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Colton Cowser aka the Milkman delivered Friday night with twin bombs, first, this shot to centerfield and then a second in the sixth inning to extend the Orioles lead to seven runs! Holy Cowser! It’s his second multi-homer game of the year and he extended his hitting streak to five games, hitting .417 with a 1.045 OPS in that stretch. One of my earliest posts this year featured the Cash Cowser so it felt only fitting to go full circle here at year’s end. If you don’t have a Cowser, man, you might have a problem getting him out. Cowser has been an udder revelation this year, slashing .246/.326/.448 with a .774 OPS and 62 RBI, and is third on the team with 22 home runs. Just his first home run in September, he snapped an 18 game homerless streak, and the streaky Colton will have to go full steer if he wants any chance of stealing Rookie of the Year honors away from Luis Gil or Austin Wells, but he’s clearly earned his glass of milk regardless. Not wanting Colton to have all the fun, James McCann chipped in with two bombs of his own, his sixth and seventh. Anthony Santander also added his 43rd home run of the year and second in as many days and is looking forward to his big pay day this offseason. The Orioles were reeling, winning just three of their last 10 games, literally limping into the postseason as they returned to Camden last night and showed everyone why they’ve been a World Series favorite since day one. It’s been clear since the spring that this Baltimooore offense is at their most bullish when Cowser is hitting, and if he’s about to get hot, the rest of the league should cower in fear! Steer clear! It would behoove you not to underestimate this team. The steaks have never been higher! Is that enough cow puns for you? I had to get it all out, sorry, the end is nigh. Hopefully, for the O’s and Cowser owners he can keep this going or this is all a moo point.

Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:

Corbin Burnes – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 15th win. Burnes baby Burnes!  His second win in a row and third straight quality start. I’m not sure what you were expecting when you took him in the second round, but a 2.95 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 172/47 K/BB with 15 wins is about what you should have been expecting. Happy to have it! He dominated a hot team and got a statement win when his team needed him to. He’s been a better real life player than a fantasy player, sure, but as far as pitchers drafted in the first four rounds, CB has been one of the best, i.e. his elbow is still in tact.

Gunnar Henderson – 2-for-4, run, SB (21). Gunnar is looking down is scope at a 40-20 season, his .282/.365/.537 makes me gaga, and I especially like how savage the O’s are crushing Detroit’s playoff hopes.

Jameson Taillon – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 11th win. Pretty solid season overall for JT, it’s a shame his team waited until September to git gud, or that no other teams showed any deadline interest. He’s gone 6.0+ innings in his last five starts but he does get a scary start in Philly next week but with Philly possibly sitting half their starters I could see considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure though!

Porter Hodge – 1.0 IP, 0ER, 2 K, SV (7). I was all about the Hodge podge this time last week then I saw his anxiety attack on Sunday and I thought it was a joke. Not mental health, I take that very seriously, but that a MLB closer could actually have a panic attack on the mound and still remain an MLB closer a week later. Well, he has! And he’s been just about the best MLB closer with panic attacks in baseball since the start of September, with four saves in five chances. No need to get anxiety over this add, just grab him if he’s still available.

Dansby Swanson – 1-for-4, HR (16). I feel like he did this last year, Swanson loves September. He’s a PSL girlie. He’s an apple picking, cider donut, cozy sweater, pumpkin-patching kind of player. Well, better Dansby late than not at all, he’s hitting .323 with two bombs in the past week along with 7 runs scored, a steal, and 6 RBI. Yes, all the categories! I don’t believe the Cubs are mathematically eliminated just yet, so Dansby keeping the hope alive!

James Wood – 1-for-3, HR (8). What I love most about James Wood you ask? What gives me Wood for Wood if you will. Lol. What? No one’s asking, everyone has moved on to football? It’s not just the three homers and three steals in the past week. It’s mostly that he’s flying so under the radar that I’ll be able to draft him everywhere next year. You can bet your Wood on it.

Tyler Stephenson – 3-for-5, HR (19), 5 RBI. It was his first home run of September but I look at that .265/.344/.459 and I can’t be mad at cha, Ty Steve. But sure, tell me why you should draft Will Smith and Realmuto. Sal Perez is the only acceptable reach, and that’s only because I got mad love for him.

