Comatose Braves fan, who’s been out since March, “Why does the nurse keep pinching shut my IV and saying pausa de hidratación? Well, nevertheless, I see Austin Riley went 3-for-4 with 4 RBIs and his 11th and 12th homer, and three homers in three games. [humming Joe Walsh] Life is good so far…Austin Riley is top three NL MVP guy again? Riley is hitting what, .330? This is April and he has 12 homers through two weeks? Three weeks? Is Riley the cleanup hitter or hitting third? Where’s Acuña? Why is everyone tiptoeing out of my room? I’m back, baby! Give me the good Austin Riley news!” So, if you dropped Austin Riley, who is hitting .217, which you should’ve in most shallower leagues, I’d pick him back up. Do I think this is him being fixed? I don’t see why, but guys do get hot. Remember The Swanson? I faintly do. I think it involved the Mets’ pitching. Also, in yesterday’s game, Drake Baldwin went 5-for-5, 3 runs, and a double slam (17, 18) and legs (2), and 2nd and 3rd homer in three games. Don’t tell Kendrick that Drake’s hot. “Is it still April? At least tell me that!” Go back to sleep, Comatose Braves fan. Anyway, here’s what else I saw this weekend in fantasy baseball:
Nathan Eovaldi – 4 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.21. One of the more disappointing players for me. He was always so good, when healthy. “When healthy” was the issue. Now I wish he wasn’t healthy. His underlying numbers are solid-ish. The “ish” is the HardHit%; the “solid” is the K-BB%.
Wyatt Langford – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 10th homer, hitting .283. Elias Sports Bureau said, “Langford has never had a good game that wasn’t immediately followed by a quad, oblique or hamstring injury.” Adding, “No, we didn’t say that.”
Jared Jones – 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 4.05. Looking the best he’s looked in the majors. Yes, including the 2024 season, prior to the injury. He’s got ace numbers right now. Will he be an ace? I don’t know, too early to say, but he was highly touted as a future ace when he was in the minors. The stuff cooks, as a chef would say about Jones. A chef that knows Statcast.
Paul Skenes – 7 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.43. He left the game with a 5-1 lead and the chances of the Pirates winning fell to 50 to 1 odds, as the Pirates’ pen jumped on Polymarket and started making bets.
Esmerlyn Valdez – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 12th homer, 5th homer in his last six games. He’s only played 31 games total. Is The Magician the greatest hitter of all-time? Maybe too early to say, then again maybe yes.
Gavin Williams – 6 IP, 5 ER, 7 hits, zero walks, 11 Ks, ERA at 4.00. Call me Uncle U-ey because I’ve made such a turnaround on Gavin. The earned runs suck, but I’m buying still.
Aaron Judge – Still not allowed to do baseball activities. No spitting, no crotch grabbing, no pepper games.
Cam Schlittler – 4 1/3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 2.20. Oh, man, please don’t tell me he’s going to take the long, arduous 2nd half journey to a 3.00 ERA.
Shohei Ohtani – 3-for-9, 1 run, 2 RBIs, hitting .290. Won’t be pitching for a bit, according to the Dodgers. They added, “We are a lock for the World Series, of course we’re resting Ohtani’s arm. Wait until we’re resting Yoshinobu Yamamoto too.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto – 9 IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 2.78. The good news (for me, and only me) is I won’t be able to draft him next year because he’ll be going too high, then he’ll invariably crash. Or maybe he’ll never crash ever again.
Casey Mize – Left the game after taking a comebacker off his hand. Sigh, I relieve stress with my sighs. Move your freakin’ hand!
Kevin McGonigle – 1-for-3 and his 9th homer. Police chief, “McGonigle!”
Riley Greene – 1-for-3 and his 14th homer. BDon calls Riley Greene one of his biggest sell highs of the 2nd half on this week’s pod.
J.T. Ginn – 6 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 3 BBs, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.46. His command is still too scary to recommend for home games, even though this was a home game. Don’t fear the reaper; fear the regression. Though, his next start is away, according to the Streamonator.
Foster Griffin – 7 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 2 Ks, ERA at 2.68. Call a bawk-bawk on me because I was too chicken to start him in Bing Bong. [turns to mirror] Nice work, dummy!
CJ Abrams – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 21st homer. Corange Juice with a shot and Dylan Crews (1-for-3, 2 runs) hit his 7th homer. Look at the Juice/Crews getting it done without Marly Marl.
Zac Gallen – Is currently “waiting for opinions from other doctors.” Tune in next time to find out if Zac can find a doctor who says his arm looks fine.
Brandon Pfaadt – 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners (0 BBs), 3 Ks, ERA at 4.58, but 2.14 ERA in 21 IP since his return from the minors. Fitting — or rather Pfitting — that he was vs. Dustin May (5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.78) since it’s from one “I thought he’s fixed. Crap, he is most definitely not,” to another. Though, we’re only on the “He’s fixed” part of the program. So, is Pfaadt “fixed?” He could be. He’s walked only one batter in those 21 IP, which is a good sign, but he’s not exactly blowing away hitters either. So, I suppose you can grab him, but I’m just monocle’ing for now.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 2 2/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 2.62. I hid my phone number so the Regression Fairies would answer my call.
Nolan Arenado – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer. Hey, come here, I want you to check out this empty Slim Jim wrapper. It was the first one “Macho Man” Randy Savage snapped into. It’s haphazardly strewn over by this open window–NOOOOO!!! Torenado!
