Leading Off September 17th, 2025 (Ep. 1134)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's going on? Everybody. Welcome into Fantasy pros. This is
leading off live the Fantasy Baseball Podcast. I'm your host,
Joe Rico, rejoined by Casey Bubba after a brief hiatus
on Monday. We are going to be bringing you through
some fantasy baseball news and notes, but this one is
going to be a little bit different. I want to
focus in on some pickups over the last week or so.

(00:25):
We're going to talk about some pitching streamers for today
and tomorrow, and we're gonna answer your question. So fill
up the chat. If you got anything on streaming, pickups, drops,
even twenty twenty six draft questions, We'll be happy to
answer them for you. Bubba. Great to be back with you,
my friend.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
How you doing today, Always doing well, Good chatting with
you as usual. Only a few more times, my friend
for the twenty twenty five season. So we'll finish it
hard and give everybody what they need to win their
Fantasy baseball titles. Talk a little baseball, have fun, and yeah,
good to be here.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Good to be here as always. And now I'm thinking
about it. We got today, we got Friday, and then
we got next Wednesday, and I think that'll be Curtin
for us. We got three more shows, and I think.

Speaker 2 (01:02):
We get kicked to the side for Friday. I think,
so yeah, pretty much done.

Speaker 1 (01:06):
So yeah, I'm not sure if I'll be invited for
the Joey p and Well show. I still haven't had
those conversations yet, but we'll see either way. We got
five more shows starting today, Bubba and myself for at
least three of them, and I wanted to mix things
up a little bit and just talk about a couple
of pickup some pitching streamers the next couple of days.
Somebody commented on the video on the previous one, like,
we don't need to talk about headlines this time of year,

(01:28):
And at first I was like, Eh, but you're kind
of right, honestly, you know, going through like how good
of a season Julio Rodriguez had or whatever, it's not
really helping you right now. So let's talk about some pickups.
So we're going to go through some of the most
added players today and just talk about their viability if
you think they're worthy of a pickup. These are just
looking at Yahoo and the players that are getting added
a lot today, and the number one ad for position

(01:49):
players is Mickey Moniac Bubba. He's been really solid. We
talked about him the other day with Ryan. He had
a double combo meal, two homers and two steals. Do
you like his viability here over the final week and
a half of the season. He has flourished in Colorado
this year. Would you be trusting him for the final
ten games or so?

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I'd be trusting him for the rest of this week.
I'll say that much because he does get the Coors experience.
He at home running on Tuesday night, which is always
a plus with that ballpark setup, and the matchups are
great this week. I looking at the pitching planner that
we have, he's got one of the best team setups,
especially this weekend he gets He gets Kyle Hendricks and
Caden Dana over the weekend as the two ridis in

(02:27):
the three matchups there, so you'll love to see that.
And if you even take a peek ahead at next
week's schedule, it's all on the road, but it's five
more ritis and it's a friendly weekn setup against the Giants,
so it's a good run. I'd prefer him this week
and Coors maybe make adjustments next week, but definitely a
guy that you could if you had to hang on
to him next week, wouldn't be the worst thing.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah, I've been pretty impressed by him this year with moniac.
Is this something that you will buy into again next year?
He should be back in Colorado. He's giving you a
twenty and ten type of season. Is this something that
you'll invest in as a starting outfielder in twenty twenty six?

Speaker 2 (03:02):
I'd be interested. I don't know if a starting outfielder.
I had it in a lot of DC's draft and
holds formats just for this reason, like play himing coops,
set him on the road. Life is good in that scenario.
Make sure he's got a bunch of righties to face,
so on and so forth, because he is very dependent
on That is the only downside. But coming into the season,
the same thing I said as as a former number
one overall draft pick for the Philadelphia Phillies, I believe

(03:25):
so the skills are there, just never really came to fruition.
And he's definitely a guy that if you don't draft
him next year, you will stream him throughout the season.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Yeah, you know, even if you're just in a more
shallow format, a standard twelve team league, you're picking him
up for a core series or a cores week that
can be magic, as we've seen this year. I believe
he was traded for Logan o'habi. I think that's what
you are correct. You are correct. I believe that's what
it was. Joe in the chat saying he actually faces
a lefty today. So only three starts out of his

(03:53):
next five games, but all at Coors. So I think,
depending on your options, Mickey Moniac is probably somebody that
still is worth starting. And like he says here as well,
gets five rities next week on the road, so he
kind of got away the pros and cons there on
the road, but also facing right handers. Let's talk a
little south Stewart. He has played twelve games, He's ad
four home runs, he's scored eight times, he's hitting two

(04:15):
seventy five, He's not striking out a lot. South Stewart
seems like a fairly legit asset here for the next
couple of weeks. Now, Cincinnati is going to be back
at home starting tomorrow, and they'll be at home for
about a week and then they'll go back on the
road to Milwaukee. But is South Stewart somebody that you
would be interested in picking up Bubbah just for the
next week while they're at home in Cincinnati.

Speaker 2 (04:36):
One hundred percent. The power profile is legit. Guy didn't
show a ton of swinging miss at the minor league level,
which was great. Playing time was my concern because he
was like playing like seventy percent of the time, which
is still good, but if you're looking for maximizing that
bat's not great. But right now, with Spencer Steeers neck
injury and other situations, he's kind of south. Stewart's forced
his way into the lineup now, making it five straight starts,

(04:58):
which is a plus. The power profile with going back
to Great American, Yeah, this is a guy you definitely
want to have on your roster to finish off the season.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
Yeah. I've been very impressed. Eighteen percent barrel rate, forty
seven percent hard hit rate, the winging strike rate is
only ten percent. He's making good contact chases a little
bit too much, but considering this is his first cup
of coffee, I've been pretty impressed with what we've seen
so far. Oh Man twelve team had to head points.
Someone dropped story. Should I drop Ellie Della Cruz for him?

Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yes, Like Ellie's head to head league.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yes, you're fine with that?

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Yeah, I said, like I said it for a couple
of months now. We talked about once on Bloomoard, then
we talked about him here a couple of weeks ago. Yeah,
Ellie's second half is dramatically horrible, is the nicest way
I could put it. And if you have him been
ahead of your head, you're you're lucky to be in
the semifinals right now. He has one home run, like
over the last two months. He's not still in vases.

(05:54):
He's drowning your team. So what kudos to you for
whatever else you drafted, because Ellie should have been your
top pick and he's crushing you right now.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
So the fact you're there.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Great, drop him pick up story who's absolutely on fire
this season.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Yeah. Honestly, the more I think about it. At first,
when I saw it, I was like, come on, But honestly,
you know what, I don't have a problem with it
as crazy. It's like the Tyler Well Spencer Schrider thing
from a couple of weeks ago. It's like, yeah, Okay,
at this time of year, you'll do some things that
maybe feel crazy, but they aren't really that crazy. My
premium Twitch renewed, and I don't use it for anything but
this show. There's a ton of Fantasy pros content on

(06:29):
the football side, and we will be back doing baseball
content throughout the offseason then heading into twenty twenty six, Favy,
So appreciate the subscription. Really really do appreciate all the
help you guys have given us in our first year
on Twitch. You guys have made it possible for us
to do that, So I really do appreciate the help there.
Let's talk about another guy who's been rather hot, and
he's also among the top pickups of the day, and
that's Caleb Durban. Put together a fairly solid season as

(06:52):
a whole. Here eleven homer, sixteen steals, he's hitting two
sixty four. Is he a viable ad for the next
week or so, Bob? But Milwaukee right now facing the
Angels and then they'll be at Saint Louis over the weekend, I.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
Think, so I guess we'll get Let me preface, If
you need batti and average, you need stolen bases. Yes,
that's the wheelhouse looking for. There's not a lot of
power here, but if he gets on, he's stealing he's
scoring runs. He's actually driving him more than I thought recently,
So yes to your question. Great set of matchups. He
gets to finish off for s Angels like you said
in Saint Louis, like come on, he gets Miles Michelis

(07:25):
on Saturday, and then Lebrator, who, yes, pitched well, but
still there are avenues of success there. Next week's a
tough schedule, but we can approach that when you get there.
For the rest of this week, Durbin is definitely in play.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
I like durban another guy I like. I feel like
I've been butchering his name, and I did it on
the show with Ryan the other day. Dalen Lyle, I
think it's pronounced lyle Man. Has he been good? Man?
Has he ever been good? It's eighty two games as
a whole this year. He's hitting two ninety one, six
homers and eight steals with just a fifteen percent strikeout right,
But he's really picked things up as of late, and
I feel like we are at the point of the

(07:56):
year where this is the type of guy where I
don't really care how much you believe in the long
term prospects. He's hitting today and that's all that really matters.
I'd be picking him up wherever you can. Personally, what
do you think about daylan Lyle Bubba.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Yep, I've been pounding the drum for about three or
four weeks now. I've had many shares of him. I
was actually shocked to see he was still available in
like fifty five nfbcocs this week. It's just baffling when
people just check out for the season. I think I
even wrote him up for the Fantasy pros Fab article
this past Friday because he's so low owned in fantasy
on Yahoo streets. But yes, pick up Daylyle. He's getting

(08:29):
clean up, he's inting for power, speed, he's doing at all,
so yes, please do that.

Speaker 1 (08:33):
Yeah. When I look at him, I don't know that
it's like, oh, I'm going to buy in next year,
blah blah blah. Like he doesn't barrel the ball up
a ton, four and a half percent barrel rate, forty
percent hard hit rate. But the play discipline metrics are
really really encouraging, makes a lot of contact in the zone,
he doesn't swing and miss a lot, he doesn't chase
a lot. So I definitely am interested for the time being.
These guys are hot right. I dropped Saya Suzuki the

(08:54):
other day for Harrison Vader in a very shallow home league,
and at first I was like, this feels wrong. You know,
Isuzuki's been so good all year, but you're playing the
hot hands. You really are playing the hot hands right
now in Lyle is maybe the hottest among them that
you're gonna find on a lot of waiver wires. One
more position player I wanted to mention, and that's Cody Clemens,
the son of the Rocket of Roger Clemens, who's been
pretty solid as a utility guy for Minnesota this year.

(09:17):
Nineteen home runs, three stolen bases. He's not hitting for
of it, particularly high batting average, but he's eligible all
over the place and he's been pretty good as of late, Bubba, So,
any interest in picking up Cody Clemens here if you
just need kind of a utility bat for the weekend.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
If you need a utility bat, if you don't need
batting average like you mentioned, Sure, yes, and he's got
Alrighty's on. Well, he's got six rities next week, which
is huge. Flipping back to this week's schedule, he gets
a couple lefties to Saturday and Sunday. He might not
play both of those, so that'd be the only concern
because he pretty much sits first lefties. But yes, viable
all over the diamond. He's streaky and he's streaking well

(09:52):
right now, so if you need something like that, then
he's not a bad play.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
I just want to remind you Gains before we keep going,
that we are giving away the Billy Wagners Sign baseball
courtesy of our friends over at Pristine Auction dot com.
All you have to do to enter is subscribe to
the Fantasy Pro MLB YouTube channel right now, drop a
comment below on any video, and that's it. Will be
announced in one lucky winner right here on the channel,
So make sure to turn on those notifications so you
know when new videos are up. To claim your prize.