Nick Martinez – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 10th win. Just in the Nick of time! The season’s over. His fourth win in a row and N-Mart almost got the lede but you know I love cow puns. Tricky Nicky is rocking a 0.73 ERA, and 27/BB K/BB in September. He walked just one batter in his past 19 IP. He gets the Cubs next week and StreamONator hates it but they don’t know Nick like I know Nick.

Oneil Cruz – 2-for-4, HR (20). Ayyy, so the Cruz Missile joins the 20-20 club with this, uhh, missile to centerfield. I mean, it’s not 50/50 but overall the .267/.326/.461 slash is better than I expected, so why does he feel so disappointing? The counting stats are mid, and it feels like he’s always hurt. Still, the defense in centerfield has looked great so far, so this good not great season could make him a great not good draft pick next year. I’m all in on OC for the long haul, folks!

Elly De La Cruz – 1-for-4, 2 runs, SB (65). EDLC with 6-5! Can he get to 70? 7-5? Do all other MLB records seems a little meaningless after Thursday’s display? Yeah.

Jose Berrios – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 6 K. JB lost his seven game winning streak Friday night despite continuing to dominate opposing hitters, whiffing 19 Rays on the evening. That’s now 21 quality starts for him, tying a career high and he’s allowed just nine runs in his past 50.2 IP (8 starts), with a 51/9 K/BB  in that stretch. He’s carrying you and you don’t even know it. He also gets the Red Sox for his final start of the year and they look just terrible. You probably got Berrios in the 14th round or later, and probably can draft him there again next year. But no, grab Skenes in the second, that’s a sexy pick. I get it.

Jonathan Aranda – 1-for-3, HR (4). I covered all Aranda World last week! Thanks for finally homering again and not making me look so bad.

Hunter Bigge – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (1). Need an EZ save? No Bigge for Hunter! His first big league save! He looks pretty filthy and he also went to Harvard which makes him a smaht guy. He could be the Rays closer for the final week of the year which could mean one maybe even two save opportunities. Grab him!

Keider Montero – 4.2 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 7 K. Keider has shown some flashes of greatness this month but allowing four home runs while your team is in a heated wild card race is certainly not great.

Jesus Tinoco – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, SV (2). He’s the new closer in Miami, which means he gets to hang out with Messi! He also might get a save in the final week of the season! Maybe!

Michael Harris II – 3-for-5, run. 2022 called, they want their rookie back. MH2 taking me back to the year he won me a championship off waivers. He’s hitting .355 with four home runs and a steal in the past week! Sweet sassy molassy! He’s on track to possibly tie his career high in home runs. I’m convinced if the Braves had the White Sox roster, they would still be just a few games out of the wild card.

Ramon Laureano – 2-for-4, HR (10). Another scorching hot Bravo not named Acuña, or Albies, or Riley, or definitely not Kelenic. I almost wrote my lede about him but I figured there’s no chance you’d pick him up. He’s hitting .381 with two bombs in the past week and will continue to do so from your waiver wire I guess?

Jose Ramirez – 3-for-4, HR (36), 2 RBI, SB (40). JoRam slam! He also stole a base so he’s 4 dingers away from 40-40. 40-40 is not just ESPN’s new documentary spinoff, it’s also something Ohtani achieved a month ago. Does anyone even care this is a thing anymore? You probably should, cause it’s still pretty epic, and I know we always say JoRam is underrated but it’s hard not to when no one mentions him unless it’s regarding how underrated he is. It’s because he’s buried in Cleveland, isn’t it? If he got paid an obscene amount of money would we talk about him more?

Mason Black – 5.2 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, BB, 4 K, 1st win. Mason painting the corners Black!

Richard Fitts – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, BB, 3 K. Dick Fitts, which Boston fans insist on calling him, “It’s Richard, guys, please call me Richard.” pitched his third straight scoreless start and becomes the first Red Sox rookie to do that in ever. He’s been about the only bright spot around the Boston baseball team over the past few weeks and gets a friendly match up with the Jays next week. If the Dick Fitts, start him!

David Festa – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Uncle Festa knows how to fiesta, as his niece Jenna Ortega would tell you. But methinks this was more the Red Sox being bad and pathetic and less I should grab Festa for his start vs Miami next week.

Jarren Duran – 2-for-4, 2 SB (34). He looks like the only one on the offensive side trying anymore. According to Duran, all his teammates are looking like [expletive deleted] at the plate.