Taj Bradley – 5 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.85. Not saying he wouldn’t have been clobbered anywhere, because Taj Mah-Clobbered-Anywhere is prone to that, but Wrigley can be extremely dicey some days. Though, that’s usually from the wind and homers, which this didn’t seem to be.
Aaron Civale – Traded to the Cubs. Meh, you know him. Mostly NL-Only, but maybe Streamonator if the Cubs can fix him. What I wanna mention is the guy the A’s got for Civale. They got Aidan Moffett. He allowed only 12 hits in 22.1 innings in the minors. Wow! Moffett had a .160 opponents batting average! Incredible! Oh, by the way, he also allowed 42 walks and hit five batters for a .480 on-base percentage. I cackled.
Matthew Boyd – 6 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 4.15. My biggest 2nd half pitching buy was Boyd and sell was Max Meyer. See below for what I say for Meyer.
Shota Imanaga – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.91. Cubs jumped out to a huge lead and Shota cruised out to the Ivictory Coast for a free night at the W.
Shane Bieber – 6 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 5.70. Can’t in good conscience recommend Bieber after one good start, but I have a monocle tightly affixed to my eye. May as well be glued to my eye. [listens to monocle affixer] What do you mean you did glue it? I paid you $17 to affix, not glue!
Trey Yesavage – 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.78. More like Trey-seven-eight! Bam! No bam? Hmm.
Davis Martin – 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.31. We’re after the All-Star Break, so it doesn’t scream, “Grey is a major loon!” by saying a Davis Martin 2027 sleeper already seems possible with this as a final thought on his sleeper post, “Martin was already good in 2026, so he shouldn’t be drafted this late.”
Sean Burke – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits, 1 walk, 5 Ks, ERA at 3.20. Okay, I do like Davis Martin and Burke, but the Jays are also dogshizz.
Colson Montgomery – 2-for-4 and his 24th homer. He has a career 45 homers and a barely .800 OPS, and, ya know what, good for him!
Jesus Luzardo – 5 IP, 1 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.43. If I’m being honest — and eff it, let’s be honest! — Luzardo was one guy who should’ve been in the top 100 for the 2nd half, who was not simply because I have a personal preference to not get Luzardo ulcers.
Francisco Lindor – 3-for-3, 3 RBIs and his 6th homer. This home run was such a bomb I had some special rumblings of Lindor actually having a 2nd half that warranted his very early preseason ADP of the 2nd round. Though, those rumblings might’ve just been that tostada salad I had at Taco Bell.
Nolan McLean – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.34. McLean is lights-out during every World Cup final he’s pitched during. Facts you can’t dispute!
Victor Mesa Jr. – 1-for-4 and his 7th homer, 2nd game in a row with a homer, so maybe hot schmotato, but Sunday’s was an inside-the-park homer, and looked like at least one error on the play, so, I guess, caveats.
Patrick Sandoval – 5 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.82 vs. Ian Seymour – 3 IP, 3 ER, ERA at 4.79. This matchup was billed as, “Grey had one-dollar bids lined up for Sunday FAAB if either of these guys looked good, but instead was like, ‘Maybe I’ll invest my FAAB in Brandon Pfaadt or Garrett Whitlock for Aroldis’s inevitable trade.'”
Sonny Gray – 6 IP, 1 ER, 9 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 2.48. He was in the top 100 for the 2nd half because his last name is Gray.
Willson Contreras – 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 22nd homer. Contreras is having a career year at 34 for the [stuffing face with anger and brain custard] Mighty Zombino!
Hunter Brown – 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, ERA at 4.05. Ya know what super sucks? Brown is clearly not healthy and we’re going to get all the way to next March before he’s shut down and heads for surgery.
Jose Altuve – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 12th homer. Sonavabench! Yes, I’ve reached the point where I’m benching Altuve. The next step is dropping. Bigger than any step Altuve’s taken. Hey oh!
Coby Mayo – 2-for-4 and his 13th homer. Coby Mayo related: You should go read Sandwich Pick’s weekend article about the worst swingers in baseball. (Not horny guys trying to have extra-martial affairs and failing. Different type of swingers.)
Brandon Young – 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.25. Young was vs. Brown, and I can’t believe Young’s better. My beautiful Hunter Brown sucks so bad! Streamonator hates Young, but I can’t say he scares me as much.
Trevor Rogers – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 4.28. Actually bit surprised Rogers is pitching as poor as he is. ERA-wise, he’s been fine for the past six weeks, and his ground balls are helping but he’s been pretty meh, in general. One guy pitching much worse than him faced him on Saturday, Spencer Arrighetti (5 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit, 4 BBs, 6 Ks, 4.34 ERA).
Hunter Greene – 6 IP, 3 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 7 Ks, ERA at 6.06. At least one Hunter (Mad Libs in a color) is coming correct.
Tyler Stephenson – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 7th and 8th homer. Also, in this game, Sal Stewart (1-for-5, 3 RBIs) hit his 20th homer and Nathaniel Lowe (1-for-5, 3 RBIs) hit his 11th homer. This game came in Coors vs. one of the top pitching staffs. [turning computer screen right-side up] Hmm, that was not the top.
Hunter Goodman – 3-for-4, 5 RBIs and his 28th, 29th and 30th homer, hitting .257. This was the 2nd time this year he hit three homers in a game. A feat not even Scooter Gennett pulled off! 25 others did, though. Only should-be-HOFer Sammy Sosa did it three times in a year.