(10:16):
We gave away the jersey, but we still have that
Billy Wagner signed baseball for you guys to get your
hands on. Let's take a couple of questions here from
Joe need to drop one Beata or Viento's I can't
drop Beta right now? Leading off for that hot Phillies lineup.
Ventos has been impressive in the second half and he's
turned his year round, but I think Viento's has to
be the drop here.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Still, Bubba agreed, as Beater's leading off nuclear hot like
Vento's is good, still sits from time to time. Baiter
is the dude. I'd hope you'd have other options to drop.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
Yeah, that's the thing, right. I think if you're talking
about you know, twelve, I mean twelve team league. If
that's your worst option, you're doing pretty well, Joe.

Speaker 2 (10:52):
I think it's take exactly, So I hope there's other options.
Otherwise you're fine.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
You're looking pretty if that's your worst option. A question
about James Wood, what's up with James Wood? Fatigue? Just
going through the motions with the Nats in the second half.
I don't know what's going on with James Wood. I
think part of it is just adjusting to the big leagues, right,
Like he had a monster's first half. He was really
good at last season. But in the second half this year,
fifty three games, it's three homers, it's three steals, he's

(11:18):
hitting two to fourteen. The league adjusted to him and
he has to kind of adjust back. Is the simplest
way I think you can put it. The sophomore slump
et cetera. I think he's gonna be fine at the
end of the day. But he's essentially now, you know,
right where he was in draft season in terms of
total value, He's like around the sixtieth player overall. It's
kind of where he was getting drafted. So he's essentially
broken even. But what are your thoughts on James Wood, Bubba,

(11:40):
Is this is going to make you kind of nervous
to draft him next year with a second or third
round pick, or will you be all in?

Speaker 2 (11:46):
I'll still be back in on James Wood. The profile
of the skills are deniabile. He's super young. I agree
with a lot of what you said. I also think
or I wouldn't be surprised if we find out he's
been battling some injury for like the second half of
the season. It just seems so odd to drop off
that much. Yeah, there are the adjustments to your point,
and there's a lot to be said about those that
does happen. It's just it's a dramatic drop, which is

(12:07):
pretty interesting. So I'm still interested for next year. To
your original question, and it sucks, Yeah, he's not Eli
Dela the cruising your team, But it's pretty close.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Yeah, I mean he's just been like pretty terrible. Honestly, Like,
if James Would or PCA, you think which one would
you have more confidence in for next season?

Speaker 3 (12:25):
Still James Wood.

Speaker 2 (12:26):
He has a better I guess skills profile when it
comes to quality of contact. So I'd go with a
plate discipline I saw I'd go with James would in
that one.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
I think I would too. I think I would too.
PCA starting to get hot again right in time for
people to buy in. But it's close. I think I
think they'll be pretty close in terms of like their
ADP where they get drafted in a lot of rooms.
But that'll be a fun one to follow over the
final kind of find a couple of weeks here if
I can find my words, and then into the off season. Hey, guys,
second to last week in my draft and hold barely

(12:58):
hanging on to the number one spot going into fun week.
I asked last week, still see song between Lewis for
at Cleveland and Torque three Home atl from my CI
this weekend. It's got to be Royce Lewis for me.
With the way he's been playing the extra game, I
think it's got to be Lewis.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
There got to be Lewis the extra Game's got those
two lefties over the weekend, and if you're not drafting Hold,
it is all about maximizing that bats.

Speaker 3 (13:19):
So yeah, take on your Royce Lewis this weekend.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
What do you think about Royce Lewis, Bob, with what
we've seen this year between the injuries and not only
just the injuries now, but kind of the subpar season.
I know he's turned things around recently, but it's an
eighty five WRC plus twelve hovers. What do you think
the long term outlook is for Royce Lewis Because people
were expecting him to be a superstar even just a
year ago. What are your expectations going forward as of now?

Speaker 2 (13:42):
I still love the profile, like a humongous fan of
Royce Lewis. I think we're at the point that is
he injury prone? Is a legit question with Royce Lewis.
That's an annoying question. But at the same time, does
that mean his ADP drop down? Like does he get
the g and cardial treatment, Like now we're drafting them
in the eighth or ninth round. And if that is

(14:03):
the case at a third base position, that's sketch interesting
because it's one of those deals. If he even plays
one hundred and one hundred and fifteen games, he probably
pays off that draft price. So I like Royce Lewis,
it's it's all about injury management, mitigation, whatever you want
to call it. That's the hardest part.

Speaker 1 (14:21):
He's the younger version of Corey Seeger. I think you
were trending that way. You get one hundred and twenty games,
you're good. But if not, then it's tough, right.

Speaker 3 (14:28):
It's fair, it's good, good comp unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
Was the first one off the top of my head,
and also kind of like Mike Trout or Buxton. But
I feel like he's Corey Seeger right now.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
Yep, that's fair.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
It's like a couple of starting pitching streamers. If you're
listening on the podcast feed, it'll be a little bit trickier.
This is more for the live crowd. But I just
want to talk about who people are picking up for
Wednesday and who are people picking up for Thursday. So
the first option in terms of the widely available name,
still he probably shouldn't be widely available. But Tyler wells
against the White Sox. But but He's looked very good,
but the White Sox also have been hitting the ball

(15:00):
a lot better as of late. Kyle Teal has been,
you know, tugging at the hard strings for me for
a while. Would you be willing to start Tyler Wells here.
Let's say it's a finals matchup. Would you risk that
with Tyler Wells?

Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, I'm all in on Tyler Wells. He was one
of my top strings for the week. If you're doing
weekly leagues, I think he and I agree with the
White Sox. I've been like pumping them up for a
while now, Like you know, you got your Teal, your Vargas,
your Clinton. So says your Montgomery. He's like, this is
a young core that could be pretty fun to watch
for a while. And they're swinging it well, but they
still swinging miss a lot. And that's what Tyler Wells

(15:32):
can do really good for the ratios. In his first
two outings to the walks are low, the strikeouts are high.
Probably goes five innings, hopefully six. That's the kicker. Does
he go deep enough? But we saw what Kyle Bradish
did on Monday, absolutely crushed him and get nine gays
or something against the White Sox I have a lot
of similarities doing Wells and Bradish. I think Wells is
one of the better streams this week. It's baseball. Anything

(15:53):
can happen, but on paper we rock and roll.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Any can happen. Michael Walker, Mike you up seven runs
for you and you just can't do it anything about it.
Sometimes those ones just really do bite you in the rear.
Brady Singer is the next guy wanted to bring up
because he's facing Saint Louis. Brady Singer quietly has been
very good in the second half, one or two stinkers,
but overall a very good line. And he gets to
face Saint Louis, who is a bismal If you look
over the last three weeks, roughly three weeks, Saint Louis

(16:18):
is arguably the worst offense in baseball outside of the Rockies.
So I'm willing to stream Brady Singer here where he's
still available in those shall shallow formats.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
But but what about you, Yes, Brady Singer, locked and loaded.
Dude's been an absolute beast on the mount and honestly
doesn't feel like he gets the love he deserves. If
we're just talking, just like recent performances. To your point,
he's been great. Over his last six starts. He's allowed
three hundreds of less and every six quality starts in
a row, six in a row, he's got six innings.

(16:47):
Every single time he gets a two ERA like a
three four Sierra, which is fine, but more impressively with
Brady Singer, a guy that everybody used to say all
he pitches the contact, he's.

Speaker 3 (16:55):
A groundball guy.

Speaker 2 (16:57):
Thirty six strikeouts to nine walks in those thirty six innings,
Joe for almost twenty percent katea walk, which is great. Now,
there could be a regression coming. Babbit's very low, but man,
you ride this one out. Great matchup against a Cardinals team,
Joe that is one of the worst hitting teams in
baseball over the last month for his righties. Like they're
behind obviously the Guardians, but they're they're down the list
for sure.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
So we've been piling on to producer Sath recently, who's
a Cardinals fan. Every time we talking to the Cardinals,
it's just like, oh, yeah, they're terrible, They're terrible. Apologies, Seth.
I shout out to Seth and the Cali who've done
a great job producing the show behind the scenes this year.
Haven't given them enough love personally, but they've they've been fantastic.
Give them some love in the chat if you can.
Let's talk a little bit about actually before that. I

(17:38):
well with Brady Singer. You know, the ground ball rate,
Like you mentioned earlier, there's always been a thing with
him around fifty percent. If I told you his ground
ball rate was going to go down into the thirties
this year, and he'd still give up fewer homers than
he normally does going to Great American Ballpark, I think
you would have been shocked by it. But he's he's
been great. He really has been great. I'm using them
right now in a couple formats and will continue to

(17:58):
do so for the of the season. Let's talk Ryan
weathers this one. The only reason that gives me a
little bit of pause is because it's at Cores Field again,
same situation people are in, like head to head finals
right now, the season's on the line. Is Ryan Weather's
worth that risk at Cores?

Speaker 2 (18:13):
Yeah, he's back. You picked him up for a reason.
When healthy, he's one of the better pitchers in baseball.
He looked great in his return. He saw Uri Perez
dominate on Tuesday Night out of nowhere. That was bizarre world.
Now the Rockies are hitting better versus less, like surprisingly
good vers Lefties over the last month. I still throw
if I have weathers, I'm throwing weathers and we're seeing
how it goes.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
Now here's what I want to bring up because I'm
somebody in my Patreon chap mentioned it like a few
weeks ago, and I was completely wrong on this. They
said should I pick up Justin Verlander? And I said,
come on, what like, come on, you don't want to
do this, You don't want to do this to yourself
heading into the Fantasy playoffs. And my sincere apologies because
if you did pick up Justin Verlander, he's been brilliant
for the last four starts six innings tour and runs,
five innings clean, six innings clean, seven innings won and

(18:54):
run facing teams like the Dodgers, the Orioles, the Cobs.
It's not just the terrible terrible teams in here. So
with that being said, is Justin Verlander worth starting for
you today as he faces the Diamondbacks in Arizona?

Speaker 2 (19:07):
Yeah, you're rolling it out there, like you said, I
I clowned on Verlander earlier in the season. I've done
a one eighty over like the last month or so,
because if you want to go deeper back to July
twenty thirty. Has made ten starts. Two of the starts
he's allowed eleven earned runs. The other eight starts he's
allowed four and runs combined. That is outstanding. How well
he's gone. He's gone fifty seven k's and fifty five

(19:27):
and a third. He's been great. The back's going be pesky.
I totally get that. It's a not the most warm
and fuzzy situation there, but love Verlander for this and
if you're trying to plan ahead for next week, he
has a two step and it's a very nice two step.
Finishing with Colorado in San Francisco on Sunday. I believe
it's the Cardinals to start the week, sorry Seth. So
it's a really good one two punch for Verlander when

(19:49):
we don't know who's actually going to pitch those starts. Verlander,
of all pitchers, should pitch both those starts. There's really
no reason not to have him pitched those starts so yesterday,
love him for next week as well.

