Neither might not be worth rostering, Scott.

Speaker 6:
[71:55] How many games has, how many wins has this bullpen cost this team this year? Like they gotta lead the league in that. Between Brian Abreu and now these two knuckleheads.

Speaker 3:
[72:09] Yeah, it's, I didn't pull it.

Speaker 1:
[72:12] I'd have to look into it, but yeah. I mean, that's their whole, that's their whole, that's their whole pitching staff, right? It's like, it's not just a bullpen. They have.

Speaker 6:
[72:22] Yeah. I mean, the starters are all hurt. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[72:24] They have one of the best offenses in baseball. They are third in tied for second in the league and runs scored so far. And their team ERA is 605. It is the worst in all of baseball. It's not really close either. So that is a clear weakness we know for the Astros. For the Mets, Devin Williams entered the ninth inning with the game tied. He charged. He was charged with two runs. He allowed a hit and three walks. Did not record an out. That is three bad outings in a row for Devin Williams, who is all of a sudden up to a 995 ERA, a 268 whip. I can't quantify it. I said it before the season a few times. I don't know if he could pitch in New York. He might just be broken. Pete Alonso might have broke Devin Williams in the playoffs a couple of years ago because he just, I know he was okay, like not okay. He was good down the stretch last year, but overall his season last year was not good and he's off to a bad outing here. It's a really small sample size, but I seriously do question Devin Williams.

Speaker 6:
[73:25] That drop on his change up, that airbender change up that pitching ninja loved so much. He's lost like six inches of drop on that thing and it is not getting good results. That's concerning.

Speaker 1:
[73:43] That is the key to him pitching, right? I mean, it's all fastball and change up. And if he doesn't have like one of them working, then he's completely like unreliable. So, that is the Devon Williams experience. For the twins on the other side, Cole Sands pitched a perfect eighth and ninth. He struck out three. He picked up the win. Twins bullpen, flip a coin, complete head scratcher right now. For the Cardinals, Riley O'Brien picked up his seventh save. For the Cubs, Caleb Thielbar got the final two outs for his second save. Kind of feels like he's settling in as the Daniel Palencia replacement there. For the Royals, Lucas Ersek bounced back with a scoreless ninth. He kept the game tied and he wound up with the win because on the other side for the Orioles, Ryan Helsley allowed a run on two walks and two wild pitches. He took the loss. For the Rangers, Jacob Junas got the ninth inning with a four run lead. He allowed a hit, but he did close out the game. Scott, do you still lean that Junas is the closer or? Can he still be using like seventh or eighth innings?

Speaker 6:
[74:49] Yeah, the usage has been a little funny lately, but I don't. I don't think anyone else in that bullpen is trending clearer toward being the closer. I mean, I would guess Colwyn would be the next man up, but his usage has been, he hasn't been consistently used in high leverage spots either. So yeah, I still lean Junas, but it is a little fuzzy.

Speaker 1:
[75:16] For the Padres, with Mason Miller unavailable, Adrian Morejon got the ninth with a one run lead. He struck out two for his first save. For the Blue Jays, right back to Jeff Hoffman, he entered the ninth with a three run lead. He struck out the first batter he faced, then a single, hit by pitch, hit by pitch, RBI single. He was relieved by Louis Varland, who got an ending, any ending double play on the first pitch that he threw, picked up his first save. I don't know how John Schneider can keep going back to Jeff Hoffman. I know that he just converted a save on Monday, but then he does this on the very next night.

Speaker 6:
[75:53] Yeah, he was emphatic in his claims that he'd stick with Hoffman the other day prior to this outing.

Speaker 1:
[76:02] He was.

Speaker 6:
[76:03] But now he's, you know, he at least backed off of it mid game this time when Hoffman was having another meltdown. So it may be the start of Hoffman losing his job. I don't think it could surprise anybody at this point, especially since he was shaky last year, too. And Varlin's been great, so. He would be the one to pick up if you're worried about Hoffman.

Speaker 1:
[76:28] Yeah, and if you have Hoffman, I would almost do a handcuff situation and make sure I have Varlin on my roster as well for the Giants. Hey, Ryan Walker got the ninth inning. He struck out two for his second save and for the Athletics, Mark Leiter Jr. and Joel Kunel were unavailable. It was Jack Perkins who pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts. He picked up his first save. I know that Kunel has kind of settled in as their closer lately. I still think Perkins is a name to watch long-term because he was a prospect of some note, good numbers in the minors, gets a lot of swings and misses. To me, he profiles more as a long-term closer. But I do think it's Joel Kunel for now, as long as he keeps converting saves.

Speaker 6:
[77:14] Yep. I would agree with all that.

Speaker 1:
[77:16] To stream or not to stream, on Wednesday, we have Kyle Leahy at the Marlins, Jansen Junk against the Cardinals, Brandon Williamson at the Rays, Nick Martinez against the Reds, Aaron Savali at the Mariners, Chad Patrick at the Tigers, Eduardo Rodriguez home against the White Sox.

Speaker 6:
[77:35] Okay, I'm gonna go Eduardo Rodriguez number one here because he was among my sleeper pitchers. Now, the extra drop he was getting on his change up early in the year when he was having so much success, that disappeared in his latest start, didn't get a very good result. Maybe the reversion is happening. And the White Sox did just beat up on Meryl Kelly. So it's not a safe play by any means, but I think Eduardo Rodriguez is the most interesting here. But then I'd probably go Jansen Junk against the Cardinals and Chad Patrick at the Tigers. Not thrilled with any of them though.

Speaker 1:
[78:09] I agree with all that. I would probably put Patrick at the top, then Erod and then Jansen Junk third on the list. On Thursday, we have a smaller slate, Brian Baio against the Yankees, Cade Cavalli against the Braves, Brandon Sprote at the Tigers, Matt Waldron, how does the knuckleball move in Coors Field? I guess we're about to find out. Davis Martin at the D-Backs and Christian Scott in his season debut against the Twins.

Speaker 6:
[78:37] Oh, this is painful. I think maybe Davis Martin at the Diamondbacks.

Speaker 1:
[78:44] We're finally getting a Davis Martin start.

Speaker 6:
[78:48] It's painful. It's painful. Sprote at the Tigers.

Speaker 1:
[78:52] There is blowout potential there, but he's coming off a good start.

Speaker 6:
[78:57] I think Brian Baio has better days ahead, but I don't think I'd do it against the Yankees.

Speaker 1:
[79:02] Yeah. If I had to choose three, I would probably say Sprote, Christian Scott, even though it's his first start, and Davis Martin. But proceed with caution. We are gonna wrap there for Scott. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball Today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five star rating on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow.

Speaker 2:
[79:33] The Paramount Podcasts.

Speaker 8:
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