Bryce Eldridge – 1-for-3 and a slam (10) and legs (1), and his 2nd homer in three games. Eldridge is fascinating in how much he’s cut his strikeouts from the minors to the majors. It doesn’t really make sense, yet here we are.
Robbie Ray – 4 IP, 1 ER, ERA at 3.33. Loosen up your pants, you schmohawk!
Logan Gilbert – 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 baserunners, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.38, an under-3 ERA since May 17th (arbitrary cut-off alert!). [blinking lights on a submarine, radar beeps louder] Sir, we have detected the Great Lo-Gi.
Cole Young – 2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer, and 2nd homer in two games, and was hitting third yesterday. Hot schmotato alert!
Fernando Tatis Jr. – 2-for-5, 3 runs, 4 RBIs and a slam (7) and legs (25) and 2nd game in a row with a slam and legs. Fun The Jewels! Fun The Jewels! Let’s goooooo!
Jackson Merrill – 4-for-6, 4 RBIs and a double slam (11, 12) and legs (20), hitting .221. Well, I don’t have Merrill anywhere, but I’ll give him a tiny-voiced let’s go too.
Ty France – 2-for-6, 5 RBIs and his 13th and 14th homer. Still lost to England.
Jac Caglianone – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 16th homer. Jackson Antonio Cannoli Caglianone hit third yesterday and is the only Italian of note in the Royals’ lineup. Unless you count Luke Maile, because his last name ends in a vowel.
Lance McCullers Jr. – Traded to the Brewers. Accompanying this trade news was this line, “He has a 6.86 ERA in eight starts this year and has been on the IL with right shoulder inflammation since May 19.” Sounds like the Brewers are about to crap out another ace!
Brandon Woodruff – Will undergo 2nd shoulder surgery, which is usually the end for most pitchers, but he said he will return. Lightly sobbing, singing Foo Fighters, “There goes…my hero…watch him as he goes…”
Sal Frelick – Hit the IL with a shoulder ailment. That really stinks–Any hoo! Luis Lara should play every day!
Shane Drohan – 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.20. What if us Brandon Woodruff fantasy owners can’t just pluck a hair out of Woodruff’s head, put it into a test tube of pine tar and create a Drohan? What do we do? No, we can’t just create a Robert Gasser (5 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.91) either!
Pete Fairbanks – 1/3 IP, 3 ER. Guess what Pete FairlyNeverBlanks’s ERA is. 7.42! Just perfection.
Eury Perez – 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 hit, 3 BBs, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.53. [holding fingers close together but not touching] That’s how far Eury is from the breakout.
Max Meyer – 3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 2.68. Go see what I said for Boyd. If you’ve now gone back and forth between Boyd and Meyer’s blurbs multiple times, then keep going back and forth more. If you’ve found yourself, spending the last ten years going back and forth, and it’s 2036. Hey, can you tell me who wins the 2026 World Series and, uh, is there a 2027 World Series?
Watching Emmet Sheehan pitch is absolute torture
Brutal
Joe Ryan against Cleveland…4 HRs already. Just like we all thought.
5*
Damn
I just saw that. Amazing
6 and counting.
According to Google search, that ties the MLB record for most HRs giving up by a SP in a start, most recently by Miles Mikolas last year.
Haha, ouch
Naturally!
I get sad when you always put a negative twist to my Marlins…. BUT, you were right about Max…. He went on the IL today. You’re usually always correct Grey lol. But Max is an Ace IMO. Haha.
Ha yeah
Start or sit Ashcraft @ New York tonight?
Thanks as always for the help!
Meh, seems risky
Oh great Grey,
drop Mead for Austin Riley?
which OF? Greene, Langford, or Harris?
No
Harris
Standard 5×5 weekly lineup roto. I’m chasing Ws, but also need to lower my ERA and WHIP. Which one to bench for the week?
Sean Burke (vs HOU [Hunter Brown])
Nick Eovaldi (vs SEA [Woo])
Tanner Bibee (vs MIN [Joe Ryan], @TB [Nick Martinez])
Ryan Weathers (vs PIT [B Ashcraft], @PHI [C Sanchez])
Andrew Abbott (@SEA [Kirby], @STL [Liberatore])
[I also am starting CSanchez, JRyan, JBennett, JLatz and DWilliams, if it matters.]
I’m actually leaning toward benching Eovaldi, which surprises me.
Did you miss the question in there? Which one of those five to bench?
Abbott
Turns out the answer was Joe Ryan.
Sorry I missed it but I wouldn’t have chosen Ryan to bench
LOL, of course not.
Please rank top 5 OF ROS, thank you
Mitchell LThomas Mullins Altuve DeLauter Ward Raley Canzone Lile
Canzone, Chase D, Altuve, Ward, Lile
Thank you so much
No problem
Who is the the drop? L Henderson,Meyer,Melton or Jared Jones?
Braden or Arenado?
Thanks!
Melton
Braden
Hi Grey,
Would you prefer either Cavalli @COL or Gasser vs COL over either Tolle vs BAL or Ashcraft @NYY?
Gasser over Ash
Is Ash a bad start at @NYY – am I making a big mistake if I stick with him? Might not want to make the waiver move due to other tradeoffs.
Doesn’t seem great
Not good at all – hate when a bad start happens at the beginning of the week.
I know, brutal
Josh Naylor, aka Thickey Henderson, has not homered since June 12th. For the love of heaven, can he please park one tonight? I don’t care if it’s a wall scraper or a fly ball just inside the foul pole. Something. C’mon. Killing me here.
