The Cycle: Top Pickups and Streamers For Fantasy Playoffs (Ep. 1132)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, everybody, Welcome back into another episode of the cycle.
I am your host, Mike Maher. I am joined once
again by Kelly Kirby, and this is actually going to
be our last episode of the season, at least in
terms of the in season content. We're going to come
back in a few weeks and do kind of a
season recap look ahead to twenty twenty six, but with

(00:27):
everyone in head to head leagues or not everyone, most
people in head to head leagues having their championships next week,
and if you don't, and if you're playing that final
week as your championship week, you need to talk to
your commissioner and fix that because no one should be
playing in final week in any league. And so we're here,
we're going to close things out. We're going to talk
about start, sit and decisions for the final week plus

(00:48):
of the season. If you're obviously, if you're in roto,
that last week still matters, but we're gonna be hyper
focused on next week and try to close things out
and get you guys a championship. And with that, Kelly,
how are you doing today?

Speaker 2 (01:03):
I'm doing pretty well. I'm a commissioner in a home
league that goes all the way through the last week,
and I tried to change it, and it was like
I had asked to change a holy tradition that could
not possibly go away. And I'm like, okay, well, if
you all want, if you all want to figure out
that mess, like you know, knock yourself out, and they do.
It's it's kind of crazy.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
So I hate that. I hate that you would play
like a whole season and then have to start, you know,
oh Tani sitting three times the final week, you just
lose your championship and you're like, awesome, this was a
great use of my time for six months. Yeah, that's brutal. Obviously,
in rodo you play the whole season even if it
gets waggy at the end, you know, you have so

(01:42):
much built up it doesn't really matter. But yeah, you
should change that. You should just do it anyway and
don't tell anyone. Yeah, or you should just like our
company league, just end the year and met exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Like four weeks is a good sample size, let's call
it good.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, exactly. And I will say we're going to get
into some starts to decisions. I tried to pick some
interesting names that you know, either players who are definitely
on your team, or players who may be on your
ir or who you know could be available in certain leagues,
and just kind of talk about whether or not you
want to start them in the final week. But I
will also say, obviously, there are a bunch of you

(02:18):
out there with your own lineups, with your own specific players,
with your own specific start sit questions, and so toss
them in the comments and we'll reply, you know, over
the weekend and help you out, because you know, we
don't have enough time to go through everyone's potential lineup
because there are like three hundred players. All right with that,
let's jump right in. Oh, I should also say bad

(02:40):
hosting by my job, by me, I keep starting a stopping,
But this is going to be a different episode. I
kind of already like teased that. But normally we do
like a like a rounding the basis with four different
like mini segments. Then we jump into waivers and we
jump into streaming target targets. We're going to do all
of that in rounding the Basis. So all four of
our bases this week are going to be focused on

(03:03):
start sit players to add streaming pitchers. It's all just
going to be one big episode right off the bat,
and so let's kick it off the first base, start
sit decisions, and I went through to start this, I
went through our hitter hitter matchup raider on the Fantasypros
dot com my playbook tool, and I looked at the

(03:24):
top teams to target for hitters or hitters with not
necessarily the best like the teams to target not necessarily
with like the best hitters, but with the best matchups.
And so the top five teams with the best matchups
for their hitters facing opposing pitchers are the Diamondbacks, Braves, Tigers, Rangers,
and Marlins. And the teams with the worst pitching matchups
the Dodgers, Raised, Guardians, Astros, Giants, and Royals. And so,

(03:46):
just as you're kind of filling out your lineups, if
that can be a tie breaker, or you know, you're
kind of deciding between a few players, if they're on
one of those first five teams, it's probably better than
if they're on one of those second five teams. Obviously
that covers a lot of players, but you know, especially
in you know, focusing on you know, a week to week,
this one final week, matchups matter a lot. So the

(04:07):
first name I wanted to jump into is atalist Garcia,
who is returning from the IL. He has six games
this final week, and he has pretty good matchups because
he's on the Rangers. He's on that first list, and
so Kelly, I'll I'll toss it. I have a bunch
of names here. I think we have nine names that
I thought were interesting. So I'll toss it to you.

(04:28):
Are you interested in starting at least Garcia. He's supposed
to return, I believe this weekend. But are you just
ready to throw him right back in your lineup for
the championship?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Oh? I mean, I'm looking at his yearly stats, like
I don't know. I I think like if I've been
streaming an outfielder, right like, if there's somebody that I'm
I picked up specifically for just like one week or something,
then yeah, I'll drop that guy and I'll put it.
I'll put Garcia back in just because you know, he
has the that are worth it. It's still he still

(05:02):
has I think that the ceiling is higher, but he
doesn't offer a ton of floor, so it's you know,
it's it's a risk. But yeah, if I have somebody
that I think is expendable, that has been not great
in the last two weeks.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
I would rather have course, you Yeah, the thing I
like about him is he's kind of a little bit
of everything, Like there's some power, there's some speed, and
he's going to hit in the middle of that lineup.
And his season long numbers are a little bit down
for him, but you know, he did miss some time,
and so over the course of a full season it
would be pretty similar to what he did last year.
But in one hundred and twenty five games, he has

(05:37):
eighteen home runs, thirteen stolen bases, two thirty five average
betted two twenty four last year, and so those home
runs and steals, that's a pretty good pace considering one
hundred twenty five games. But also in August, in nineteen
games in August, he batted to eighty eight with three
home runs and three stolen bases. So he was doing
pretty well before missing time, and so that makes it

(05:58):
a little bit intriguing. But I do get nervous. It's
such a small window you have here he's just coming
off the eyl. If he comes off and he like
is rusty at all, it's terrible, Like it's ruin your week.
So that like like you said, it's kind of like
a desperation move. He's very intriguing, but also there's risk there.

