What's going on? Everybody?
Welcome into Leading Off the Fantasy Pros Baseball Podcast. We are presented by Bet three sixty five, Bet five bucks, get one hundred and fifty and bonus bets when you use that promo code.
Leading Off with our friends over at Bet three six five.
There's no Welsh, there's no Joe Piezopia, but Casey Baba and myself Joel Rico are back here on this Monday leading Off. We're supposed to have well Sean, but that's what happens this time of year when football gets crazy. Welch is famous now he's got to do the football shows. But that's why Bubba and myself are here to take you through everything that's going on. Talk about the latest news, talk some injury updates, bets, home run calls, all that great stuff.
Bubba, how are you doing on this fine Monday.
I'm doing great. It's always a pleasure as usual talking baseball with you and keep going. With three weeks left in the baseball seasons, so know who's counting. But as we're rolling here, that other game takes place and takes everybody's attention away. We still get cracking here for a daily baseball for us.
Yeah, I think we're down to the final I guess there's three weeks left, three shows a week. We're down to the final nine leading offs of the season. So make sure you guys are subscribed to the show, whether it is on the podcast side or.
The YouTube side.
Would really appreciate any help you guys can give us here as football starts to take over, but we are still gonna be having baseball content come at you throughout the offseason, so make sure you guys are signed up for everything, podcast, YouTube and all that great stuff. We are gonna start with the headlines and we're gonna keep it the way we usually do here, but we're gonna start off with some rather tough news, and it's justin
Verlander just getting destroyed again. Eight earned runs over three innings against the Diamondbacks, a couple of home runs, he allowed eight hits, did not record a strikeout. What we've seen from him in fourteen games this season has been awful. A five thirty ERA, a one thirty eight whip, the worst strikeout and walk rates that he's had in ten years. Is Verlander finished?
Bubba?
Is there any hope that he can kind of come back and give us any old Verlander type of performances or is it just kinda he's going to go out the back door and this is kind of how his career.
Is going to end.
I think this is kind of where we're headed. He might get a start here and there, but velocity is not what it once was, doesn't go deep into games. We saw this last year before he got hurt. Things are slowing down. He's still was serviceable, still could get strikeouts from time to time, but he's now a pitcher, not a thrower, like and he still was a picture before, but you know what I mean, when you're still pumping high nineties and the seventh or eighth in and that's
a thrower a lot of the time. But Vernon is just getting old. Father Time is undefeated in these situations, and it's a shame because he is one of the best pictures of most of our generations. Like he's very, very good, and he's up there in the probably i'll say top ten, potentially top five, depend on who you are, but I think this is about the end of it. I wanted nothing to do with him when he's coming off the IL. I rooted for him, but it's like I'm going to pass on this one and I see
where it goes. I'm quietly, sadly not surprised by what's taking place. Not that I think Peven Smith was going to be the guy that put him to his grave, No, but I thought something like this could happen.
It's crazy, Pavid Smith will want much of him later, just like one of the games of the season for anybody. But Verlander, I don't know what to expect from him going forward because he's gonna be forty two years old by the start of next season.
He is as older.
Than he's older than me. That's just a lot of people.
That is pretty old. I'm just playing with you.
I just don't know if we can really trust him going to his age forty two season. He is a player option. I feel like he's going to pick that up because I don't know what kind of deal he's going to get on the market. But I can't really see myself drafting Verlander unless we're talking about if he falls to like the last round and then you say, Okay, maybe I'll take a chance on him here, But just that name value alone, I feel like he won't fall as far as he should given the performances we've seen.
Any chance you have any interest in Verlander at a given price next year or.
Just a full fade.
I'm just a full fade, like he'd have to be post too fifty, like one of your last round picks, essentially to keep interest from me. So I'm pretty positive I'll be out on the Verlanders show.
I think that's kind of the end.
And of course, like you mentioned, he's one of the best pitchers of the generation.
He's going to the Hall of Fame.
Its just it's sad to see it kind of go out like this. I always figured he would end with like a two to seven era and come third and sy Young like a David Ortiz type of sendoff a year. I don't know why I figured that would be what would happen for Verlander, but it doesn't look like we're going to get that. He's kind of just stuck around for a little bit too long at this point. Forty two is just you're pushing it if you're still trying to be a major league player at forty two. Jamie Moyer,
he's not coming back through that door anytime soon. Let's talk about Julio Rodriguez six hits over the weekend in Saint Louis. He's seventeen for his last fifty four over the last couple of weeks. That's a three to fifteen batting average, three home runs, three stolen bases. It obviously hasn't been great. It's been a pretty miserable season as a whole for Julio, and yet he's like a top
one hundred and fifty player overall. So I've really been struggling because as the season goes on, we start to think about next year's draft targets, and you know, there's been some early drafts that we've broken down already.