Rafael Devers – 1-for-4, 3 K, left the game with shoulder soreness and scheduled for an MRI. Manager Cora says he’ll likely be shut down for the season. Hard to call it a collapse since they were never in a wild card spot, but this offense clearly comes and goes with Devers and he ain’t look right. The Dead Sox also struck out a team record 20 times Friday night which is a nice fun thing for them and their fans.

Justin Verlander – 4.2 IP, 8 hits, 6 ER, BB, 4 K. JV is looking very much that, and if he wants to make the Varsity squad for the playoffs he gets one last chance vs Cleveland next week. Good luck, we are all rooting for Kate Upton to be there.

Kyle Tucker – 4-for-5, 3 runs, HR (21). Tucks doing his best Ohtani impression. Hard not to like the Astros going into October with KT hitting .421 over the past week and slashing .342/.447/.526 since returning from months long absence. He’s missed half the year and still has way better stats that J-Rod. Does that say more about Tucker or JRod? The answer is both!

Alex Bregman – 2-for-5, HR (24), 3 RBI. He’ll be a Yankee or Dodger within the next six months. Either way, he’s going to be a very rich man this offseason.

Eric Wagaman – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI. He was a BUY! He’s hitting .355 with two homers in the past week. Also, I love your noodles!

Kevin Pillar – 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR (8), SB (11). Returned from the IL with the slam & legs! The Pillar of greatness is the best thing to happen to the Angels since Eric Wagaman. Dream big, Angels fans!

Zac Gallen – 5.0 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, BB, 5 K, 13th win. I know this was a scary start, I’m scared of the Brewers now, but I did it anyway. I got the win but the three homers proved my suspicions: the Brewers are fully 100%, a wagon, ya’ll!

A.J. Puk – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 3 K, SV (3). As a Justin Martinez owner, watching his usage over the past week and now see AJ get the save in dominant fashion makes me want to AJ Puk. Yes, I think I’m going to be sick, and would not be surprised at all if Puk gets the next save chance.

Ketel Marte – 3-for-4, HR (33), 2 RBI. Lourdes Gurriel Jr also homered (18). The 33 homers is a career high, obviously. This is what the best second baseman in baseball looks like. Sorry Altuve, but you lost me when you took off your shoe. I’m not a feet guy!

William Contreras – 4-for-5, HR (23), 2 RBI. Speaking of best in baseball, William is not just better than his broheim, he’s been better than all the catching broheims, and is slashing .400/.490/.700  with 3 homers and 12 RBI over the past two weeks. His 23rd jack was a career high. This was a league winning pick in a lot of cases! Good for you! You think you’re better than me?

Jackson Chourio – 2-for-5, run, SB (21). Brice Turang also stole his 46th base. You’re my ROY Jackson! Paul Skenes who? Oh, right, well he is very cool and probably the pick.

Gerrit Cole – 9.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, BB, 7 K, 7th win. Yankees ended up winning this game in the 10th inning with a Juan Soto pinch hit, go-ahead RBI, but because it went into extras Cole does not get the complete game stat. And you know he loves those. This was actually the first time in like 50 years a starter went nine innings, got the win but did not record the complete game. How fun! Not fun is how scary the Yankees look with the Ace pitching his best game of the year right before the playoffs start. That’s how you build momentum.

Luke Weaver – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 3 K, SV (3). Luke, you are my closer. This is true. Nooooooooo. Well, he could be the new closer, but Clay Holmes also pitched the previous two days. Regardless, Luke needs to be owned everywhere this final week.

Garrett Crochet – 4.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 8 K. Manager Sizemore said that will be Crochet’s last start and he will be shut down for the season. Who is he saying this to? Are media members still attending the press conferences? Can I go? They probably have seats to fill.

Joe Musgrove – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 9 K. Back to back scoreless starts against some mostly terrible and one extremely awful team but we’ll give Musgrove his flowers. He might stop and smell them before his start versus the Dodgers next week.

Cristopher Sanchez – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K, 11th win. (ELEVEN). Over the past month, he’s rocking a cool 2.45 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 41/9 K/BB. We all know Wheeler and Nola are 1 and 2, but it’s the Rangers and Cristophers of the world that make this Phils rotation one of the scariest of the postseason teams. Name a better number four. I will wait!

David Peterson – 3.2 IP, 8 hits, 4 ER, 4 K, 3rd L. Facing Philadelphia in back to back contests is tough for anyone, and the Mets were flying a little too high for anyone’s liking if you know what I mean. Take ’em down a peg and we can still root for you in October.