(06:21):
This one is interest. This next one is interesting for
a different reason because he's been start and forget in
your lineups all year. But now we're we're talking about
one week. What about Alex Bregman, who over I looked
at a lot of hitters over the last two weeks,
I kind of I look at that throughout the season,
and over the last two weeks he has a one
to fifty five batting average. He's two hundred and seventieth

(06:41):
in VBR to seventy. That's bad. You know, you want
to be like the top. You know, twenty forty of
those fifty to seventy is bad. Our filter only goes
to three hundred until you have to adjust to filter.
So to seventy of three hundred not good. Over the
last two weeks, he does have the top ten hitter
matchup and he has six games though, and so it

(07:04):
seems kind of ridiculous to consider the benching himber of
the final week. But also the numbers for two weeks
have not been good. So and he's probably not gonna
run too considering what he's been doing all season, So
are you considering it's also the weakest position in fantasy, So,
like you might just not be able to bench Alex Bregman.
But what about you. I assume there's some concern there,

(07:27):
but you're maybe leaving him in your line up. Probably
leave him into your lineup.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yeah, it's the third basement thing. Who do you have
that could possibly replace? Again, the potential that he has.
I mean, his second half has not been great at all.
He hasn't homeward since August. Like, I know, we're only
eleven days in the September, but it's been it's been
really ugly. So again it's but it's still Alex Bregman.

(07:51):
He if he has a top ten hitter matchup, I'm
going to roll with it. He's in a pretty decent lineup.
They are playing for something, so he will play. I think, Yeah,
you just I don't. I don't believe that there would
be a lot of other people available that I would
start over him. So I would roll, but I wouldn't

(08:12):
like it.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
What if it's what we talked about a couple of
weeks ago. What if it's the loss of Roman Anthony.
What if it's just ruined everything in that whole lineup.

Speaker 2 (08:19):
Well, I mean there's definitely that Karma situation or whatever,
like you know, somebody made the universe mad. But I
feel like I feel like bringing is still your best option.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Yeah, I think if you have him, it's you know,
we talked probably a month or so ago at this
point about you know, the back and forth of you know,
going into the playoffs of you know, the dance with
who Brunya or the getting out of a bad relationship,
and this, despite the recent performance, it feels more like
a dance with who Brunia situation than you know, than

(08:50):
a bad relationship. What about a different third baseman who
maybe has been a very tumultuous relationship for years. What
about Royce Lewis, who let me pull up the stats
I have that over the last two weeks thirteenth and
VBR two sixty nine batting average, four home runs, and
so's he's doing one of those hot streak things that

(09:11):
he does when he's upright, But what if he gets
heard on Monday and you just don't get at third
basement for the entire week. So are you taking the
risk with starting Royce Lewis? Or are you avoiding him.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
Yeah, I mean that's it's actually interesting, right, like if
you had Royce Lewis and Alex Bregman like this is
this is a toss up honestly, because Lewis has been
like yeah, if you you know, I mean, if Royce
has been hanging out in your ale spottle season. But yeah,
I think I wouldn't mind rolling with him. You know, again,

(09:47):
when we're talking about weekly versus non weekly leagues, that's
obviously a much bigger role of the dice. But his
second half has been significantly better, more power, he's scoring runs,
he's hitting you know, he's batting people in. So I'm
not quite as afraid to start him. But yeah, I
mean he could. He could pull us on muscle on
Monday and then that would be the end of it.

(10:08):
So but I think between the two, I would, honestly
I would consider I think I would start Voyce, which
is surprising. But now that I've said that, that's where
I'm at.

Speaker 1 (10:19):
Well, here's the other thing that could be a tiebreaker.
So Bregman's been called Lewis has been hot, the twins
are they are twenty fourth and the hitter I have
to look up the actual name of as Icky Butcher
in the name the weekly Hitting Matchups, but I think
it's like the Hitter Matchup Planner something like that. But yeah,
we'll just call it hitter Matchups. It's twenty fourth, which is,
you know, not good, it's toward the bottom. But he

(10:41):
does have seven games. However, of those seven games, one
of them is a doubleheader, so there's a decent chance
he's not going to play in one of those games,
so it's probably more like six games. And they get
the Yankees and the Guardians, so it's Carlos Rodon, Chel Hitler,
Luis Heel, Sander Biby, Gavin Williams and then we're not
sure who the Guardians are going to start at the
end of the week. So like not like the worst matchups,

(11:03):
but not the best either. Whereas Bragman gets six games
against the Athletics and Rays at the Athletics at the Rays,
so two good ballparks, and he gets Jeffrey Springs, Barnett, JT. Ginn, Houser, Pepio,
so pretty good pitching matchups.

Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, yeah, that's I would like Bregman if he had
more lefties. I think like and I always think J. T.
Jen is a lefty, and I don't think he is so,
but that's okay because I think, like I always think
Lamar Jackson's a lefty in football, so I can't seem
to memorize any of these things. But yeah, I mean,
I think with those ballparks, then maybe I would flip

(11:44):
my choices. But it would definitely like if there were
three lefties that Bragman was scheduled to face, then yeah,
he would bounce back in. But and I think all
of Lewis's games are at home, and I live here
and it's not warm, so I would, you know, if
he gets to start in Tampa outdoors, I'm now again
flipping my position. I'm an excellent analyst at this. I'm

(12:05):
really stick with my job. But yeah, I think I
go back to Brigham and then given where he's going, I.