Do you think there's a.
Chance Julio gets himself back into the first round, Like there's a chance he goes twenty two? Funny, in a miserable season, we know that he can go thirty thirty, if not forty forty. So any chance that Julio gets into the top fifteen.
Next year, Uh, yeah, wouldn't shocked me. He went thirteenth in our two early DC we did a couple of weeks back, so there's still a lot of love for him. Never hurts to have a strong finish to the season to get people excited. Now, the back end of that draft is loaded between the end of the first round early second round. I think there's a lot of moving pieces there that'll change from draft to draft, but a strong finish from Julio will remind people of how talented
he really is. I think he might have been hurt quite a bit this season, more than let on because he you know, he had the little il stint and everything came back quicker than most expected, so on and so forth. You know, maybe he's healthy, maybe he's not. But the finish is strong, so I think he'll find his way back into the first round.
The power hasn't really I mean, fourteen home runs the whole season, but a part of I think the struggle in terms of the overall stat line has also been just how bad the team has been around him. Forty nine REBI, sixty runs scored. Yes, part of that is on Julio, but the Mariners have been historically bad and
that definitely has not helped things out. I feel like, if he's still sitting there at the beginning of the second round, if I con pair him with like a Tattis, a Carrol, maybe a Tucker, I feel like I'm gonna do it. I just don't know if I really want to take that chance of letting him slip by, because we know that he's capable of giving you a top five season, and slowly but surely he is kind of getting back that we have seen old Julio at times
this year. But yeah, fourteen homers, twenty one steals, two sixty two. I wouldn't fault anybody for not wanting to take him in the first round, but we're kind of getting back to there, especially if he finishes really hot. I could see him getting there on a consistent basis. Let's talk Jack Flaherty dominant outing, which has kind of become.
What we've been used to this season.
Seven and the third shutout ball with six strikeouts against the Guardians Eloud, just four hits for the season as a whole. I mean, Jack Flarerty has done some amazing things, and I want to shout out your co host Ryan Bloomfield, who was one of the people I heard speaking loudest about Jack Flarerty in the preseason. A two eighty six c ra a one zero one whip. He is second among all qualified starters in strike up minus walk rate
it's second in Sierra. I don't know what to do with him for next season though, because we've seen two good years from Flarity out of like seven. Are you gonna trust him heading in the next year, because I think at this point, like obviously somebody I trust implicitly this season, but once the year changes over, you never really know what's gonna happen. If they're a six month layoff. Is Flerity somebody that can be trusted as an SP one or an SP two next season?
You think? I think as an SP two potentially. I'm terrified of SP one with him. He's got quite the injury history, like there's no denying that, and even the back was an issue off and on this season, so there are some of those lingering concerns. We've seen him pitch really well before when he's been healthy with the Cardinals. We've also seen the opposite side of that spectrum, which we could probably get at any moment. So and the free agent where's he gonna land? That's a big piece
of the puzzle as well. I think you could draft him as an SP two, like in a perfect roll, I'd like SP three. He won't be there as an SP three. He'll be gone before that. So if you're a even what he's doing, which this is who he can be. If he stays healthy, there's no denying that, then he is worthy of an SP two. It's just there is a lot of risk with one of your top end fantasy pitchers if you take the chance.
Yeah, location is gonna be big. If he goes back to the Dodgers, that'll obviously be probably the best case.
I'd hate it. I'd hate it, so yeah, go for it.
That was a Giants fan.
If you guys, we're aware, but that statement probably does make you aware of it. I don't know if I'm gonna want to, Like I've been a huge fan of his, but I don't know if I really want to touch him where he's probably gonna be going, which is top fifty, top seventy five picks overall. Probably, I just it makes me nervous, it really does. I feel like I'm probably
gonna do it once or twice. Because we are volume players, Bubba and I, we're gonna probably do how many teams you have this year twenty or so, fifteen.
Twenty, it's like twenty's gonna go with that To keep his seat twentieth.
So we'll have one or two shares maybe, but.
Oh I will have some flairity, Yes you are, yeah, I will.
Just investing consistently.
As an SP one SP two, You're gonna need some security around him. You're gonna need a Logan web but George Kirby or somebody who can really eat a lot of innings, And that's a pretty sure thing if you are going to take that chance pretty early on Flarty. Moving on to Michael Waka, who I mean, this is the third straight year, but but where he's been really, really good. It was seven innings of shutout Paul yesterday.