He needs to Tickey the home run box
Have to make room for Buxton coming off the IL, who to drop between Kody Clemens, Mead, Durbin, or even Altuve (although I’m inclined to still hold here)? I’m thinking Clemens but I’m not thrilled about it either.
Durbin
Hello Grey,
I’m at a bit of a loss who to start this week. Can you give me your top 6 here?
Weathers (PIT, @PHI)
Sheehan (@PHI, @NYM)
Henderson (NYM)
Chase Burns (@SEA)
J. Jones (CHC)
McLean (LAD)
Seymour (@TOR)
Eovaldi (SEA)
Cantillo (@TB)
Not Seymour, Cantillo, Weathers
I think I miscounted. Do you like Sheehan over any of those other guys that I would be starting?
Over Jones, depends how bad you need 2 starts
Hey Grey! Are you excited enough about Lara (6, NYM, COL) this week to start him over Troy Johnston (6, WAS, @MIL)?
Yes
E VALDEZ FOR TURANG?
Turang
Great weekend roundup Grey! Regardless of position Bleday or Ceddane in a 10 team H2H?
Thanks,
LG
Thanks! Ceddanne
would you take vlad for my soderstrom?
Sure
Pick two: Arenado, Cole Young, France, Royce Lewis
Young, Lewis
Hey Grey! Need some advice.
In 9 keeper dynasty league; where you lose 2 rounds each year for player kept for up to 7 years and rookie starts at round 19;
I have been proposed with me trading Konnor griffin for Paul skenes.
Would you do this trade? Can’t thank you enough for your advice.
Nope
Master in a 10 team OPS league how would you rank Caglione, Adell, Nimmo, Heliot Ramos Wilyer Abreu, Gelof, DeLauter
Cags, Wilyer, DeLauter, Adell
Drop Durbin for Austin Riley?
Yes
With Taillon returning and probables Peterson tomorrow, Rea on Weds. (along with Boyd and Imanaga as SPs) is Assad out of the rotation? If not, he will be especially squeezed in 3 weeks when Cabrera comes back. Is he droppable if out?
Thanks!
Yes, I think so, droppable
On a scale of 1-10 how confident are you in starting the following in a QS league today?
1. Tolle @ home vs Bal
2. Kirby @ home vs Cin
3. Cease @ home vs TB
They all seem fine
@Grey: weekly roto. who do you like this week?
heliot – 3 @ kc, 3 vs laa
colson montgomery – 3 @ tex, 3 vs hou
thanks!
Colson
Luis Garcia Jr. 0, literally 0, points for the past week. I feel like funtime may be over on the random hot streak. Switch him out for Cole Young?
no
16 team dynasty H2H OPS salary league. $340 budget
Would you extend any of the players below. If they were dropped anytime before the 5th year 100% dead money.
Yordan – min. 5 years ’27 $41, ’28 $45, ’29 $50, ’30 $55, ’31 $61
JoRam – min 5 years ’27 $35. ’28 $39, ’29 $44, ’30 $49, ’31 $54
Emerson Hancock – ’27 $9
Sean Burke – ’27 $8
Nope
Actually, Burke and Hancock are maybes
Thanks
No problem
Aroldis, Megill, or T.Wells?
Aroldis
Drop Bichette for Austin Riley? Maikel Garcia is also available for third base.
Yes, Riley
Lu ga ju lu ga ju
I literally was cackling when you told the story about your neighbor saying Matt mclain is the worst player in baseball. That’s b dons boy! Lololol
In a shallow 10 team QS start league should drohan be owned?
HAHAHA, it was so funny — I don’t think Drohan needs to be rostered
Pod is awesome man you and b don do great work. Always a good laugh
Thanks!
Hi Grey,
I have to make a decision about who to drop to activate Acuna.
1.Who would you to drop?
C;William Contreras
1B: Casey Schmitt (1B,2B,3B,LF)
2B: Curtis Mead (1B,2B,3B,LF)
3B; Max Muncy
SS: Gunnar Henderson
LF:Wilyer Abreu (LF,CF, RF)
CF: Trout
RF: Jake McCarthy (LF,CF, RF)
DH: Alonso
Bench:
Acuna IL
Kurtz IL
Jack Bauers (1B,LF,RF)
Austin Riley
SP;
Cam Schlittler
Logan Gilbert
Jacob Degrom
Carlos Rodon IL
Framber Valdez
Parker Messick
Payton Tolle
Trevor Rogers
Cade Cavilli
Will Warren
Ryan Weathers
Christian Scott
Peter Lambert
2,Another option is to bundle Warren and Weathers to improve either my hitting or my pitching? Do you like this idea? Who would try and get?
3.Would you start or sit Ryan Weathers at home vs Pitt?
Thanks so much for all your effort and hard work!
1. Warren 2. I think they have no trade value 3. Yes
For anyone who still has PTSD from last season’s second half collapse: James Wood went 1/14 with 10 strikeouts in Sacramento.
Stop! Haha
I’m still in therapy. I have trust issues.
10tm 6×6 OBP and QS, 12 start max
Can start 2 of 3
C. Scott @ Mil
Roupp @ KC
Drohan vs Col
Also, I’m in last place, 14 games back of the final playoff spot. Keep 4. Does my team look poised for a run? If not, can stash Kade Anderson, who’s the drop?