Speaker 1 (12:10):
Did misspeak though, I did he is at Tampa. I
said he was at the Athletics. I think he's home
against the Athletics. But you know, not that that's a
bad thing, Fay. It's not a terrible place to hit either,
especially for him. He kind of, you know, is made
for that ballpark. Yeah, this is another interesting one. We've
talked about him a bunch because it's just a roller
coaster relationship. What about Trent Grisham over the last two
weeks seventeenth and VBR with a one eighty eight batting average,

(12:35):
but he has fiveform runs, So are you this is
kind of and why don't we go ahead and group
him together with Colson Montgomery Because in terms of what
you're looking for, it's kind of the same thing, and
it's risk and reward and boom and bust, And are
you just going to roll the dice for the power
potential and know that it could blow up in your
face or are you just avoiding it for maybe a

(12:58):
lower ceiling, higher floor option with either Trent Christian mccolsa
Montgomery or And I'll pullup Montgomery stats real quick, because
he's been doing ridiculous things for a while now over
the last two weeks thirty ninth in VBR with four
home runs but batting two seventeen, So kind of that's
why I wanted to group them together. Kind of the
same thing, like you could get power unless they just evaporate.

(13:23):
So it's are you taking that risk in the championship
week or are you trying to avoid those names if
you can.

Speaker 2 (13:28):
So in head to head, what I like to do
when I'm in when I'm in the playoffs and then
for sure championship week is kind of look at my
previous matchups against whoever I'm facing right and in this case,
I would look at it and be like, do I have,
like have I one home run category against them? Or
is like that where they shine? And I should look
at someone I should try to win average and runs

(13:49):
or whatever. So that's where I would start with that.
Like if you've lost home runs to the person every
time you've played them, then no, I wouldn't roll with
these guys. I would find a higher floor. But you
know otherwise, yeah, they have that power potential. So I,
like we talked about, I'm like, I don't know how
I'm I'm benching them if that's what I need. But

(14:12):
if you don't think you can win that category, then
go for the other ones.

Speaker 1 (14:18):
That's fair. What about someone who's been hot for a
pretty extended period here, but also the idea of starting
him in my championship lineup, I just can't like if
it goes poorly, I don't know if I could live
with myself all winter knowing that I did this to myself.
But Joe Adele, and I'll pull up his numbers too,
So Joe Adele has been on a heater. I'm not

(14:39):
even gonna pull up all the numbers. I'll just pull
up the last two weeks whatever, the last two weeks
batting three eleven with five home runs, and if I
went further, it would be even more, you know, numbers
that looked like that, but for a longer stretch, because
he's been hot for a while and he probably won
some people their matchups a couple weeks ago. But are
you gonna actually put Joe Adele in your Championship week

(15:01):
line up?

Speaker 2 (15:02):
I would feel better about myself if I lose in
the Championship having Joe Adell in there than I would
with Tran Grisham in there. I mean, Adele has thirty
five home runs. His second half stats are pretty similar
to his first half stats, so it's not like he's
dropped off a cliff or gotten hotter or colder. I think, yeah,

(15:22):
I would. I would, honestly, I wouldn't actually feel all
that bad, Like I'd be like he was the best
option in the outfield at the time. If I start
Trank Grisham and he sits against lefties or he you know,
does this one fifty five homers once thing Adele just
I can't believe him saying this, but Adele offers more consistency,
which I never really thought I would say. I figured

(15:44):
he was always going to be hot or not. But yeah,
so I would have no issue.

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Sorry, ad Adele gets six games and three of them
were in Corsefield, so not the not the worst place
to wrap up your seasons in coursefield. Yep, this is
a name who I was high on coming into the
season and it has gone poorly. It actually looked really
good for like a week and it's looked really bad since.

(16:09):
But Tommy Edmund, he is coming off the IL. He
batted fifth in his return, and I don't know, I
guess it would have to be a deep league. Are
you interested at all in Tommy Edmund? Just because I
do include him, because I roster him everywhere, And I'm like,
well he's back. It's too late for me, but he's back.
I assume this is gonna have to be a deeper,

(16:33):
a deeper league situation. I don't see you starting him
and running that risk in twelve team Roda. But what
if it's like a fourteen team league, are you Are
you willing to dig that deep into Tommy Edmund.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
No, I don't, like you want to talk about somebody
that could get injured on the first on Monday and
be done for the week, like or the Dodgers could
do all sorts of weird things. So no, I'm not.
I really don't have a lot of interest. I would
I would stay with whoever I replaced him with.

Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah, I had such high hopes just because you know,
I liked him when he was with the Cardinals and
you know, you were getting like home runs in the
teens and then like twenty to thirty stolen bases, and
I was like, all right, sweet, he's going to the
Dodgers and he's going to be in this lineup and
they're going to use them all over the place, Like
he's going to have a ton of eligibility and play
all the time at all these different positions, because that's

(17:25):
what Dave Roberts likes to do. And twenty twenty four
he missed, you know, a very large trunk of the season,
and it happened again this year, and he got off
to like a good start and not so great recently,
and so I agree, I think he've been in a
deep league. I don't think the ceiling is high enough
to justify the risk of the floor there, and so yeah,

(17:49):
I would I adopt to stay away as much as
it hurts my heart, as much as I want to,
as much as I want Tommy I had been to
be good. What about Austin Hayes, who's kind of had,
you know, a weird year, which is maybe it's just
a weird career. Over the last two weeks he's sixtieth
in VBR with two fifty and fifty batting average in

(18:10):
four home runs, and that's kind of just like what
he does, you know, two fifty and four home runs
is like an ideal week if you have Austin Hayes.
And in terms of matchups, he has seven games and
his matchups are sixteenth, so right in the middle, seventeen
games against the three against the Cardinals, and four against
the Cubs, And so it's not like the worst pitching matchups,

(18:33):
not the best, but in a seven games, three of
them at Saint Louis, four of them at home against
the Cubs, Austin Hayes, I feel like I would be intrigued.
But you know, again, like we keep talking about these
players who could just get hurt on Monday. He's definitely
in that conversation as well. But I think I'd be

(18:55):
more interested in Hayes just because I think there's like
some good run production and power potential there. But what
do you think?