Speaker 1 (20:00):
It's crazy. I can't believe we're here. I thought he
was totally finished. I thought he was done started out
the year that way.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
Man, I watched it every fifth day. It's brutal.

Speaker 1 (20:10):
He's come back from being a meme and just something
that you make fun of Ben Verlander for to like, Oh, well,
he might help me win a Fantasy championship this season.
So good on Verlander. Probably, so we'll still make fun
of Ben Verlander, no questions about it. That's it for today.
I think those are the most viable options today, but
there's four of them. Tomorrow is a little bit more
on the thin side. I want to ask you about

(20:31):
Colin Ray. Uh, I always make it. I forget if
it's Colin Ray or Colin Ray. I think it's Ray.
But do you have any you know if it's Ray
or Ray?

Speaker 2 (20:39):
Actually, first I've said I've said Ray forever, so I'm
just gonna stick with it. I'm good at mispronouncing names,
but I least I'm consistent when I do it.

Speaker 3 (20:47):
So we're going with Ray now.

Speaker 1 (20:49):
The question is are you going with him as he
faces it is Cincinnati? I believe at Great American Ballpark
tomorrow would be willing to use him. He's a four
twenty three ERA one thirty one whip for the year.
Nothing terribly impressive, But in a pinch as a streamer,
would you be willing to Nope?

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Nope, nope, nope.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
I know the Reds offense hasn't been like a world beater,
but put him in that ballpark, a guy that pitches
to a lot of contact. I am not taking those
chances this time of the year.

Speaker 1 (21:15):
I think that's probably fair. What about Stephen Colak, He's
facing a team that is red hot in Seattle, who
has been great. But the last four starts for Stephen
Coolek have all been two ear and runs or fewer,
where he's gone at least six innings. So what do
you think.

Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, I actually streamed him last week and I got
away with it. He's been very good. I am not
putting up against the red hot Mariners. Their team is
just insanely hot. Not to mention Kolak, another guy that
pitches a lot of contact, So I just don't want
to run into that road.

Speaker 1 (21:42):
I think that's fair too. I think that's fair. The
last one I want to ask you about here is
Sandy L. Contra, who has been mostly dependable in the
second half but also in August there was a five
in run game and a sixer in ren game. Two
starts ago was four earned runs. The strikeouts have been better,
but he's not. I don't know if he's all the
way back to being Sandy yet, he's most of the
way back. But course field fantasy playoff season, are you

(22:06):
risking it?

Speaker 3 (22:07):
Yeah? I am. I like what we've seen from Sandy.

Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yes, it's not one hundred percent every time out there
for him, but we're seeing nice velosity. We're seeing the
swinging Smiths swinging and miss come back the last couple
of weeks. If you're gonna pick on anybody, it's Colorado.
Like I said, Uri pres out of freaking nowhere on
Tuesday Night. I'll take my chances with Sandy again. It's
the preface all the time, and anything can happen in baseball,
but love the matchup.

Speaker 3 (22:30):
I'm gonna roll with it.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
Big Dance is asking Sandy or Yuri for the last
couple of weeks. Sandy has at Colorado and then at Philly,
Uri is at Texas and then versus the mets O.

Speaker 2 (22:44):
I'm gonna go with Sandy just because I don't trust
Uri at all. He had that great start there, but
I don't trust Yuri Prez. I think he's he's either
tired or still hurt.

Speaker 1 (22:53):
Or he's kind of like it's kind of like where
Sandy was a few months ago, where he's still he's back,
but he's not really back, you know, he's not quite ready.
Next year, I feel like here he is going to
be somebody that I'm interested in, you know, another year
removed from the injury. By trusting him right now. I mean,
if you use him yesterday, you're very happy. But right now,
I think it's a little bit of a dicey proposition
to trust Yari Perez heading into the Fantasy playoffs. But guys,

(23:15):
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Speaker 1 (24:26):
All right, guys, let's keep it going. We have a
couple of more questions in the chat. Here are we
starting Cole Reagan's today in a points league? We're going
to talk about him a little bit later, might as
well do it right now. Cole Reagan's making his return.
He is facing the Mariners, and the Mariners have been,
like we mentioned earlier, very very good. But if you're
beholding Cole Reagan's all year long, I'd argue what were
you holding him for if not to start him when

(24:47):
he's back. So I'm starting him, But bub, what do
you think?

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, to your last point, I cat's run kind of
aval like if you held them this long, you're starting him.
You might only get one more start with them now
to points league, So I don't know if he'll qualify
it for a winner quality start. I don't know what
they're going to do with them there, but the strikeouts
were there in the rehab. Hopefully they'll be there today
and you don't get bamboozled by a very good maners offense.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Definitely a chance at it now, if everything stays the
way it's lined up. Looking at the projected starter's grid,
I'm looking at he'd pitch today, he'd pitch on Tuesday
against the Angels, which you'd like a lot, and he's
scheduled to pitch the last game of the season against
the Athletics in Sacramento. So potentially three Cole Reagan starts.
I don't know how excited to anybody would be about
starting him in Sacramento right now, but you know it's