C: Dingler
1B LuGaJu
2B Nico
3B Mead
SS Lindor
OF Tucker, Carroll, Wood
UT Schwarber
BE Jac
BE Neto
IL K. Griffin
SP Bradish, Sheehan, Tolle, Peralta, Roupp, Handcock, Henderson, Shota
RP Megill, Pagan
IL Rodon, Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver
Thanks!
Drohan, Scott…You could go on a run, yeah…
I have too many RP. I have Baker and Varland.
Lose one of: Wells, Gomez, or Sewald for Boyde?
Thanks!
RICE
Wells
One of my favorite series of events in fantasy/real baseball is when a manager makes a bad decision that screws a fantasy team of mine over, and then gets his comeuppance in real baseball.
So it proved with the Bucco’s Don Kelly on Saturday. I play in a holds league that uses a starts limit in lieu of an IP cap. I pick up Mason Montgomery prior to looking at the SP matchups for the weekend (Jones, Ashcraft, and Skenes). Double header on Saturday due to the Friday rain out. See nothing mentioned about change in plans in starters. After, the first game ends Saturday with my lineup locked, they announce that Dickhead Don is going to use Montgomery, one of his best, if not his best, leverage relievers to open the 2nd game. Burning one of my increasingly precious starts.
I cursed him and said I hope that he has to bring Brandon Eisert in a leverage situation and blows the game. That’s exactly what happened.
Ha, I had a similar thought when I saw Mason open that game…Of course now he has no one in middle relief
Exactly. That bullpen is super thin in the first place. Maybe not Nats bad, but close.
Totally
10 team standard 5×5 NL only roto
Pitching ratios have been a bit of a disaster so looking at volume play to hopefully optimize wins where there are many points to be gained (ks to a lesser extent)
Can you please rank the following – caution, these are all weak options in NL only roto so hold your nose as you rank:
Z. Thornton
W. Beuhler
T. Sugano
J. Junk
J. Sears
M. Liberatore
Appreciate it
Lib, Walker, Thornton, Junk
Over the weekend I learned that Josh Naylor is nicknamed Thickey Henderson due to his base stealing prowess. This might be one of my favorite nicknames ever.
That is great, I just searched to see if I came up with it, it’s so good, it doesn’t seem like it lol
Haha. When I was typing this out, I wondered if you may have been the originator.
Haha, I honestly searched to see…kinda surprised I wasn’t
I’m disappointed in myself because prior to that I was the only person that I knew that had ever used the term “thickey”, albeit in a different context.
Haha, I just checked to see if I spelled it Thiccy, sadly I did not
I think the thing that’s got us hung up is that the nickname is genius in its simplicity. The classic “Why didn’t I think of that? Or did I?”
Haha, yup!
Good morning boss –
I got the late season WHIP blues.
If Skubal is traded, does Montero shift to the rotation?
Would Yandy + Roki or Jones be enough for Joe Ryan?
Sitting but not dropping Hunter Brown,
correct?
Many thanks —
Montero might shift, but how deep is this league for it to matter? I’d take Ryan there…sit on Brown
Currently have Teel should I hold or drop for
Jensen
Alvarez
Moreno
Alvarez
Ronel Blanco a worthwhile stash, actually starting tonight v Miami, for the recently pitching deprived Astros? Blanco had TJS June 25.
I wouldn’t
The Astros rotation seems to be cursed this year, outside of Lambert
i’m opening my rcl streaming season today. leahy at the laa laa laa’s
I wish you luck! I open streaming season in August/Sept.
this is the latest i’ve started. streaming options have not looked great to me.
Usually I line up my streaming so I have a chance to move up and challenge in my league, and this year I’m not sure if me streaming can make any difference at all to my awful year
your nfc team has been on the struggle with the offense this year. tough season so far?
my biggest disappointment has been losing judge and ramirez from that one team
Nigh on impossible to recover from that. Maybe one, but not both. Ouch.
went stars and scrubs in an auction too so it’s an insane amount of draft investment flushed
Beyond rough. Definitely a risk with that strategy, but you can’t legislate for that level of misfortune.
My biggest disappointment has been thinking Machado and Vlad were the ticket to the promise land
3 of 10 teams are very good…6 of 10 teams are awful…1 mediocre — usually I’m either solid or mediocre…Some real stinkers this year
i’m loaded with meh
This game we love is very humbling
Streaming Junk for his 2-step v Astros and Padres 🙏🏻
Feelin like it’s a good time for a shake up. Luis Robert, Heliot Ramos, Steven Kwan. Does that order seem right for a 5th OF 2nd half’s upside? Thanks and good luck down the stretch!
Ramos, Robert
Would you recommend trying to “buy low” on injured players such as Jose Ramirez and Nick Kurtz? Would a trade of Ohtani (hitter only) for Jose Ramirez and Nick Kurtz be advisable for either side? I haven’t proposed this trade yet but just curious if it’s something to consider for either side?
I’d buy low on JoRam or Kurtz
I’d want Ohtani
Haha, thank you! If I know the Kurtz/JoRam owner, they’d probably reject it anyway!
No problem
10 team redraft, drop basallo for carter jensen, jeffers, f alvarez, yandi diaz, rutschman, moreno?
Jeffers
Hey Grey!
SON says start Eovaldi v SEA ($10) and Foster v ARZ ($2)
Do you agree or based on recent performance would you start Taj @CLE ($1) and/or Roupp @KC (-$1) over them?
Thanks!