Alec Bohm – 4-for-5, HR (15), 4 RBI. That’s an A-Bohm bomb! He made a pretty bad base running mistake earlier in the game and came right back with the jack and all was forgiven. I can’t stay mad at you Bohm. Not with those luscious locks. The power numbers leave something to be desired, but ain’t no one complaining about the .290/.343/.467 slash and 94 RBI. This kid is a star! Ha-cha-cha!

Jose Iglesias – 2-for-4, HR (4). OMG! This is Candelita at his absolute beastliest! Look at that bomb! How are you going to retire and become a pop singing sensation while you’re hitting .415 over the past two weeks? Pick a lane, bro! Imagine being good at multiple things? Must be nice!

Trea Turner – 2-for-5, 2 runs, RB, 2 SB (17). The Phillies scored 12 runs on 17 hits. Treat always saves his best stuff for last. Four homers and two steals in the past two weeks. That is until he sits for the final week of the season and saves his best stuff for October.

Jacob deGrom – 3.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, BB, 5 K. If I’m a Rangers fan and have to keep watching these geezers throw 3-4 innings while they toil in the dredges of the league. Stretch him out in the minors, please, I don’t need to see this ish! Are they ready to return or not?

George Kirby – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 4 K, 13th win, ERA at 3.60. Take me the Dreamland, Kirby! Georgie has a tendency for blow ups but when he’s on he’s absolutely as filthy as his 173/22 K/BB suggests.

Julio Rodriguez – 3-for-5, 2 HR (18), 5 RBI. Juul-Rod absolutely ripping the fattest vape clouds. Here’s the first. And again! Well, ain’t you a sight for sore eyes! Speaking of Treat saving the best for last…Julio was saving this for your team who is probably in last after you drafted him with your first pick. Batting .370 with three homers in the past week, someone has clearly been listening to the Talk Tuah pod. I’m just saying, you think it’s a coincidence dude finally breaks out of his slump when one of the finest pieces of media our society has produced in years drops? Not a chance. Talk Tuah pod is saving lives and fantasy seasons and even with Julio’s struggles its going to be hard to convince me he’s still not a top five pick next year.

Victor Robles – 2-for-4, SB (30). He’s batting .483 with 7 steals in the past two weeks! .483! This is a guy who hasn’t bat over .250 in five years, and he’s slashing .337/.404/.475 with an .879 OPS with C-Attle! It’s pretty rare for a hitter to find so much success in Seattle of all places. M’s need to abandon the power hitters and go for light hitting speedy guys. Field a line up of nine Ichiros. Regardless, they were smart to lock Robles up for two years. That’s a Victor-y for both sides!

Teoscar Hernandez – 2-for-4, HR (30). Andy Pages also homered (11). Dodgers looking pretty strong. Scary even. Spooky even. I guess it’s that time of year. Good reminder that pretty much any team could have had Uncle Oscar and we just let the Dodgers have him. No wonder all the teams but a handful are so bad.

Michael Toglia – 2-for-4, HR (25). He’s hit 25 in just over 100 games. That’s a 35, maybe 40 homer hitter in Coors over a full season, folks! He’s home all next week Toglia’s somehow still available in 90% of ESPN ghost leagues and about 70% of actual leagues. He’s either going to be a steal next year or burn someone really bad. Sign me up for either!

Shohei Ohtani – 3-for-4, HR (52), SB (52). Brohei with the slam & legs like it’s something he can’t do twice a day. “Normalize the slam & legs,” says Ohtani. Is he the no cap on skib undisputed goat? Was that performance Thursday the best single game performance of all time? Probably for fantasy, but I’ll still give it to Reggie since he hit three in the World Series. Regardless, Shohei’s 8-for-9 with four home runs, three steals, and 12 RBIs in the past two games.  I think he blew by 50-50 on purpose so the media wouldn’t be able to obsess over it every single game like Judge and his 62. That’s so smart. He’s so smart and strong and talented and funny and he literally outscored my entire team’s week in two days. 50-50 is cool, but you know what’s really cool, Jesse Eisenberg? 60-60. Yes, this is a thing I don’t think any of us thought could exist until two days ago. But since Ohtani now leads the league in skibidis over rizz there’s zero chance I’m counting him out from accomplishing this. Let’s get wild! 60-60 baby! Do it for Decoy!