(25:33):
three starts, right How many guys are getting three starts
wrestled the way, let alone a guy with ace upside
like Reagan. So I think it's definitely something interesting to
keep an eye on if you are looking for a
pitcher and he's out there, he might be if you're
playing in a shallower league. I went from Kaisa Treks
to hard rock, but a season of growth. Yes, absolutely,
the Kaisa Treks ad reads. You know, I'm just upset
that they got rid of them before it was my
time to take over as the host because I was

(25:54):
really looking forward to doing some I.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Was looking forward to you reading those two.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
I did not get as lucky did I do one
Maybe earlier in the year now, because when I filled
in earlier it was either with Joe or Welsh and
they were the number one in the host chare, so
I would not have had to do that. Unfortunately. Hopefully
somewhere in the future we can talk about Kaisatres again.
But we've given them enough free air time. Let's talk
about the three up and three down Dominic Canzone with
a holy crap type of game yesterday, three homers, four runs,

(26:20):
four means it's kind of a shame, you know, selfishly,
you hit three home runs, you're thinking maybe he'd drive
in more than just four. But you can take what
you get here. I mean, I can't complain about a
three homer game. Seventy two games for him, ten homers.
He's hitting three h four with a one forty three
WRC plus really interesting stuff twelve percent barrel rate, forty
eight percent hard hit rate. Is this a guy that

(26:41):
could potentially one day be a really good player, Bubbo?
Or is this maybe just a small sample sized fodder.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
I'm kind of I'm stuck in the middle on Canzone.
Like the numbers you read off or outstanding? He seems
so like blow though before yesterday it's seven home runs
like you're like, Okay, that's fine, but that's a you
could stream that easy on a waiver wire unless you
play in a WRC plus league. It's really kind of
like a it's cool, Like the bag average is good.
He's probably more fifteen team fodder than twelve team, but

(27:10):
he's young and maybe, like you know, the reps are
gonna prove to be valuable at some time. I'm just
I have a tough time with him because I just
I don't believe it all just yet.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
Seeing some news in the chat. I don't know if
this has been confirmed, but Wilson Contrera's has been declared
out for the season.

Speaker 2 (27:28):
Oh, he's going on the He's going on the IL
with the biceps injury he left. He left Tuesday's game
after getting hit by a pitch on Monday.

Speaker 3 (27:35):
Being banged up.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
Left Tuesday, and it pretty much felt like that they're
gonna shut him down for the year.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
So he's gonna hit the IEL.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
Like. I don't know if they made the IL official,
but the rumors are swirling this morning he's going to
the IL, which would guess into his season.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
As of fifty five minutes ago, they put him on
the IL. So that closes the book on Wilson Contreras
ever going in the catcher spot again for fantasy baseball.
Get the sad thank you for your service the last year.
Here twenty homers, seventy runs, eighty Ribby's five steals with
a two fifty seven. What beautiful, beautiful way to send
him off. Now, who we were placing him with, Drake Baldwin,

(28:10):
Samuel Bisaio. I like both, Bubba, you're the catcher guy.
I'll defer to you here.

Speaker 2 (28:16):
I'm gonnao has this really good? Baldwin started to hit again.
It's been a dire situation there. I'm gonna go Bisio.
But both are very solid. If if you're in a
waiver format, put bids in on both and see which
what he landed with.

Speaker 1 (28:28):
Yeah, if they move him an off seasonal Herrera actually
catch next year. So I don't think Wilson factors into
the catching anymore. Herrera didn't catch down the stretch because
they were working him back from an injury. Opening Day
twenty twenty six, Horreras behind the plate, No, Bubba, do
you think so?

Speaker 3 (28:44):
Yes? And no?

Speaker 2 (28:45):
There he's working his way back for injury. That was
the key coveat here, but he wasn't playing a ton
to begin with because his defense sucks. That was the
thing is, like Pie has, his defense is better. They
had other options that had better defense, and as the
Cardinals way. The Cardinals prefer let's win three to two
with great defense and good pitching. That's how they've been
for I'm not knocking the Giants. That's their philosophy as well,
So I get it. It's worked very well for the

(29:07):
Cardinals for years. It'd be great if Freyr was buying
the plate more for all of our needs because right
now that util only just crushes his fantasy value in season.

Speaker 1 (29:16):
Next year, even if you take him util only, he'll
need ten games in season on NFBC. And that should
happen at some point, that's.

Speaker 2 (29:24):
All for sure. It's just a matter. It's much more
when not if that happens. Yes, Like so again, people
probably hate this discussion. I love him in Draft Champions
because his ADP should in theory tho, there's a lot
of smart players and all be on the same page
that ADP should fall, and if it does, you can
stash it basically have an extra catchery down the stretch.

Speaker 1 (29:44):
So yes, now, if you are playing on I believe
Yahoo ESPN. A couple other sides. He played fourteen games
behind the dish, so some of them he'll still qualify. Yeah, well,
the Yahoo you trip over home play your catcher eligible player, Brandon.

Speaker 2 (29:59):
Low This is a catcher, Yeah, friend, Ralva as I
mean as a catcher.

Speaker 3 (30:05):
Or I can't even talk right now.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
Got he'll get easy for you to say, Bubba, We'll
get there. Brandon Lao two for five yesterday with a
home run and he drove in four. Really good stuff
from him. For the season as a whole, Brandon allow
has been very solid. And then Freddy parol to another
great start six innings, two hits, one earned run with
ten strikeouts. A great season from Freddy parral to where

(30:28):
he's really really been under it. I mean he was
underrated heading into the year. Maybe he's gotten his fair
praise during the season, but man, he's been great. On
the down. Paul Skians had a stinker three and two thirds,
seven hits, three earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts.
Is there any chance that he's maybe running out of
steam a little bit here? You think, Bubba, is that
could that be the reason for this?