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah, I would agree. I'm looking at his splits. He's
actually homeward more on the road than at home, which
is seems whack he to me. But yeah, I mean
I think he does kind of offer you that upside,
and I don't I don't hate it. You know, if
he's got the if he's got how many games, did

(19:21):
you say, does he have seven? I would I would
play him. I would start him. Yeah, I wouldn't have
any issue with that because I think he can contribute
across like all of the categories and and I feel
like and I feel like he will and the Reds
are going to keep batting him. He's been betting pretty high,
I think, right, So yeah, I think that I would

(19:43):
start him. Yeah, he's been batting forth most regularly.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
I was muted. I muted myself to drink a glass
of water, and I didn't go back. That's the first
time I did it all season. I went almost the
whole season without doing that, and then I did it.
So how about this, That's what I started to say
while I was muted. How about you have one utility
spot left and you have to decide between Obviously this
is hard to imagine because you would need another good

(20:07):
third baseman. But let's say you have Royce Lewis and
you started came at the third base and you have
a utility spot and you have to decide between Alex
Bregman and Austin Hayes. Are you Are you considering Austin Hayes. No, Okay,
I thought we were going to go in that other
direction there.

Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, I think I don't. I don't like Austin Hayes enough.
He is interesting as a person. No, I don't know
him as a person, but I think that in general,
this is one of those guys that I kind of
stay away from because it's like he just doesn't do
any He just never seems to do anything when I
have him, and then you drop him, and then he
goes off and and again with Bregman, that's the that's

(20:49):
the dance situation to me.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
So, yeah, that's we that's the Taylor Ward phenomenon with
Austin Hayes. Okay, one more and it's in that Alex
Bregman category. But Josel tuove over the last two weeks
batting one sixty two hundred and forty third in vbl
are so even worse. Actually, no, not worse than Bregman
is what was he seventy? Not worse, but he's two

(21:12):
forty three, so in the same neighborhood and a bottom
five matchups rating. So are you considering starting or benching Josel?
Two by second base is a little bit deeper than
third base, assuming you're playing him a second base to
see outfield eligible? He is, right, I believe so, yeah,
because he played outfield for the season, but it didn't

(21:33):
really it wasn't great out there.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, no, he is. He's played like forty seven games
out there. Yeah, I don't. I'm looking again at his
at his splits and like August he bet at two
thirty one and September so far in nine games he's
bet at one eighteen. I that is a tough one.
The I think their schedule, the fact that it's like

(21:55):
a bottom five matchup rating, I would consider, like, who
else do I have who's out on waivers? Not because
this isn't like I don't want to break up with
the one I brought to the dance on that, but
I mean he he hasn't just like not been good
for five minutes like this has been a full second
half of the season that he's been kind of worthless.
So from a fancy perspective, So yeah, if I have

(22:19):
somebody that's a little bit more intriguing or has been
more consistent, I would I would pick them up.

Speaker 1 (22:24):
How about Horrge Polanka? If he's out there the last
two weeks, he's bat at three thirty three with four
home runs, he's a consensus forty one percent rostered, so
that that's probably a little bit higher in most laies
because that's probably being dragged down by ESPN No offense ESPN.
But he's probably available in like thirty forty percent of leagues.
Are any interest in Jae Polanka?

Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yes, yeah, see, I would take him.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
What about autto Lopez? Three forty of last two weeks,
three home runs.

Speaker 2 (22:50):
And a stolen days, I'd rather have Polanco?

Speaker 1 (22:54):
What about Lopez or all Tube?

Speaker 2 (22:57):
That one? I think I'd stick with all two A. Yeah,
that's when we go back to the like Otto Lopez
isn't hot enough to take to the dance, so I'll
just for that down too bid.

Speaker 1 (23:09):
He didn't get an invite to the dance. Nope, that's brutal.
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Speaker 1 (24:16):
All right, second base, And in a very clever move,
I wanted to do second base as two star pitchers
two and two brilliant, I know, and unlike has been
the case for what seems like most of the season,
or at least the last month, we actually have a
ton of two star pitchers this week who are good targets.
And that's very good for your championship, especially if you're

(24:37):
in something like a points league where those matter even more.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
And so.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
I didn't include the two star pitchers who are like
definitely rostered everywhere, or like you know, must start studs,
but even not including them, maybe they're not available, but
maybe you've been like you know, toying starting them orventing
them or you know, yo yelling back and forth. There
are a bunch of to and so we have. If
I go through the list, Jeffrey Springs who and I'll

(25:06):
just run through the names and the matchups if I
can do it quick quickly enough. Jeffrey Springs is at
the Red Sox and at the Pirates as of right now.
Spencer Stryder is at the Nationals and at the Tigers.

