Wacha Wacha Is No Joke But Royals Get Last Laugh

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher slash journeyman slash heartthrob Michael Wacha pitched a real gem Friday night going eight innings allowing just four hits and striking out ten Cleveland Guardians for his eighth win of the year. Don’t laugh, Fozzy, this is vintage Michael Wacha Wacha, the only thing funny here is that the Guards can’t hit Wacha’s changeup. Throw all the changeups! The win was his third against the Guards in 2026, and he just seems to own them. His velocity was notably up about 1.5 mph across all his pitches with the secondaries particularly cooking and it led to tying a career high 10 strikeouts for the 14 year veteran. He also led all pitchers in whiffs for Friday with 16, executing some filthy changeups to keep Cleveland’s hitters off balance. He lowered his ERA to a cool 3.32 after the win, but he’s been particularly good recently with a 2.28 ERA, 0.88 WHIP and 40/8 K/BB over his past eight starts with six quality starts in that stretch. He gets another nice matchup with Miami next week. Wacha’s got a 3.50 ERA over the past three years is it possible we’re not appreciating this absolute strike throwing legend? He’s about as reliable as they get. As for his club, the Royals have now won 11 of their last 12, and I think possibly, maybe, feasibly, potentially, conceivably, perchance, the Royals could be a wagon, y’all? Wait, let me check the math here…calculating…calculating…is the AL really this bad? Hmm, well they’re still closer to last than a wild card spot, but if they can win another eight in a row, uh, then maybe, well let’s just see what happens, shall we?

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

Steven Cruz – 1.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 K, SV (6). The one thing standing between the Royals and a playoff berth, the worst bullpen ever assembled. This outing was way uglier than the line looks, and the line looks ugly. If only they had traded for some bullpen help at the deadline, but those aren’t exactly trades last place teams make. This team perhaps has the bats to climb back into this thing, but not if this bullpen has anything to say about it.

Tanner Bibee – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 14th L. That’s a ridiculous number of losses. At some point you have to look yourself in the mirror and come to face the fact that your teammates more likely than not hate you. I had a bad case of loser denial myself, but the lacrosse team took care of that.

Jac Caglianone – 2-for-4. OK, now for some fun speculatives! How high we drafting Jac next year? He’s hitting .404 with 16 runs, 7 homers and 28 RBI and 3 steals over the past month. Top 25? Am I crazy to go top 15? Remember, I’m the guy who put Kurtz in the top five. You heard me! If you don’t think I’d draft Cags in the top 10 you don’t know Jac.

Sal Stewart – 2-for-4, 2 runs, HR (29), 2 RBI, slashing .263/.336/.478. This is Sally, when the wine runs out! Blasted! Talk about a Role Model! Sally notched his 101st and 102nd RBIs on Friday, a record for a Reds rookie, passing Jim Greengrass, which sounds like a name someone made up on the spot at a park. If there was any doubt about this kid winning the ROY versus JJ Wetherholt or Carson Benge those should be all but dashed at this point. Dude literally leads the league in ribbies. Give him the trophy! The RBI record for a rookie is 130 set by Albert Pujols in 2001 by the way, and it’s in reach!

Rhett Lowder – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 5 K, 6th win. I did not have Rhett Lowder heading into Wrigley on a Friday afternoon to take down the Cubs. But he fought back after going down 3-0 and there you have it Lowder! Louder? HE BEAT THE CUBS AT WRIGLEY ON A FRIDAY!

David Peterson – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. The streamers were all in on this start and I just can’t get excited about Peterson this year after the disaster he was with the Mets. But I did some research (well claude did), and since his 10 run blow up in early July he’s been really good with a 2.35 ERA in nine starts since July 9th allowing no more than three runs in any start in that stretch! DP has been mostly great with Chicago but I see that 10 run outing and say to myself, “That will 100% happen to you if you add him.” So I’ll leave the adding him to someone else for now.

Pedro Ramirez – 1-for-4, HR (4). P-Ram hits his first Wrigley bomb and whata shot! He’s slashing .285/.343/.442 with a .785 OPS and Grey told you to BUY him! He was the lede even! Look at Grey nailing BUYs in late August while everyone else has moved on the fantasy football! This is the best time of the year for fantasy beisbol professionals, because no one else wants to do it anymore. As for Pedro, the rookie looks like a solid bat who can keep your average afloat and maybe add a steal or homer. He’s an even more exciting name to watch for NEXT year. That’s right the world is thinking about Gibbs vs. Bijan, I’m thinking about how early Jordan Walker’s going in 2027. This is how I win.

Michael Busch – 1-for-4, HR (17). He’s been solid enough if a bit underwhelming that I’ve rostered him the entire season but not exactly what I had envisioned on draft day. At least I picked him over Vladimir Guerrero I guess.

Jackson Kent – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 1st win. The rookie threw 106 (!) pitches in this one to notch his first career win! Have a day, kid! The command isn’t exactly perfect and he’s obviously not missing many bats, but as a lefty against the Marlins it doesn’t really matter.

Eury Perez – 3.0 IP, 2 hits, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 10th L. Hey, welcome back, I thought we were over this phase? Can we not?

Heriberto Hernandez – 1-for-3, HR (21). I want to a build a team of players that aren’t performing to the lofty expectations of their insane statcast profiles. Give me Heriberto and Canzone, Owen Caissie, Jake Bauers and Stowers. All the Marlins really. Garrett Mitchell is another good one, and maybe Heliot Ramos. If you can hit the ball hard, you’re hired. And when these guys eventually break out I can say I knew it all along.