Speaker 2 (30:49):
Maybe he's just having a bad start. Like pitchers have
bad starts, they can't be perfect. Twenty four to seven,
even elite Pedro, he still had an e are of two,
like two to two, So there was a couple of
rough outings out there.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
I'm not too worried about it. It's also you.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Know, do you want to pitch in Pittsburgh in September?
Like what are we playing for right now? We're just
kind of going through the motions anyways, so that it's true.

Speaker 1 (31:10):
One more start for him, it looks like, which will
come at Cincinnati at Great American Ballpark against Hunter Green,
which should be interesting. I think that'll be next next Wednesday,
if the schedule sticks to what it looks like right now.
James Wood, who we already talked about earlier, oh for
five with a golden sombrero, just miserable. And then Michael
King three innings, ten hits, eight earned runs. I mean,
I'm facing him in my head to head finals, so

(31:32):
I like it from that perspective, but I don't like
it from a Michael King health perspective. His next start
is against the White Sox and then after that versus Arizona.
Would you be willing to start him after what we
saw last night.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
Uh No, it was a combination.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
It was a combination of I think they just left
him out there to get his pitch count up and
it didn't work obviously, to a combination of I don't
know how healthy is Joe. I really don't, because it's
been such a weird year. It seems like he's continually
working back from something.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
I'm just out. I'll be back in next year, probably,
but I'm out right now.

Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yeah, I think that's fair. I think that's totally fair.
Like we mentioned the White Sox sor no slouch right now,
and Arizona can get to you in any given night
as well. So I think it's probably better to just
maybe honestly drop Michael King and let somebody else worry
about picking him up and seeing, Oh, Michael King's on
the water, Like, I don't think that he is worth
it at this point, Let's get to the sad news though.
The injury report Boba Schette will not return before the

(32:27):
end of the regular season due to his knee injury.
Thank you, Austin Wells. Not happy about that one, but
we'll take what we got from bow. It was a
great season. He was on pace to lead the league
in hinds, potentially in the batting title. You take what
you've gotten from him. I think he's finishing up as
the number seven short stop, So we'll chalk that up
as a w. We'll chalk this one up as a
huge l. Jordan Alvarez dealing with the significant ankle sprain.

(32:48):
And if you guys saw this one, he just did
his You know, everybody's done it, They've twisted their ankle,
taken a wrong step, but Jordan Alvarez, it seems like
this guy every other step he takes is a wrong step.

Speaker 3 (32:56):
Bubba.

Speaker 1 (32:57):
I'm at the point where unless he's like a fourth
or fifth rounder, I don't want to next year.

Speaker 3 (33:00):
What about you.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah, he's been off my board for a couple of
years and people have argued with me that I'm crazy,
and I get it, But this is why I got
Just like if you look at his look at his
fangrass page or whatever site you want to use. The
just overall production. We we've read it off before. It's
not what you want from a number one first round pick.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
Yeah, I mean, on a per game basis, he's one
of the best hitters in baseball without a doubt, But
when you're potentially playing forty games in the season, is
it worth it?

Speaker 3 (33:27):
Right?

Speaker 1 (33:27):
If he's in the fourth or fifth round, I think
that would have to be it for me, right, I
think about it in the third maybe, but he's he's
got a fall like you need production in the early rounds.
You said it, We've all said it. You can't be
getting two hundred at bats out of your first round pick.
Zach Netto was placed on the aisle with a handstrain,
which should effectively end his season. But a very impressive
season for zach Netto after missing the first part of

(33:48):
the year, He's been unbelievable. Jordan Westbury activated from the
EL on Tuesday, and Cole Reagan's like we mentioned, we'll
return to the Royals rotation against the Mariners. Any chance
Kurts doesn't win Rookie of the Year, no, Kurtz, I.

Speaker 2 (34:03):
Think Kurt's winning. If Kurt doesn't win Rookie of the Year,
I won't eat for three months.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
I mean, Nick Kurtz is having a season that is
a historic rookie season. We've seen, We've seen great rookie
years before, but Nick Kurtz. If you're like, you know,
he's not on qualified leader boards, so you have to
kind of mess around with the playing time filters, the
highest WRC plus and baseball all encompassing offensive number. How
what is your offensive output this year? Aaron Judge is

(34:30):
number one. Nick Kurtz is number two, ahead of show
Hey Springer, Raley schwar Borsto. He's been unbelievable, thirty two homers,
eighty runs, eighty ribbies. If he doesn't win Rookie of
the Year, then I will fly to the league office
and I will protest myself.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
But it's we have a bet.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
We have a better chance of Nick Kurts winning Rookie
of the Year than Ken Rosenthal apologizing to his cameraman.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
Dude, he's such a donkey. Oh my god, that look
that that It wasn't even just the knocking the guy over.
You're not gonna go the guy over. If you pick
a guy up a you knock him over. It was
the the look of disgust he gave, why were you
in my way? Oh my god? That was that was awful.
And then he tried to do like a half an apology.
But it's like, come on, Ken, like that was that
was really awful, single handle. He took me to my

(35:14):
championship and made up for drafting Ellie. That's how you
do it. You know, you compensated by picking by sicking answer.
One of the best rookie seasons, really ever, Mike Petriello
wrote about it recently. Really one of the best rookie
seasons we're ever gonna see. But let's get to our
favorite part of the show, and that is the best
bets of the day. Bubba, looks like you're sticking on

(35:34):
brand here mostly, but you've mixed it up and you
also have a strikeout over by the looks of it.
So let's hear it.