Yes, I agree
12 team h/h points redraft
Trying to Sell high on Tucker/Greene.. what one hitter ( OFer ) in return should I be happy to get
Walker? Acuna?
12 team h/h points redraft
Multi player trade .. which side
Rice/Caballero/Devers or Harper/Herrera/L Garcia
Seems fair, I guess Harper
12 T Points scoring format.
Sproat @ SF @ LAA
Warren @ChW @ChC
Sproat
10 team weekly H2H w/ OPS
Who do you want to roster thru 2027?
Acuna or Jordan Walker
Walker
10 team weekly H2H – 6×5 (standard + OPS).
Who would you rather roster through 2027?
Jordan Walker or Acuna?
Walker
Good morning Grey 20 team standard roto would you trade Rodon and Augustin Ramirez for Boyd and Adames or Boyd and Holmes if he won’t do the first Rodon is the only keeper thx
Yes
10 team weekly H2H – 6×5 (standard + OPS).
Who are you rostering through 2027?
Acuna or Jordan Walker?
Walker
Grey,
With H Brown not looking right, please educate me on whether Boyd would be preferential to trade for instead of him? Brown vs. Boyd (of education).
Still looking to unload Meyer (the trade offer I made for G Cole was rejected). Or is there another pitcher that would be better to target than Brown/Boyd? I don’t know if I’m setting my sights too low (or should just be taking what I can before Meyer loses innings left and right).
Thanks!
Ha, I’d go Boyd
Hey Grey! Hope the vacay was awesome!
It is cruch time for me-10tm H2h ESPN redraft–6 weeks to go til playoff (currently in 2nd by 5games) and need to make a run..Advice please? current roster
C- Radley
1B Vlad Jr
2B Turang
SS McGonigle
OF Walker,JacCag,O’Hearn
Util Yandy Diaz
BCH Adames
IL AcunaJr (return imminent), Oneil Cruz (now on 60dyIL-Est return 8/8/26)
SP Eovaldi, Ashcraft, Burns, Tolle,Yesavage, Henderson
BCH Soroka (est return 8/4/26)
1) Who would you drop for Acuna return?
2) Seager is due back 8/10. You expect him to be better than McGonigle or Adames ROS?
3) Who are your top 3 SP ROS from: Cavalli, Detmers, Roup, Jared Jones, Glasnow (return 8/2).
4) Replace any of my SP for answer in #3?
5) RP Devin Williams has been shaky. Do you think Weaver will be traded securing Williams’ spot, or should I be picking up Weaver?
Thanks for the help in advance for the deep dive!
Thanks! 1. Adames 2. Hold 3. Cade, Detmers, Jones 4. Soroka 5. I don’t know if they’ll be traded, I’d guess Weaver is, and if they’re smart, Devin will be traded too
(if they are smart) LOL! right! but are they ever smart? I feel like their Raison D’etre is like the Titanic: to serve as a warning to others.
Gracias!
Ha, yeah
Hey Grey,
Gore has been begging to be dropped for a while. Drop him to stream Flaherty, Sheehan, or Abbott today?
Will need to sit 1 starter this week with a 7 start limit; would you prefer any of their starts (Flaherty @ CHC, Sheehan @ Phi, Abbott @ SEA) over Bradish @BOS? If so, I’d stream them over Gore, otherwise I’d hold Gore for now and sit him v SEA
Thx
Gore should be dropped, those options are not good on waivers
12TM PTS league (no K penalty), trade my Vlad and Jared Jones for Junior Caminero? Durbin is my 3B at the moment and Vlad is UTIL.
Yes
Morning & Happy National Fortune Cookie Day!
I sorta like these 1.5 week long H2H weeks due to the ASG, but at the same time, dislike not having baseball during the AS break.
Anyhoo, I feel my bats have not yet woken up from their slumber to start the 2nd half and looking for a good fortune inside the cookie…
Below is my full (hitting) roster. You cutting anyone for Austin Riley on the hopes he somehow continues the good fortune?
6×6 (OPS/QS)
C: Raleigh
1B: Soderstrom
2B: Luis Garcia
3B: C. Durbin
SS: CJ Abrams
IF: Dansby Swanson
OF: Carroll, Adell, Springer
UTL: Arraez, Vinnie P
BN: Royce Lewis
Thanks as always!
Ha, yup…Lose Lewis
Thank you & I forgot to include the list IL’d players in JRam, M. Garcia, Ranger Suarez, Ohtani – SP, and Buxton
…but just notified Buxton activated from the IL; so Woo Hoo!
Woo hoo!
Whole bunch of meh for my pitching this week. Pick 3 to start-
Aaron Ashby vs NYM, vs COL (had benched him but look at the opponents this week)
Bradish @ BOS
Kay @ Tex
Lauer @ PHL
Grayson @ SF
Buehler @ Atl, @ MIA
Ashby, Lauer, Bradish, these are terrible
I agree! but it’s a 14 team league. and I do have Jhoan, Tanner scott, 2 Hunters, Rasmussen- this is to fill out the rest of the roster for the week.
Gotcha
just lost ohtani pitching in a shallow qs league who would you pick up from soriano, boyd, bieber, henderson, sheehan?
and thoughts on ronel blanco who is coming off IL
Boyd
You have multiple pitchers listed here better than Ronel
Which is the best option? Trevor Rogers vs. Atlanta, Ian Seymour at Toronto or Eovaldi vs. Seattle?