Good luck in the finals! I hope all your teams win equally! Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. 

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martinrostoker
martinrostoker
1 month ago

yup, we are on the home stretch!

I am down to 39 innings which calculates to a range of 6 or 7 starts.

I was going to start
1. Zach Williams at NYM
2. Tarik Skubal vs TB
3. Cole Ragans at Wash

Do you still agree? These seem like auto-starts.

Now is the tricky ones

4. Arrighetti vs LA
5. cristopher Sanchez vs CC
6. Flaherty vs SD
7. Sean Manaea at Atlanta
8. Schwellenbach vs NYM
9. Burnes at NYY

Thanks so much for all your help!!

LG Baseball
LG Baseball
1 month ago

Dan Pants – had to break up these questions as my pitching options are pretty complicated for next weeks H2H championship final. I think my opponent is going to have volume and good arms by having Skubal, Ragans, Bowden and Ober having with a whooping 11 total SP starts. He punts saves so has no RPs.

I can try and match volume with 2 start SPs of lesser quality or go heavy with RPs and try to steal saves and ratios. There are 5 pitching categories W, SV, K, WHIP and ERA. Weekly lineup locks on Monday.

I have 4 SP slots, 2 RP slots and one SP/RP slot. My pitching options are:

SP options:
Shota 1 start CIN
Kikuchi 1 start SEA
Hunter Brown 1 start SEA (he is pitching Monday so could be a 2 start)
Kirby 1 start @HOU
Pepiot 2 starts @DET/@BOS
Schwellenbach 2 starts NYM/KC
Fried 1 start KC
Houck 2 start @TOR/TB
Eduardo Rodriguez 2 starts SF/SD
Tobias Myers 2 starts @PIT/NYM

RP options:
Hader SEA/@CLE
Helsley @COL/@SF
Mason Miller (SP/RP eligible) TEX/@SEA
Jhoan Duran @MIA/BAL

So I can go a few different strategies. 6 SPs and 1 RP or 3 SPs and 4 RPs noting I have Miller who can slot as an SP or mix and match any number of SPs and RPs. Sorry this is complicated but tried my best to explain my opponent and my options. Let me know your thoughts on the best staff for next week.

Thanks!
LG

LG Baseball
LG Baseball
1 month ago

Thanks for your Friday roundups all season Dan Pants! It’s looking like I’ll advance to next weeks championship and wanted your thoughts on some lineup options. I asked Grey as well but please let me know your thoughts too.

Looking ahead need your help on my Catcher and 1B. I’ve been streaming both positions most of the year in a 10 team H2H 7×5 categories:

1) need 1 C from the following options. I’ve ranked them based on Hitteron values:

Goodman 6 games STL/LAD
Connor Wong 6 games @TOR/TB
Kirk 6 games BOS/MIA
Keibert Ruiz 6 games KC/PHI
Austin Wells 6 games BAT/PIT

2) need one 1B option form below. Also ordered based on Hitteron values:

Toglia 6 games STL/LAD
Andrew Vaughn 6 games LAA/@DET
Donovan 6 games @COL/@SF
Burger 6 games @MIN/@TOR
Schanuel 6 games @CHW/TEX

Thanks! I might be back with some pitching questions

LG

VinWins
VinWins
1 month ago

Cole and Martinez made the 100 Best Fantasy Starts list last night, making a total of 6 for the week.

24 Brandon Pfaadt Sep 19 @MIL
33 Zack Littell Sep 19 vs BOS
43 Dylan Cease Sep 18 vs HOU
46 Gerrit Cole Sep 20 @OAK
47 Blake Snell Sep 17 @BAL
81 Nick Martinez Sep 20 vs PIT

I had Cole around 70 overall, so was surprised to see him at #46. He pitched 3 more innings than Nick, but WHIP was the same, ERA was worse, and Martinez had 2 more strikeouts.

I dropped Cole after his last outing, so I missed out on this gem. At least I added Nick on several teams yesterday.

VinWins
VinWins
Reply to  Dan Pants
1 month ago

Yeah, no chance without the win. Still very useful fantasy starts if strong in the other 3 categories.

denp1717
denp1717
1 month ago

Good Morning. I am in the finals. My hitting is good but I need 2 good pitching starts in the next 2 days. I am thinking Perez SD against the white sox and (don’t laugh) Beuhler against CO. Both white hot teams against bad teams. What do you think? THANKS!!