Speaker 3 (35:40):
Yeah, we're gonna go with matt Olson.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
He faces the good Lord Brad Lord on on Wednesday. Here,
Mattles has been streaking really really hot. He's Homer and
almost every other day it feels like I'll think my
chances on that one in Washington over three hits runs
and RBIs for plus one thirty. Trent Grisham is doing
his thing, hit an absolute bomb off of Debbie Matthews.
On Tuesday, leading off for the Yanks, they face TODs Bradley,

(36:03):
who I still don't believe is fixed. So over three
hits runs and RBIs for leadoff hitter for the Yanks,
and plus one forty and then I'm going into Coors
I'm taking it on because I was shocked to see
this number.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
Ryan Weathers.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
I understand pitch count all that stuff. He was allowed
to have eighty five pitches his last start, so it
feels like he should be rather stretched out. So over
five strikeouts and Coors Field, the plus one fifty five
sounds like a bet worth taking.

Speaker 1 (36:26):
In my mind, I think absolutely at that line, plus
one fifty five, that's gold. Jerry, that is gold. Let's
get to mine. Start with hayges a Zardo. This one
might look a little weird taking an under bet on
Hazes Zardo, but the Dodgers really aren't striking out a ton.
If you look over the last few weeks there below
twenty percent strikeout rate. Lozardo, He's kind of a wild card.

(36:46):
You never never really know what you're going to get
out of him, so getting the under five and a
half might feel a little bit risky, but at plus
one thirty it is a bet that I'm willing to take.
I'm taking the Padres straight up on the money line
Nick Paveta versus David Peterson, who hasn't really been as
good in the second half, and the Mets have been
I know, they've won their last two games with the
Mets have kind of been in free fall mode. So
just taking the Padres there with a pure money line,

(37:06):
and then Mariner's Royals over eight and a half runs.
We've talked about how it's Cole Reagan's first start back.
Never really know what you're gonna get, But on the
other side of that, you especially don't know what you're
gonna get because it's Bryce Miller, who has been also
pretty poor as a whole this season. So over eight
and a half minus one ten slight bit of juice there,
but we will take it and make sure you guys
are checking out the prop bet sheet sheet if you
are looking for some help with placing your bets. It

(37:28):
will help highlight new markets for you, the best bets
across different books. Makes everything easy for you over on
our sister's site at Betting Pros. But but that will
take us to the home run call segment of the show.
I'm personally going with your guy Augustin Ramirez today in
course field and he's facing mcaid brown. We'll get to

(37:48):
my apology self. We'll get to the home run board
in a second. I'm a poor host today, Bubba. Let's
see your home run call.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Yeah, I'm gonna stick with Matt Olsen here. I talked
about him for his prop bet. I love the power
he's been showcased. He's heating up good hating environment in Washington,
great Titian environment in the pitching machine called Brad Lord.

Speaker 3 (38:05):
So yeah, give me.

Speaker 1 (38:06):
Medals, Paul of yourself. Let's throw the home run board
back up for a quick second here. Sixty two for Whips,
sixty for Positive Grouch, fifty nine for George, fifty nine
for Bees, and fifty nine for the Fisher King. Really
really tight stuff. I mean, if anybody has like a
two or three home run game at this point, that
could really sway things. Whips is starting to creak away here.

(38:28):
If I mean, if Whips gets a two or three
home run game, that might be curtains on the SAMI
Socid Jersey. But we still have I think twelve or
so games left for these teams, So make sure you
guys are getting your picks in there. On the fantasy
pros discord. It looks like our last question for the
show is we'll Tray Savage pitch again this week. I
think he will pitch on the weekend against the Royals
in Kansas City. That's what things are lining up to be.

(38:50):
Toronto has been a little bit unpredictable. I wouldn't have
thought that he'd even be in the rotation at all.
This is historically not something Toronto has ever done. A
guy in Lauer who is doing route well, you take
them out of the rotation. You bring up a rookie
like this. It's very uncharacteristic, so they could potentially move
some parts around. But you Savage, I believe we'll be
getting the start this weekend in Kansas City. But regardless,
he is worth holding on to. Even if they happen

(39:11):
to move him back or something and you keep he'll
still get at least one more start before the end
of the season. And based on what we saw in
that first one, I think you are definitely gonna want
to have that in your lineup, Bubba. That will do it,
my friend. We're t minus three shows down. We're now
down to two for the fantasy baseball season. Great getting
to talk with you again, my friend.

Speaker 2 (39:30):
Always a pleasure to look forward to chatting to get
on Friday and seeing what interesting you know, situations have
developed in the world of baseball up till then.

Speaker 1 (39:38):
Two days in the baseball world is a lifetime. But
we'll be here breaking it all down for you talk
and some headlines and we'll continue to do. If you
guys liked what you saw in terms of the streaming
and stuff like that, let me know in the comments.
We can continue to talk about some pitching streamers, some
hot hit or pickups. But yeah, leave your comments below.
You can get a chance to win that sign Billy
Wagner Baseball and leave your subscriptions and everything on the channel,
comment like subscribe, do all that that great stuff to

(40:00):
help us fend off the football crowd this time of year,
help out the little brother, which is Fantasy baseball. Guys
that will do it for us. I'm Joe Rico joined
by Casey Bubba. We will talk to you again next
time right here on Fantasy Pros. Take care everybody.

Speaker 5 (40:13):
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

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