Eovaldi
Drop Okamoto to pick up Riley? Thanks Grey
No
@Grey: weekly roto redraft. Who to start at 1B this week?
LuGaJu – 3 @ Col, 3 vs Ari (facing 3 lefties)
Mead – 3 @ Col, 3 vs Ari
Naylor – 3 vs cin, 3 @ Tex
Thanks!
Garcia
Looking to upgrade my starting hitters, even if I take a hit on trading potentially the best player in the deal, 12TM PTS league (no K penalty).
Trade my Caminero and Paredes for Jose Ramirez and Ketel Marte?
Hold
Would you trade Riley Greene for Austin Riley in a keeper league?
No
Eovaldi is such a tight rope act. Before last start, 37 ks in 24 innings. I have him and Meyer at the end of my rotation rostering Skubal, Wheeler, Cease and Ryan as well. No one on the WW is worthy. I am fairly set with my hitters and bullpen. So, I may try to pull off the difficult 2-1 SP trade. The guys who might be available via trade are Luzardo, Webb, DeGrom, S Gray.
Ok
Should have been question marks in my post. You ok with these 2-1 targets or ??
Depends on what the trades actually are
Gotcha.
1. My Meyer and Eovaldi for his Webb and Morejon (I have no holds guys and it is time to not punt it).
2. For Luzardo and Morejon
3. For DeGrom and Morejon
4. For S Gray and Morejon
Any rankings on these are appreciated. Thanks!
1, 3, 4, 2
Thanks….dont trust Luz either
Nope
(1) Gausman (v TB; & @Bos) or Sproat (n NYM)?
(2) I didn’t understand your comment on Yesavage. I assume “meh, until further notice”. Correct?
Gausman 2. Feels pretty meh
Need to make a drop to make room for Julio. My options are Karros, Jung, Moniak who are my bench players, and then I have Sheehan as an option (other SPs are Sale, Ryan, Eovaldi, Hancock, Logan Henderson). thanks
Karros
Super late to the party sir, but way Chase Burns was in this past weeks sell.
Curious as to what you’re thoughts are on him in Dynasty leagues?
Long term, what is your expectation? Top 5 SP year over year? Top 10?
I still like him, maybe top 10-15
Leads me to my next question. Keep 20 no limit on how long.
Would you trade Acuna for Burns?
R,HR,RBI,OPS, AVG, NSB
K, K/9, QS, ERA, WHIP, SVHLD
OF I currently Roster: Acuna, Greene, Woods, Langford, Valdez(Pitt) Ewing Rooker(IL) Konnor Griffin(doubt his OF carries to next year)
My SP are trash…
Framber, Bradish, King, Sheehan, Jared Jones, Trevor Rodgers, Pffadt, Zebby, IL Corbin Burns. Snelling. NA slots, River Ryan Brody Hopkins Thomas White
I am thinking i need to make this deal for the long term…
No
Would you trade a keeper Wood ($15 in 2027) or EDLC ($20) for Kurtz ($8) in an OBP/OPS league (not avg)?
If you owned Wood / Elly do you think it’s fair to ask for a second piece back in either scenario due to IL uncertainty?
Thanks!
Nope
I’ve neglected to activate Langford assuming he’d be back on the IL by now. So I need to drop someone. Durbin, Valdez, Murakami, Wetherholt or McGonigle are my choices in a 10 team dynasty h2h points league scored on avg, hr, ops, sb and total bases.
Durbin
I was hoping you were wrong on Max Meyer!
Sadly I believe you are correct. Back to back short starts and poor pitching. Not ready to drop him, but my confidence is lost in the rest of the season for him.
I have Ian Seymour also, he looks like he may be a waste of a roster spot.
10 tm. yahoo league 7 pitching category
Thoughts on the following arms to add and drop Seymour..
Bryan Woo (someone recently dropped him)
Trevor Rogers
Landen Roupp
Jack Flaherty
Clay Holmes
Woo
ty
No problem
Meyer to IL, got my waiver claim in for Garrett.
@Grey: weekly roto. Need to start two of the following. Who do you like?
Bradish – @ Bos
Eovaldi – vs Sea
Hancock – vs Cin
Jax – @ Tor
Roupp – @ KC
Soriano – vs Stl, @ SF
Thanks!
Emerson, Eovaldi
Who’s the cut in an OBP/SLG out Kerry Carpenter, Grisham, or Esmerlyn?
Kerry
Noelvi Marte or Durbin in 12T H2H league? Reds seem to be jerking Marte around.
Durbin
Zebby Matthews went splat. Gave me a roofie.
I always like him, and even with deminished stuff but..he’s a bum. He lost his fastball and he’s useless.
I bet on him and Grayson Rodriguez to reach their upside, but all they did was surpass their downside.
Yeah, brutal
2-start SP options available on the wire that are interesting (i.e. haven’t sucked recently):
M. Kelly (vATH and @PIT)
Rey-Lo (vSD and @NYM)
Sproat (vNYM and @SF)
Matt-Lib (@LAA and vCIN)
1) Please Rank.
2) Start/Sit in a 12-teamer?
Did you watch the all star game? The kids riding bikes in to the field? Hoo boy. MLB marketing the cringe de la cringe.
Haha, I didn’t watch any of it, was in Hawaii
Actually, I caught the last 2 innings, I think
I missed bikes on the field
I wouldn’t say you “missed” anything.