Not a cupcake matchup either. Against the Twins. He struck out seven, allowed just four hits, three point thirty four ERA one eighteen whip. Considering where people drafted him, he's a huge, huge.
Win this season.
Is he somebody now that like, after three straight years of roughly a three and a half ERA, can we say that Waka's trustable as like an SP three and SP four. The numbers below the surface are not great. That's why I kind of questioned it. The strikeouts aren't amazing, The eer estimators leave something to be desired. How much do you trust Michael Waka going forward?
I trust him quite a bit. Talked about him on the First Pitch Pod last night that this start was amazing. It's just the consistency he brings. You mentioned three straight years. I thought the dude was like Adam Wayne Wright's age. He's thirty three years old. He's not even that old yet. Like, there's a lot to be had with Waka. And one thing I found very very impressive to me, just to give the big example of his consistency of late, he has allowed three year in runs or less in nineteen
of his last twenty starts. That is like something you can just trust. Now it's ninety nine k's and one hundred and thirteen and eight and so yeah, it's still not bad. That's not bad, but it's not like the
k Perandian type guys are better that you want. At the same time, man, if you could if your first two pitchers are just like Wheeler and like Cease or something that strikes out everybody, and then you bring this this ratio machine behind you that's actually getting wins also because he's pitching deep into games like and I could have probably gone farther there's probably like twenty seven or like twenty nine starts or something, but nineteen of his
last twenty three year rounds or less. That is a model of consistency that should not be ignored. And I just want to give him his props, and I'm glad he's on the outline today because a lot of us I think, just look at him, go it's walk he's boring, which he is. He's very boring, there's no denying that. But when it comes to fantasy, boring can be beautiful, and this is very beautiful.
Yeah, sometimes we get caught up in the hot new toy always. You know, I gotta take this guy in the second round, and he's gonna win my.
League or whatever.
A lot of us it is those boring players, you know, Seth Lugo and another guy who was a boring guy coming of the year. He's gonna win a lot of leagues just because of you know, that late price really returning great value. And it's the same thing with Waka. It's not always the guys that get pushed up that win your leagues, right. Sometimes it's a lot of the time it's those guys going between one hundred and pick two hundred or so even later that can really return
this crazy value like Waka hasn't. I feel like going in the next year, he'll kind of be a fade again. People are gonna just do what I did. You say, Okay, the strikeouts aren't great. You know, the ex fips and seers of the world are all right, but they're not amazing. And he might be somebody where you can get him at a bit of a discount and, like Bubba said, pretty safe in terms of the ratios if you've got your strikeouts squared away. Speaking of strikeout squared away, let's
talk to Edward Cabrera. Seven innings against the Phillies yesterday, six strikeouts. I don't know what to make of Edward Cabrera as usual, because we see starts like this against a team like the Phillies, but we also see hot garbage from him a lot of the time, and the inconsistency is really what makes him almost impossible to use. I've always been a big fan of Verrier Cabrera. There's been some positive signs this season, but is there any
way we can trust him at this point? I feel like I want to see that command get a lot better. But what are your thoughts on Edwarg Cabrera going forward, Bubba.
This is the problem with him is the talent is undeniable, the consistency is not the command is not. Well. What we saw on this start was it one walk, two walks something like that over seven innings. The last four starts has been three and runs or less for Edrick Cabrera with like twenty k's over twenty three innings, but eight walks. So pick your poison there. But we have seen signs of life of late. It's one of those guys. It's worth gambling on late in drafts if you want
to streams or like. He always looks to be a good stream. But the headache is there because the the you know, the opposite side can take place, as we've seen, but the talent's on the niabil And so when we see this kind of stuff, it reels you back in every time. I'll still be interested, I'll have a few shares, but it's just one of those things like because if he ever figures it out command wise, dude's gonna be ridiculous. It's just we haven't seen that yet.
He could have like a Dylan Seas type of curve potentially where you see these thirty and ten guys thirty percent strikeout rate, ten percent walk grade or the talent's there and it's just a matter of figuring out that command. And I feel like he could reach those kind of Dylancy's levels if you had a seven or eight percent walk grade. But that's asking a lot at this point in time.
Still going to be interested.
I'll always be interested in Edward Cabrera because he's just one of those guys for me.
It's kind of like Tyler McGill. I just I don't know why.
There's something about them, certain pitchers that you just kind of get interested in.
He's one of them for me.