(25:26):
He has actually been listed as a two star pitcher
a bunch lightly but like it's never actually happened, but
it does look like they have a double header this week,
so they have an extra game, so this might actually
be the week it happens. He's just been saving it
for your championship. So that's why Kyle Bradish at the
White Sox and against the Yankees at home. I don't

(25:48):
know if he's actually going to make two starts, so
I put an asterisk on this one. But Connelly Early,
who we didn't talk about yet, but who looked really
really good the other night in his debut, historic debut
with eleven strikeouts. I don't know if you want to
start a guy making his second and third major league
starts in your championship on what's interesting is on the plot,

(26:12):
it's like it's a good and a bad. He just
struck out eleven athletics the other day. The good news
is he faces them again. The bad news is they
just saw him, and so I don't know if that's
good or bad. So he gets the Athletics and then
he's at the Rays. So kind of like high ceiling,
low floor situation there, you know, because it could just
go very poorly, although he did look very good with

(26:34):
you know, a lot of secondary pitches working really well.
Kate Horton, your boy is at the Pirates and then
at the Reds. Jamison Tyone also on the on the Cubs.
Same matchups at the Pirates, at the Cub or at
the Reds, and then Jack Flaherty is an interesting one.
I wanted to include. He's had a year. I would say,

(26:56):
I don't know what I had to put in front
of it, but he's had a year four point six
niney ra. He's against the Guardians and against the Braves,
and then Jack Lyder, much to Joe Piece of pas Chagrin,
is a two star pitcher in the Championship with a
three point eight one RA at the Astros and against
the Marlins. So I'll also to you, what do you

(27:19):
think of that list? How great is that list? Well,
let's start with Spencer Strider. Are you going to trust
Spencer Strider for two starts in your Championship?

Speaker 2 (27:29):
I feel like that would be hard for me, But
I don't mind his matchups like the Nationals do. I don't.
I don't fear them at all. No matter what Josh
Bell is doing and going to Detroit, it puts him
in a better spot there. So yeah, I would, even
though like there's really not a lot of excitement to him.
I mean, even think about it, like, how weird is

(27:50):
it that he's probably available in a lot of leagues.
That's a that's a long way to fall. But yeah,
so I wouldn't love it, but I wouldn't have a
massive problem doing it if you're trying to like rack
up Indians or strikeouts.

Speaker 1 (28:06):
Yeah, I think two starts is important, and one of
those starts being internationals is important. So I think I
think that's helpful. What about Springs at the Red Sox
and at the Pirates, He's he's had a year as well. Again,
kind of a roller coaster. I don't know that I
love him at Fenway, what do you think?

Speaker 2 (28:27):
No, In fact, I would. The fact that Bregman gets
to face him is one of the reasons I was like,
then go with Bregman because he gets Springs at home.
I so, yeah, Again, if it's if I have to
pick and set and I can't move him around, I
don't love I don't love it with him. But if

(28:47):
he could survive Boston, then yeah, that that Pirates matchup
looks really nice. So so again, it depends on where
you are who else you have, but I would I
would rather have spr I would rather have Strider than Springs.
Obviously at this point, based on matchups, I.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
Should have made this like a super Soaker to your
head segment that made you like pick one. What about
Kyle Bradish he gets he is at the White Sox,
a pretty good matchup, then he gets the Yankees at
home versus the Yankees, so does that second matchup? And
also since returning he's looked very good or have you
seen enough to be comfortable starting him in your championship

(29:23):
or does that second matchup against the Yankees scare you
enough to not start him?

Speaker 2 (29:27):
No, I'm fine. I would start him. He would be
my agree. Yeah, he was going to be one of
my picks if I hadn't already started him until I
figured out the magic the magical situation I'm currently and
in this two start competition.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
That's h And I assume Bradish clearly over Stratter.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
And Springs yep, without a question.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
What about the youngster Connolly early? Are you? Are you
taking that risk? His two starts again are repeat it?
He's against the athletics we just faced and again dominated,
but now facing again, which you never know if that's
going to be like really good or really bad. And
then at the race, and he is a lefty, yes.

Speaker 2 (30:07):
Yeah, the lefty. The lefty part kind of neutralizes Nick
Kurtz a little. Also, you know Fenway isn't great for lefties.
But yeah, I'm okay. I also considered him for the
two star competition just because I was like, well, if
he's going to strike out a hundred guys, I don't
really care what else happens to him. So yeah, I would.

(30:28):
I would start him, but I would still prefer Bradish,
but I.

Speaker 1 (30:32):
Haven't made a pick in the competition. Maybe I'll take him.
He's second, so Bradish Early, Stratter Spring so far yep, Okay,
what about Kate Horton and I'll reado his matchups again.
I keep I keep uh not doing that. At Pirates
at Reds, yeah, I don't.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
I would start him without any I would start him
without any concern. I would put him behind British and Early.
I think just because his strikeout rate isn't isn't great,
and like, but he's pretty He's been really weirdly consistent.
So yeah, so he's on the he's done in the list.
I think i'd put him third at.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
This point, so we're Bratish Early Horton, Strider, Springs, Yes, okay,
jameson Ty same matchups. I'll say him again at Pirates at.

Speaker 2 (31:24):
Rets do you want innings? I mean, like, you know,
if quality starts is a is a category, like I
think that that's an that's something Tywne kind offers you,
so I might consider it in that regard. Otherwise I
would put him under Strider. So I'm not I'm not
a giant fan of not even with the matchups, but

(31:45):
just him as a pitcher. I don't think he offers
you as much upside.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Okay, we got two more names. I'm going to keep
repeating the order and see if I can get it
right every time. Okay, Bradish Early Horton. Did you put
Ty on in front of the Furtant? Oh yeah, Bratish
Early Horton strike Tywne Springs, Yes, right, yeah, Okay? What
about Jack Flaherty and his matchups are against the Guardians

(32:08):
and against the Braves home for both.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
So there's the bottom of my list, Jeffrey Springs and
then Jack Flerty is like under that by nine or
ten slots. I don't want anything to do with him.
He's been too ball. I've had him on, I had
him on a couple of different teams that was too
much volatility and not in the championship, No way.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
I would agree with that. And what about Jack Lyder?
Who his matchups are? He's the last one on the list.
Jack Lyder is at the Astros and against the Marlins.