Haha, that’s usually the case
Three additions to the 100 Best Fantasy Starts list on the weekend. It’s getting tougher to make it. The current line to beat:
100 J.T. Ginn May 7 @PHI 8 IP/1 ER/5 BR/8 K
The 3 that succeeded are bunched from #86 – #90. McLean earned his 2nd (and the Mets’ 2nd) entry. Skubal has 2 of Detroit’s 4, while Yamamoto gave the Dodgers 7 appearances on the list with his 4th gem:
06 Casey Mize Jun 29 @NYY
09 Tyler Glasnow Apr 23 @SF
21 Yoshinobu Yamamoto Jun 13 @CHW
30 Justin Wrobleski May 29 vs PHI
51 Tarik Skubal Jun 30 @NYY
54 Nolan McLean Jun 17 @CIN
68 Yoshinobu Yamamoto Jul 4 vs SD
69 Framber Valdez Jul 9 vs ATH
77 Justin Wrobleski Apr 13 vs NYM
84 Yoshinobu Yamamoto Jun 6 vs LAA
86 Nolan McLean Jul 19 @PHI
89 Tarik Skubal Jul 18 @LAA
90 Yoshinobu Yamamoto Jul 19 @NYY
Wow, I thought McLean was gonna be higher…
Well, I thought Yamamoto would be lower. 2 ER. 9 IP, but for me Strider’s #91 of 6 shutout innings with 8 strikeouts and 3 baserunners sounds much better. Just beyond my comprehension, I guess.
Haha, same
Facing Nick Martinez @ Toronto in 3 different leagues, Trifecta. I can say with all confidence, Nick Martinez will make your list tomorrow.
Your S & L detector was 3 for 4. Missed Jackson Merrill. Also, a typo on that player I traded away. Colson now has 45 home runs.
Oops, will fix
12 team dynasty 5×5 was offered Braden Montgomery Cade Cavelli and Bryson Stott for Gage Jump and Will Warren…..thoughts? Thank you!!
Cade side
12 team OPS and QS + SV/Holds Redraft league
Trade 1) I sent – Joe Ryan, DeGromm, Messick for CJ Abrams and Cade Smith
Trade 2) I sent Melton for Jo Adell
Would you have done either of those trades?
My pitching now is Boyd, EdRod, Foster Griffin, Lambert, Varland and Cade Smith.
Yes, they sound decent
Talk me off a ledge here…
I had a massive lead in an Otteneu dynasty points league, and now it has dwindled. Everyone is slumping here, but I think they’re good enough to turn it around.
The scoring isn’t simple, but essentially, for hitters, you get points for every hit and steal, and the bigger the hit, the more points. For pitchers, you lose points for every mistake (a lot for HR allowed), but you get points for every out and K you record. Plus there are points for holds and saves. Here’s my team.
C – Perez, Raleigh
1B – Alonso
2B – Lowe
3B – Paredes
SS – Edwards
MI – Hoenrer
CI – Contreras
OF – Julio, Walker, Simpson, Bellinger, O’Hearn
UT – Aranda
BN – Carrigg, Swanson, Antonnaci
IL – Cruz, Ramirez
SP – Framber, Flaherty, Suarez, Jax, Jump, Messick, Seymour
RP – Newcomb, Weaver, Iglesias, D. Lee, Dodd, Slaten
IL – Brown, Steele
I’ve had some bad luck with injuries this year. Raleigh, Cruz, Ramirez, Julio, Suarez, and Brown have all gotten injured. Plus, Hoerner, Swanson, and Framber have been awful, but their track records for success lead me to believe they’ll be better eventually.
Should I keep the faith and soldier on? We have an innings cap, and with that, I have 35 extra innings stored up over the guy who is chasing me, plus a 400-point lead (it was 900 a few weeks ago). With Cruz and Ramirez back soon too, I think I need to be patient. What do you think?
Your hitting looks excellent, your pitching looks pretty iffy…35 extra innings from those guys don’t elicit a ton of confidence…You have one safe starter and it’s his 1st full season
Would you feel it was safer if I continued to use the Stream-o-nator for stream starters and for knowing when to start and sit them? We have daily adds.
Not trying to plug SON, but it’s a helluva tool that’s helped me more often than not.
Ha, I would assume you are using it for everyone anyway, but you still don’t have safe starters…you could be okay, not trying to be a doomer on the staff, but it’s risky
Gotcha….thanks. I’ll see if I can trade for an elite starter or closer and trade away my younger pitchers.
Yeah, No problem
One quick follow up….looking at rosters and trying to make salaries work (league rule for salary cap purposes), do you like either of these deals? Keep in mind the other owner is rebuilding:
A) I get Gausman, I give Gage Jump and Zyhir Hope
or
B) I get Burke, I give Zyhir Hope
or
C) I get Gausman and Burke, I give Gage Jump, Salvador Perez, Zyhir Hope, Justin Steele (trying to make salaries work)
Gausman expires after this season and he can’t keep him. Burke has tow more years left. Perez is an attached salary dump by me but he gets a top prospect.
Burke seems fair, but I don’t love these
Thanks. Is it because you don’t like Gausman or Burke, or because I give up too much?
I promise I’ll stop asking questions.
You’re giving up too much for those guys…I like Burke tho, that one is close…But I don’t think Burke makes that dramatic of a difference here
Thanks as always for answering my questions.
No problem
The Red Sox would be in the playoffs if the season ended today (it doesn’t). But barring a losing streak before the deadline to match their 13 game winning streak, forget inevitable trade, Chapman isn’t going anywhere.
Ok