But the inconsistency is still a problem at this point. Let's talk about a couple hitters starting in my neck of the woods in Toronto. Spencer Horwoods had a hell of a weekend. It went six for seven with three homers, four runs scored, and five ribbies. Been the top seventy five player over the last month, hitting two seventy eighteen runs and fourteen RBIs with seven homers. I've really become more interested in Spencer Horwitz. I didn't think there was
all that much there really earlier on. But he gets the ball very hard. You know, he's playing most of the time. He's usually in the third to fifth spot in the Blue Jays order. What's your interest levels of season and also heading into next year. Is Horward's gonna be somebody that you're targeting as a as a middle corner infield guy.
I'm very interested. I know I in DC's I took some weight shares of him because we saw the bat skills were great. It's just a million dollar question of where's he gonna play. I think it is util only also and to start the season in NBC. But he's getting the playing time. It's looking good. You're the JAS guys. That's something that we can expect next year. If that's the case, I'm interested as a late round pick at least. I'm not going to target him as like my starting
first baseman. But he's got corner infield viability. He's a good bench bat. I just don't know what the playing time looks.
Like for sure for the Blue Jays.
I don't know that any spot on the roster outside of first base with lot is really guaranteed to anybody next year.
If our show is going to be around. Kirk's probably gonna be around.
There's gonna be a lot of playing time, though, and considering what Horwitz is done, he can play second, he can play first. I mean, he has pretty good play skills ten percent walk right, seventeen on the strikeout rate. He hits the ball pretty hard. I think he's gonna be around. I think he's gonna be somebody that does have some interest. Plus, after half a season is one thirty five, it's a lot better than you'd probably expect.
I'm gonna have some interest here.
You also have to acknowledge that the Blue Jays lineup is going to probably be a bit of a dumpster fire next season, so counting stat's gonna be a little bit tricky. I don't expect many stolen bases, but just as a corner to middle infield option that pick two fifty or so in the draft, like, he's gonna be pretty interesting if he even gets that far, because his recent stretch might push him up a little bit.
One more guy to.
Talk about here in the headlines, and that's Cedric Mullins. He had a home run over the weekend against the Rays and it's kind of snuck up on me that he's turned the season around over the last month, hitting three to zero two with three homers and seven stolen bases. As a whole, it's been pretty inconsistent, and I do feel like eventually he'll be pushed out of playing time, just based on all the youngsters they got to fit
into the lineup there. But it hasn't been a terrible season for Mullins fifteen homers, twenty six stolen bases, only hitting two thirty four, But generally speaking, it hasn't been a terrible year for him. It's been a better year than last year. What are your thoughts heading in the next season? Is he going to have a starting, everyday role in Baltimore? Are we reaching the point where he might get pushed out? Are you gonna have any interest in drafting him?
Essentially, I'll probably be out unless he drops quite a bit because he was already platuning this year. Feels like he's been the odd man out at times, but now and then he starts producing again, gets some more reps than his struggles, and gets kind of pushed away again. I feel like there are enough options in that Oriole system to move Cedric out of the way. That's kind of where I'd be leaning at this point in time.
So I'd be out on Cedric for now. Unless we get some new news that all of a sudden they've regained love with Cedric Mullins and he's back back in action for him.
Maybe that price falls pretty far. Maybe we'd hear he's getting a regular role. But yeah, I feel like at this point the bloom is off the rose. He's not the thirty thirty guy he was a couple of years ago. He could still have some value, but it would have to come at a pretty discounted price, Like if he's in the top one hundred and fifty picks or so, I couldn't do it for talking about like pick two hundred or something like that. I could probably be talked
into it. Let's talk about a couple of rookies in the rookie lookie section here. Trey Sweeney, who was one of the pieces acquired for Jack Flaherty at the deadline. Big Game four for four with a combo meal, a couple of runs, couple of ribbies hasn't been so so great, Bubba, Is there any interest here for deeper leagues down the stretch for Trey Sweeney or is something you want to just wait for next year.
On I'm probably waiting un till next year. I've brought him up in fab from time to time in deep leagues, like you're saying, there are a lot of middle infield options that have popped up over the last month or so that kind of, you know, go over the top of Sweeney. But the skills are there. Hit a couple of home runs over the last week, so that's good to see, but the consistency, like you mentioned, has not
been there. So I'm probably more excited about Sweeney for twenty twenty five, But depending on your format, he is going to be viable most likely.
Yeah, I think so as well. I kind of undersold the Tigers return there. I just think I compared it directly with like the Kakuchi package, and it didn't seem like they really got enough back considering how good Flairty had been. But it looks like they could have a couple of decent pieces here, with Sweeney being among them. Connor Norby's another guy I want to talk about in the rookie Lokie. I think he's been more valuable over about twenty games than Trevor Rodgers was for the entire season.