Speaker 2 (32:39):
M M. I'm gonna put him between Okay, I'll put yeah.
I don't know how.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
About I read him off? Do you, I'll just I'll
keep going with the names, and you tell me where
he's gonna slide in. So he's not going to be
above Bradish No, Connolly, Early.

Speaker 2 (32:58):
Mm hmm.

Speaker 1 (33:00):
Cad Horton, No, okay.

Speaker 2 (33:04):
I don't like as much as much and I don't
like him.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
Remember where the order is. Spencer Strider I think is next.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Yeah, I think i'd put him right under Streider.

Speaker 1 (33:13):
Under Strider.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
So final list, if I could do it one last time,
Kyle Bradish, Connley Early, Cad Horton, Spencer Strider, Jack Lyder, Jameson, Tyone,
Jeffrey No, yeah, James and Tyone, Jeffrey Springs, Jack Flaherty Yes, okay,

(33:35):
Tyone threw me off at the end of there. Yeah.
I had Strider and Springs together for so long and
then I got thrown off at the end. How dare
you all right? So those are two star pictures. Let's
jump over to third base and I want to talk
a little bit. We're gonna split this basically, split third
base and home base, homeplate at home base, whatever you
want to call it, together and talk a little bit
about streamers, hitter streamers, and picture streamers. Obviously, if you're

(34:00):
streaming pitchers, you're probably gonna want to stream one of
the names we just talked about because they have two starts,
and two starts is better than one, especially in the
championship hitters. There's not a lot out there, but on
the waiver wire if you are desperate, there are some
names who have been doing some things, and they're available

(34:20):
or could be available for different reasons. The first name,
I'll toss at you and I'll look up his last
two week if I switch my tab back over. But
Andrew been in ten d and he's someone who's been
doing some things. If I can pull up and over
the last two weeks, seventh in VBR with a three
ninety one batting average and five home runs, and he

(34:42):
is not rostered in a ton of places. Consensus roster
percentage is under ten percent. However, home runs is not
necessarily a thing he's been known for his career. Batting
average is coming gone. Power never really been his thing,
except for like one time, are you starting Drew ben
Attendi in your championship And I'll look up his matchups

(35:03):
before you answer. He gets do do Do Do Do
Do Do Doo doo filibuster. He gets he's on the
White Sox. He they have the twenty first ranked pitcher
matchups and they are home for all six games against
the Orioles and the Padres. So it's probably the Padres

(35:24):
dragging down that rating. M hm, because the Oriole matchup
is not terrible.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Nop, No, not at all. Yeah, he's actually and he's
a weird one. Uh because versus home versus lefties, he's
batting two ninety three. He doesn't have the same power obviously,
But yeah, I wouldn't mind streaming him if he's if
he's kind of hot and he's helping your batting average
and he's gonna get on base, and if coloson Montgomery,

(35:51):
can you know, hit him in or whatever you know again,
and if we're just looking at at next week, it's like,
I feel like he offers at least so upside if
he's if he's hot and it continues, which he appears
to be, I would be okay picking him up and
putting him in again. I would. I think I'd rather
have him than Grisham, which is an odd feeling, but hmm, that's.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
An interesting one. I guess I could. I could juxtapose
some of the other ones. What about Adelie's Garcia? Do
you want Adelais Garcia or Benettendy?

Speaker 2 (36:25):
Yeah, I don't know. I really like Benetendi break this
very second, like he's got he's got some pop and
I it's the whole coming off the ale thing that
that bothers me for just put right in into a lineup.
So yeah, I'll give me Andrew.

Speaker 1 (36:39):
Speaking of them coming off the al, how about Nolan Arunado,
come on down? Do you want another third baseman to
start in the in the final matchup?

Speaker 2 (36:46):
Well, I mean, if you have to start a corner infielder.
What are his matchups? Do you know?

Speaker 1 (36:50):
I don't have his matchups are if I pull them
up if I scroll over here, Fel a buster eighteenth
ranked matchup. His six games against the Reds and the
Brewers all at home, so not great. The first matchup
looks like it's gonna be Zach Ltel, then Andrew Rabbit
and then Brady Singer. So two good one, okay, But

(37:12):
then the Brewers are gonna be tough. He's got Woodroffmzzerowski
and then who knows who the third one is gonna be.
But they have pretty good pitching.

Speaker 2 (37:17):
Yeah, no, I don't want him based on those matchups.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
Yeah, also coming off the il like returning imminently like
Monday could be his first game right which no interest.
Another interesting name potentially available is him doing some things.
Kyle Manzardo over the last two weeks forty second in
VBR with five home runs, so he's probably a corner
infield only power the name you're looking for for power

(37:44):
any interesting? Kyle Manzarto and his matchups are everyone. Every
name I pick is like way up or way down
unless I have to scroll every time. They can never
just be on this huge monitor and I still have
to scroll every time. Twenty seven, so he has a
bottom five matchup ranking. He does get Jack Flaherty because
he is at the Tigers and at the Twins. So yeah,

(38:10):
at Tarik Schooble and at Pabula Lopez. That's those are
two reasons why he's getting dragged down on the rankings
right there. The Schooble start, you can pretty much toss
that one out as you might as well not even
play that day. Would probably be better if he didn't.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
He probably won't.