He had three home runs drove in sevengainst the Phillies over the weekend. As a Marlin, he has one thousand, forty three ops six home runs in eighteen games. There are some numbers, however, below the surface that aren't really that great. Average hes of velocity eighty six miles an hour, thirty eight percent hard hit rate. He's striking out thirty percent of the time, but he's got a fourteen percent
barrel rate. There are things that I like, but it's kind of a mixed package in terms of the analysis because it's a bad park, it's a bad team. But he's looked really, really good. What's your interest level in Connor Norby here for the final three weeks and also again to kind of keep the theme going and you're gonna have any interest heading into twenty twenty five.
For the final three weeks. I want him everywhere I can. Very excited about what we're seeing from him. Young player getting some run and he seems to get better. Even had a slump at one point and we've seen a breakout of that. He's got a seven game hitting streak starting off Monday here, So that's pretty promising. So I am loving that, and in twenty twenty five I want
him a lot. You know you're gonna join me later today on bench with Bubba to kind of talk about the early twenty twenty five draft, and Norby wasn't picked ours. Actually thinking over the weekend seeing his stat line that I'm like, Norby might be one of my top options coming back in the twelfth round and we kick things off because I need a second basement, and the fact he'll be second base third base, well next year he
might be third base only in NBC. Let's keep in mind in that, but for the rest of the season here second base, third base. I love Connor Norby, and this is the guy I'm very excited about going to the next season.
Something else to keep in mind is that for this week they're facing a bunch of lefties and he destroys left handed pitching. So if you're looking even for just a short term hitting stream, Connor Norby is one of the top options that you can find still available in a lot of leagues too. Just taking a look at Yahoo, Norby is on what are we.
Talking about here?
Fifty six percent a roster, so bit of a toss up, but you'll probably probably confined him if it's a bit of a shallower format, and I think he is worth starting in a lot of cases. Let's go to the three up and three down. Pevin Smith we mentioned earlier one of the games of the season, three home runs, eight driven in. If you played him in DFS, or if you happen to say, okay, let's just stream Paven Smith today, what's the worst that can happen? You did
very well for yourself. A funny thing that I also learned yesterday just going through fangrafts. Of anybody who has thrown a pitch this year, Peven Smith has the best stuff. Plus at two h six it's because of the obscure nature of the delivery or something. I'm sure it was one inning, but yeah, the two way player coming out of nowhere is Peven Smith out there in Arizona, stinking in Arizona. Janio Suarez four for five with a home run,
four run scored, a couple driven in. He's been incredible, Like he has gotten to the point where he's like a top ninety or eighty player overall for the season. After he did essentially nothing for the first half. He's just been on fire. And then Jared Jones seven innings of two run ball with nine strikeouts against Washington. He looked very very good yesterday, Bubba. Among this group, Peven Smith, Suarez, Jared Jones. Any major thoughts rest of season here on this group.
It's Aojuno Swarz for me, like I had him dead to rise. I know I was on a loan at one point. I'm like Jordan Lawler is about to get called up Cannae dfaid, he's been that bad. And then Lawler gets hurt yet again, and then Aohanio finds the fountain of youth and we thought, okay, it's a couple of weeks. It hasn't stopped. Like the dude just mashing everywhere. And I'm very thankful I grabbed a couple of shares when I could, because it's been beautiful thing to see.
Man.
I wish I did, I wish I did. He has been I mean, the term league winner is thrown around a lot. But if you saw Suarez sitting on your waiver wire and you picked him up right when this was getting going, there's a good chance you're looking pretty good. Right now, and you're still listening to the show because you are still in the hunt. I'm going to the three down Caden Dana Angels, rookie pitcher, not good stuff, five earned runs and seven hits over one inning, Miles Michaelis.
If you thought about streaming him in against the weak Seattle Mariners, your season could be over because of it. Two innings, six run ball with nine hits aloud. He did strike out three for all the good it did you, but not good stuff for Michaelis. And then finally Noelvi Marte over four with three strikeouts.
Buba.
I don't know what to make of Neelvi Marte, but coming off the ped suspension, he's hitting a buck ninety nine, four homer, six tolen bases. Are we He's starting to think that maybe there was some impact of the peds that now he's feeling without it. I mean, I don't want to read too much into it, because he was
such a great prospect from such a young age. I don't think that he was juicing in high school necessarily, But what's the impact there and what does it mean towards your future evaluation of Marte?