Speaker 1 (38:26):
Yeah, but seven games there is a double header there,
so he might not play both are probably won like
six games. Yeah, you're selling out for power with him,
but also at Detroit not a great place for power,
not great pitching matchups. I'm not making the argument for you.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
But what do you think, Yeah, the pitching matchups don't
seem all that bad. Flerty and Gibson Long are the
two ahead of Schooble, so they're both Righty's. I won't
have any issue with that. And then yeah, Pablo Lopez
and then Joe Ryan goes in the first scheduled to
go in the first game of that doubleheader, but then
it's and Woods Richardson, So I mean they're nothing but

(39:03):
Righty's there. So yeah, I mean I assume he'll sit
during Schoogle if Cleveland has any interest in winning. But
the rest of it, yeah, I don't have I actually
don't have any trouble starting him. It's like, yeah, you're
selling out for power, but he he I don't think
those matchups are all that scary.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
So all right, now, as a Cubs fan, I imagine
you know how good Dansby Swanson has been recently? Would you,
without looking, do you know where he is in VBR
over the last two weeks? I do not six six okay,
six so top six two thirty four batting average but
four home runs and five stolen bases, so a little

(39:40):
bit of everything. And his matchups are I don't have
to scroll. I don't have to scroll. It's still up
because I was just at the Guardians. The Cubs are
two spots ahead of him. I don't have to scroll.
Twenty These matchups are twenty third, so not great, and
at the Pirates which includes Paul Skeens, and then at
Reds which includes Hunter Green and Nicolodolo. The other pitching

(40:04):
matchups not bad, although Mitch Keller is you know, he's
perfectly cromulent seven games. I don't know, are you?

Speaker 3 (40:15):
Are you?

Speaker 1 (40:16):
I guess this would probably be utility only because there's
it's very likely you have a better short stop than
Dancy Sponson. But any interest in starting Dancy Swanson in
the final week.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Yes, if you have a middle infield spot. No, I mean,
I don't know how you're in the championship if he
could be in your utility spot, but so yeah, I would.
I would kind of stay away from that, but if
it was, if it was middle endfield, I would take
a look at it.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
Maybe you made the championship because every week you just
guessed right between Austin Hayes and Taylor Ward and like
that one good week that Matt Shaw had, or like
you know, maybe you just nailed it every week and
you're just trying to nail it one last time. And
could that time be dance by Swanson?

Speaker 2 (41:05):
I mean, you know it could. But he's also batting
He's still batting pretty low in that lineup, So I'm
not I'm not Overlea sold.

Speaker 1 (41:14):
I think this is the last one I have in
terms of hitters before we jump over to the single
start pitchers, or I guess there's what we're gonna talk about.
What about has Young Kim who I think we talked
about him a few weeks ago. He was taking over
as the just starting shortstop for the Braves, and it
seems like it's going okay to the point where you know,
you could consider playing him in the final week. He's
batting right in the middle of that lineup. He's batted

(41:35):
fifth for most of his recent starts. He just moved
up to fourth recently against a lefty. And in let
me split the let me split the partial seasons here
in twenty nine games with the Braves batting two fifty
with one home run and surprisingly no stolen bases. You
would think you would get more stolen bases out of
Has Young Kim in twenty four games with the Rays

(41:58):
two home runs, six stolen bases. The no stolen bases
but the Braves kind of gives me some pause. M
although it's a small sample size, but any interesting has Young.

Speaker 2 (42:10):
Camp Yeah, but is that a like, are the Braves
not running as much? I didn't I obviously didn't look
that up because that just came up. You know, if
he's not being given in the green light to run,
then that's not going to get better, in which case, no,
I'm not over really interested. I would only want him
for the potential runs in speed.

Speaker 1 (42:28):
Well, Ahzi Albi's has two stone bases over the last
two weeks, so he's running a little bit. They also
have a top five matchup. They have seven games and
four of them are against the Nationals and then three
against the Tigers. But I think they're missing schoobl in
the Tigers.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yes, yeah, they have to be. If the Guardians are
getting him, yeah, I don't know. No. The fact that
he hasn't stolen the base with them, doesn't I don't.
That's again, that's the only and I would use him.

Speaker 1 (43:00):
So no, Yeah, I think that's another case similar to
Tommy Edmond, where while it's intriguing, I don't know that
the ceiling is enough to justify the risk, Whereas with
someone like Adelis Garcia, I think the ceiling is enough
to justify the risk in some cases. With Hostun Kim,
probably not because your ideal week is still like a

(43:24):
pretty good week.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Yeah, your ideal week is like, well, he didn't hurt me,
and if we're going to pick up a short stop,
then yeah, I'd rather have funson, So you know, that's
that's where we said with him.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
All right, those were our hitter streamers, and if you
have more, obviously any and more questions, obviously toss him
in the YouTube comments and we'll get to it and
speak the Speaking of line up decisions, struggling with lineup pocisions,
our lineup Persistent It recommends optable lineup sessions to maximize
your team's performance each day or week. Just sink your
league for Taylor guidance based on your roster in league settings.

(43:57):
Download the Fantasy Baseball on My playbook gap or visit
fantass dot com slash MLB my playbook to set your
winning lineup today. And now let's close things out with
some pitching streamers. So we obviously talked about a bunch
about the two star pitchers, who I think we both
recommend if you're going to stream pitching and the Championship.
Tried and tried and see if you can get some
of those two star pitchers. But you have a few

(44:19):
single start streamers that you wanted to talk about, And
so since I did not write these names down, why
don't I just toss it to you to talk about
the names that you wrote down?