It?
I mean, he's not as shiny of a toy as he would have been about a year ago. But are we out on him at this point?
I think he's going to be a very intriguing value next season because I think a lot of people are going to be out on him. I'm going to kind of chalk this one up to a lost season between the suspension and everything else. He's young. I don't think the talent just disappeared.
Now.
Could it have been steroid involved potentially, Like that's definitely an option. But I still think he's a pretty darn good ball player. So I think I'm willing to chalk this one up to it just a lot going on in a young man's head for this season and take the value of it in twenty twenty five.
I think you're probably right.
Yeah, the price is going to be so cheap, especially in the casual home league's ESPN YABU leagues. He might not get drafted a lot of the time last couples. I don't mind taking a chance on him in that ballpark, a year older, et cetera, et cetera. The things could turn around for him, But man, has it been ugly rest of season? Is there any need to roster gonna you think.
No, No, I dropped him in a lot of places already, so I think I think you can wait for twenty twenty five when it comes to Newell of you more two.
That's totally fair.
Let's move on to the injury updates. Finally, finally, Kyle Tucker made his return to the Astros lineup after three months plus being out. I think it was I think it ended up being more than three months. It was like one hundred plus days he missed. He was daching both games over the weekend. Not much to do here other than put him back into your lineups and hope that he can kind of make up for lost time. Not gonna happen all the way, but hopefully he can hit a few home runs and steal a few bases
down the stretch for you. Luis Castillo had to leave his start early on Sunday due to a hamstring injury. He's gonna undergo some testing today, Bubba. What's your early concern level here for Luis Castillo? Is he going into weekly lineups for you?
I think he's going to the IL. That's my weekly concerned So I think it season's done, essentially, if it comes to fantasy and they're just doing the imaging to make sure that it's that kind of situation. But leaving a game hamstring pitcher. We've seen this all season long. It's at least a minimum fifteen days.
Yeah, and at that point, I mean fifteen days from now is the twenty fourth of September, season ends on the.
Till last week in the season ninth, Yeah, it's over.
May at one start. But I mean, yeah, the Mariners, I mean, they're essentially toast at this point. I don't think there's really much of a chance for them. Certainly the division. I think that is pretty much done.
What is it.
They're four and a half back in the wild card they're three and a half, so maybe not fully done, but this is definitely a fatal blow for them if they have to lose a steal for too long. Although pitching is a strength for them, but I don't think this is going to bow too well going forward for the Mariners to alscar Hernandez avoided a serious injury after taking Matt Boyd slider off his foot on Friday. All
scans came back negative, so that is a positive. I saw a couple of questions about him in the chat looks like he's going to be okay. Maybe we get a day off or two, but avoided anything too serious. There something interesting, and we hadn't really mentioned him on this show, but Trevor Story. He came off of the IL over the weekend. He went two for seven in this first couple of games back. What's your interest level with Trevor storre you seeing him on the waiver wire? Are you picking him up?
Very interested? I talked about him with bubb Or Bloom, Bubble and Bloom last week and he was playing really well in rehab. Supposed to come back Friday or Saturday and Max Saturday. It looks good. I'd be very, very intrigued to going forward the rest of the season.
I wonder if we'll ever see Story get back to old Colorado Trevor Story. I kind of doubt it, but that doesn't mean he can't have value in a top five lineup in a real hitters park. Could be a really interesting piece there for you if you are looking for is he just second base eligible at this point or is he shortstop eligible? In a lot of cases, I think he just shortstop on Yahoo, but he did have second base for a while didn't.
He Yeah, I think it's shortstop. Maybe I know he's playing shortstop when he came back. Right now, they've moved us Den Raphael at a second so it should be should be shortstop for sure, Maybe a little second base, depending on your formats.
Yeah, maybe it was when they had Maybe it was when Bogarts was there, he had second base eligibility or something like that.
Maybe him just I'm just caught in a different year at this point.
Let's shortstop. If he shortstopped only on Yaho, it' pretty much where he's going to be everywhere else.
Yeah, probably, Yeah, that's.
Yeah.
Who all you gotta do is, you know, fall over second base and they'll give you second base eligibility. Jeff McNeil is going to miss the remainder of the season. We talked about this last week, everybody getting hit by pitches and injuries coming all over the place. Jeff McNeil fractured rist, so he is done for the season. It's a shame because he'd actually really turned his year around in the second half. He's been a nice play for
deeper leagues, but not looking great for him at this point. Obviously, he's he's done for the year. Gavin Stone also went on the IL. He was scratch from his start that was supposed to happen over the weekend with shoulder inflammation. Not good, Bubba. I guess Gavin Stone is probably in the same boat as Luis Castillo here, likely done for the year.