Speaker 2 (44:29):
All right? Perfect? So yeah, I mean obviously I like British,
I like I like the two starts. So I kind
of skipped to the weekend to see if there was
anybody like if you do get to pick up kind
of in the middle of the week or for the weekend,
Clayton Kershaw is going to be in San Francisco. I
will never stop being amazed at how bad the Giants
are against left handed pitching. They are batting two fourteen,

(44:52):
They have a two seventy nine on base percent agenda
three fifty three slugging, So I mean, yeah, they get
to they're going to face the Diamondbacks in the first
half of the week, and Eduardo Rodriguez is sitting there,
but I would, I don't know if I would start.
So that's my first one. And then a couple of
Guardians because they're in Minnesota, so Parker Messick and Slade

(45:13):
CHICONI boy, yeah, and man did he have a good
start the other night. But those are your first Those
are the two, just the two Guardian pictures pictures that
I'd be willing to be like, okay, And they also
have the easiest matchup of the Twins pictures. They've got
the Woods Richardson and then probably Zebie Matthews on Sunday,

(45:34):
So I would. I mean, there's way equity there for sure. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:39):
And when we talk about all those like really exciting
young pictures, a couple of weeks ago, Messick was like
on a tier like below all the ones you were
excited about, and he went out and had like the
best start of any of them, because a lot of
them took like a step back, which is unfortunate time,
especially if you're in the playoffs. But all still very exciting.
I forgot to do our two star picture competition earlier.
I wanted to do it when we were talking too

(45:59):
star pictures. Bad job by me, but in a perfect
way to just close out the season. Maybe this is
better because we've we've ended every episode with our two
star picture competition, we might as well end the last
episode of the season with it. And so just for
a little bit of record keeping, we'll get this out
of the way first. But it looks like I won

(46:20):
last week again. Dylan Cee said twenty eight point five
points against Drew Rasmussen eighteen points. I didn't tally up
the reasons for those points because it seemed far enough
for it to be obvious that we didn't need to
argue about it. Between the current standings are ten to
seven to two with me in the lead. With right now,
I have Logan web going and you have Brian wo

(46:41):
Woo woo, Kenny wo going. And this week, why don't
you tell me who your final two star picture is?

Speaker 2 (46:48):
Yeah, I was looking, so I was, you know, I
was really used to looking for like kind of the
lower the lower group, like who's left blah blah blah.
And then I went back and somehow Verne has not
used Paul's, so I will be using Paul Skans for
the last week, just to just to have some fun.
He's he gets the Cubs and the Athletics at home.

(47:10):
Now that I've picked him against my Cubs, he'll give
up seven runs or whatever. But otherwise, I mean, come on,
So yeah, I'll take the cy Young Award winner, at
least the presumptive one, I think, no matter what Christopher
Sanchez is doing.

Speaker 1 (47:23):
So yeah, you know, oddly enough, I have also not
used Paul Skins, so you got before I could. It
might it may have just never really lined up that
way for us, or if it did, like a couple
of times, we're like let me, We're like, let me say,
Paul skeans, I don't want to burn them right now,
and then we just never used them. So I did
not make a pick, which I said earlier. But it
also looks like I'm going to win the competition either way,

(47:45):
So why don't I just go out with a bang
and I'll just do Connery early. Maybe he won't even
make two starts, so maybe it'll be just tossing the
week away. But I'll do Connolly kindly early, and who
is he facing again?

Speaker 2 (48:00):
I didn't we get to the raise and.

Speaker 1 (48:04):
The rais and a's and a's and the race. That
is not the abbreviation for raise. All right, And that's
pretty much all we have for today, and that's all
we have for this season. But as I said in
the beginning, if you have questions, we're here for you.
Jump in the YouTube comments and we'll reply. Also, see

(48:24):
us on Discord and we'll do our best to reply.
Fanny sports dot com, slash Chat, there's a bunch of
MLB channels in there. We're in there answering questions as
often as we can. Anything else for you to close
out season.

Speaker 2 (48:35):
I just want to say, if you do ask us
in Discord, just tag us. I see those questions like specifically,
and I try to answer anytime I'm I try to answer.
So if you do have like this one or this one,
please let us know, because we're just trying to kind
of aim for that middle group. But if you have
specific questions, let us just ask us. We like to
respond to things.

Speaker 1 (48:54):
Yeah, that's a good point. If you just toss it
in there with a question, there are a turning of
people in there, you know, answering questions. All. Now that
we are really deep in the season, there are fewer
baseball people, you know, answering questions, whereas in April you
probably get fifty replies. Yeah, if you don't tag us,
I'm probably not going to see it because you know,
even with tags, I get a ton of them a day.
So I try to reply to what I can. Yeah,

(49:14):
hop in the YouTube comments, hopping, hopping the discord and uh,
you know, if you enjoyed this content this season, you know,
give us a rating, a review. Wherever you listen to
your podcast Apple, you know, if you listen to podcasts
on Spotify, you know, so be it. We'll do it.
We'll do it there today. I'm just kidding. I use them.
I listen to Spotify as well. Yeah, we really appreciate

(49:34):
it helps us throw the show. And like I said
at the beginning, this is our last in season episode,
but we're going to shut it down for a couple
of weeks and then I believe it's going to be
let me look at the calendar. Should second, Yeah, it's
like the first Thursday in October. October. Second, we're going
to hop back in and do a season recap and
look at twenty twenty six. I'm trying to convince Worm

(49:55):
to hop back on, and I want to do an
early twenty twenty six mock draft and kind of take
a look like what the first two to three rounds
are gonna look like. So yeah, and also, if you
have any ideas for what you want to talk about
on that show, let us know about that too. Well,
that's all we have for today. That's all we have
for this season for Kelly Kirby. I am Mike Mayor,
and thank you for stopping by. Thanks for listening to

(50:17):
the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast. If you love the show,
the best freeway to support us is

Speaker 3 (50:22):
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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The Cycle: Top Pickups and Streamers For Fantasy Playoffs (Ep. 1132)

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