Yep, you can move on from Gavin Stone. That's for darn sure.
Just looking at the Dodgers IL rotation is actually insane because all the jokes are usually like, okay, you could make you can make a rotation out of who they got on the IL. You could make two rotations out of who they have on the IL glass Now, Gonsolin Kershot, May River, Ryan Emmett, Shean, Gavin Stone, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are all on the injury list.
I don't even know is.
There anything I mean, people have talked about how the Dodgers can be a little reckless maybe or something, and they cause these pitching injuries. I haven't dug into that at all. Is there any truth to that that the Dodgers maybe caused some of these injuries or is that just nonsense?
You think?
I know, Yamamoto coming over from Japan, Kershaw's old glass now from Tampa. There are a lot of those guys that are from their system, though, the Stones, the Sheans, the Ryan's like, there's something there, so I don't. There's probably a little bit yes, a little bit of no. I'm not going to go full accusatory. I think the Rays are more to blame for their issues than the Dodgers aren't for theirs. But there is something to team contact with certain injuries, for sure.
Something I want to dig into.
But in the off season too is usage, not in game usage, but how teams prepare. I think this is like an EEno question probably, but like the behind the scenes strain that goes into pitching development our team, like in terms of how many pitches guys throwing warm ups, how many pitches they throw on off days. I feel like Eno, there's probably an article out there or something, but it's not just the end game stuff that impacts
a pitcher. Obviously, that's the thing that gets the most pressed and we see it, but that's a hundred pitches. The guy's throwing tons of pitches throughout the week, and I wonder how much the actual training part of it actually impacts what.
Happens to pitchers. I don't know.
Again, that's probably a question for Eno or somebody a lot smarter than us, But something I want to dig into over the course of the off season a little bit, a couple of more pitchers, and then we'll move on. Max Scherzer had a great rehab outing. It was for scoreless inning, striking out eight. There was some talking with pulled with a perfect game or something like that. I saw this tweet go out, and it's like, I don't
think Max Shuzer gives a crap. If he throws a perfect game in the minors, it would be a footnote on his resume at best. He could return this week for Texas. At this point, I guess Suresia's going into our lineups right when he comes back, because we don't have a lot of time. But is he though, Like, are you at all concerned about starting Scherzer in his first first time back.
On the mountain.
Nope. If he's good to go, I'm good to go. He could reaggravate it in one pitch. I'm not naive to that. But if he's good enough to pitch, I'm good enough to take the results he's gonna bring with it. So Scherzer will go right back in the lineup.
For me, I think I agree, And the same thing can be sad about Jacob deGrom, who we mentioned last week. Looks like his season debut is coming at some point this week. The Rangers have Arizona and Seattle. I think, based on everything, we would all prefer that comes against Seattle because Arizona has been a great offense. But I mean, it's Jacob Degram, right, if he's facing the twenty seven Yankees, we're probably putting him in our lineups.
I don't think there's any any case where you wouldn't start Jacob Degram right.
There's there's no situation where you'd want to bench him at all.
No that you'd have to have one heck of a pitching staff to not need to start Jacob de Grom at this point in the season. So yeah, the Grom it is for me.
I think there's probably unless it's like like an eight team league, like you said, you just have a loaded staff and you don't need to take the chance, then maybe don't. But I think in most cases here you're pretty safe putting Jacob the ground back into your lineups.
Bubba, it's time where.
We talk about the best bets of the day, again presented by our friends over at bet three six five. Use that promo code, guys, five bucks gets you one hundred and fiftyen bonus bets with that promo code. Leading off, Bubba, what do you have for us today on the betting.
Side, Well, I'm not a big fan small slate, but we're attacking Walker Bueler. Folks. I know there's a question that chat to ask if we are trusting Bueler. I am not. Give me peekrow armstow. I'm over half a run for plus one sixty five odds. Use that one last week and it paid off. It's it runs are tough, but I think there's some offense to be had here. And Cody Bellinger coming back to La over one and
a half total basis at plus one forty five. Would I almost took Cody as my home run call the day, just for fun, and then we'll stick with chicag I could go with the White Sox. Take it on Cantijo of Cleveland, who is horrible seven plus era. Give me lubob over one and a half total basis at plus one twenty five coming off a big Sunday game. So I'll take those three at plus one twenty five or better odds.
I like it. Bubba is the plus money man. I'm Friday. How did you do on Friday, Bubba? I had a bit of a tough Friday.
I think Friday was one and two or so. It wasn't a good Friday. Swept Wednesday. Friday wasn't so great.
Wednesday. We were on fire. Friday.
I think I was one and two as well. So we're getting back on the horse today. And that's why I'm not going too crazy with my picks. I'm going with some favorites and we're starting off with Paul Skins Marlins strikeouts. That's I mean for me, over six and a half for Paul Skins against the Marlins feels very attainable as long as they don't pull any weird crap and pull them after four innings or something like that. I think that this is a pretty easy one minus
one sixty. The books also expected to happen. Look who's in the chat though, Ryan Bloomfield. But but the plus money man, he's gonna have to use that one. So make sure we're tuning into Bubba bubb in the bloom So we can hear Ryan use Bubba's new nickname. My second bet Kyle Hendricks over two and a half earned runs. He's facing the Dodgers, and they said it at two and a half. I would have thought this one. When I went to check, I was like, it's gonna be
a three and a half. It's going to be too high. If Kyle Hendricks doesn't allow three and runs against the Dodgers, then there's something wrong with the Dodgers lineup because he is beyond cook. There's no need for Kyle Hendricks to be pitching at this point. He is simply doing it because the Cubs are desperate for starters. With Justin Steele going down against the Dodgers, I think this is a
very easy one. And then I mentioned him before Tyler McGill, and I mean Ryan is another in the chatt if he's still there, another Ryan, Tyler McGill guy going back for years.
We've been fans of his. But Vlad mcguerrero over.
One and a half total bases at plus money still feels like a very good bet. Vlad has cooled off a little bit over the last couple of weeks, and that's only been a three thirty five batting average, so I think that there's still a very good chance that he is able to get a couple of bases tonight
against Tyler McGill. So just the recap, Paul Skeen's over six and a half breakouts, Kyle Hendricks over two and a half earned runs, Flat Guerrero over one and a half bases, and for Bubba, Peter Armstrong over zero point five runs, Luis Robert over one and a half total bases, and Cody Bellinger also over one and a half total bases. All of those are available with our friends at bet three six five again use that promo code, guys, get
yourself some free goodies. As we enter into the final few weeks of the season, Bubba, one last thing to do before we sign off today, and that is the home run call. And I think you've already kind of hinted at who you're gonna go with today.
Yeah, it was almost belly bombs, but we're going with lou Bob taking Cantillo deep. It's I think it's a big day for lou Bob and the White Sox might actually they've scored seven runs on Sunday. They might do it for the first time. Well, I'm just guessing first time all season and back to back games, it should be a good game for shutdown.
I'm going with my most niche home run call of the season here. People are gonna laugh at me, but I'm going with Danny Jansen, and the reason is because Danny Jansen destroys left handed pitching. It has been a bit tough for him recently. But against k Povic, a guy who has struggled quite a bit throw his first
go around in the big leagues. I know he destroyed the White Sox last week, Bubba and I could probably shut down the White Sox on a given day, So I'm not reading too much into that Kid Povich start. I am thinking Danny Chanson getting back in the line up tonight is going to take one over the Green Monster against kid Povid. So that is my home run call for the day. Bub about any final thoughts here before we sign off, No.
Just good luck to everybody. Saw a lot of Championship week stuff going on in the chat. If you guys have any questions, hit me up on Twitter. I'll try to help you out before your locks and everything. But other than that, no, my friend I'll actually see you in a few hours and we'll do this all over again, different format, same bat time, different bat channel.
If you're not sick of us, then go check us out.
You'll find the links over Twitter at bad Entrick for Bubba, at Joel Rico ninety nine for myself, and we'll be back again on Wednesday. This is a full Joe and Bubba week. Like we mentioned earlier, wels we're supposed to be on, but football commitments week one and everything that does get in the way this time of year, So gonna be a lot of Joe and Bubba going forward. If you guys like what you're hearing, please leave a rating and review on the podcast, subscribe wherever you're listening
to it is on the youtbe side. On the podcast side really helps those numbers to stay steady throughout the offseason, and we aren't going to have Fantasy Baseball content coming at you, whether it's well doing Dynasty stuff. I got a couple ideas. I'm sure, Baba, we'll do some stuff.
There's a lot of stuff that's going to be going on, so make sure you guys are subscribed.
But that will do it, guys. For Casey Bubba. I am Joel Rico. We will see you on Wednesday. Everybody, have yourselves a great day. Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast. If you love the show, the best freeway to support us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, Follow us on x, Instagram, and TikTok at Fantasy Pros, and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash Fantasy Pros MLB