Brady House – 1-for-4, HR (10), 3 RBI. Nats scoring nine runs with a sub-300 OBP hitter batting third. Give this Mr. Manager a promotion for real. We used to play Brady House as a kid when my sisters would pretend to be Gisele and I would pretend to still be relevant.

Hunter Brown – 6.2 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 10 K, 4th win. There he is! His first double-digit strikeout performance of the year as Brown had 14 whiffs in this one en route to 10 strikeouts. Take me to Brown Town, Hunter! It was also the first time he hadn’t allowed a home run in five starts. He gets the White Sox next week who he blanked at the end of July and Hunter getting hot at just the right time.

Christian Scott – 5.1 IP, 1 hit, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K. A good Christian Scott has been way better than I think I’ve given him credit for. He might have 12-15 wins on the Dodgers.

Shane McClanahan – 5.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 10th win, ERA at 3.24. Between him and Wacha it was a big night for changeups. The difference is Mclananananananan throws 99 mph.

Yandy Diaz – 2-for-5, HR (20), 2 RBI. His career high is 25 homers which is well in reach. Remember when he was strictly a contact hitter? You wouldn’t know by looking at him.

Chandler Simpson – 2-for-4, 2 runs, SB (37). Don’t make him run! He’s full of chocolate! Chandler’s about 125 on the player rater which is sort of impressive for a guy with zero home runs. Could he BE any faster?

Cam Schlittler – 5.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 5 BB, 8 K, 12th win. Goldschmidt leads Schlitt to win with big hit!  Paul Goldschmidt homered to provide the only offense in this one. Cam struggled with command but it was enough to put away the Red Sox for his 12th win. He’s allowed 1 run or fewer 18 times this season and he lowered his ERA to 2.09 in the process. He holds a 0.56 ERA versus Boston through 32.1 innings including the postseason. Cam also notched his 200th strikeout of the year Friday, and now holds an 11.05 K/9 along with the 2.09 ERA and 0.97 WHIP. Mmm.  Looks like a Cy Young to me.

Patrick Sandoval – 5.1 IP, 3 hits, ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 3rd L. To be fair, I thought Pa-Sa was gearing up to get absolutely demo’d by the Yankees and he did not. Maybe the Yankees just aren’t that scary without Judge, because I refuse to believe Sandoval is this good.

Kazuma Okamoto – 2-for-3, HR (27), 3 RBI. Sayonara baseball! That’s the record for a Japanese rookie, but we get to say that every time he homers. You know who didn’t hit 30 homers his rookie year? It rhymes with Brohei.

Dylan Cease – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 8 K, 9th win. Oh, hello Cy Young voter, I see your Cam Schlittler and raise you a Dylan Cease. He’s got a 2.33 ERA, which is higher than Schlittler but Dylan’s FIP is lower. Cam’s got a better WHIP but Cease’s has him in strikeouts, and opponent BA. The odds makers have Cam at the moment but don’t feel too bad for Dylan, he’s about to make a whole truckload of money this offseason.

George Springer – 4-for-4, 2 runs, HR (14). This is how you exit August. Maybe we should call him Summerer because he’s slashing .312/.357/.468 in August with two homers 10 RBI and three steals.

Hunter Goodman – 3-for-5, RBI. He’s slashing .255/.280/.617 and looks like a lock for 40 home runs. He’s a Good man indeed are you ready for our favorite game again? How high are we drafting Hunter? Premium position and safest home park imaginable? Surely he’s protected from whatever happened to Big Dumper? He’s just outside the top 10 on the player rater, I could see it! Did you know Hunter is the Rox all-time home run leader at catcher!?  He passed Chris Ianetta with 81 on Wednesday. Well, unlike Jac, I’d probably let someone else overdraft Goodman in the top 25 but I’m probably wrong about this one! This kid is a bonafide star ha-cha-cha!

Grant Holmes – 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, BB, 3 K, 9th win. I can’t recommend Grant Holmes for streaming, but if you need a mortgage he could be your guy.

Michael Harris II – 2-for-3, HR (22), 3 RBI. I still hold that the Braves lineup looks like one of the scariest in the entire league when they’re on.

Dominic Canzone – 2-for-4, HR (20). Hey, Dom, you’re on my all statcast team! Look at him crush this thing. I don’t need to see it just tell me the exit velocity, that’s what really revs me up.

Jackson Merrill – 2-for-3, HR (22), 2 RBI. Another one have a great August, Jackson is hitting .304 in the past week with three homers including this one he golfed for 430 feet. His seventh home run in August. What is it about the heat that makes these players so hot. Oh, I mean, the heat makes them hot, but the baseballs go weeee in the hot air. It’s science. Look it up!

Logan Henderson – 7.0 IP, 1 hit, ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 9th win, ERA at 2.31. He has a 3.28 ERA since debuting last year, and no one can hit Logan Henderson. How great for their Brewers to have another successful young starter. His fifth straight quality start, and his WHIP sits at 0.82. Sweet sassy molassy! I can see why the Tigers wanted him so bad. He looks like an Ace, folks. Mis, Harrison, Henderson? Who’s topping that 1-2-3? (Don’t say the Dodgers) Maybe I should rethink my Sal for ROY campaign? Is Logan the real answer?

Quinn Mathews – 5.2 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 7 K, 1st win. One T! The rookie nailed down his first career win in his first start at Busch stadium. Definitely went a lot better than his meeting with the Phillies, but with a date with the Dodgers on deck I’m not ready to buy in just yet.

Jared Jones – 4.2 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, BB, 6 K, 6th L. The stuff is so clearly there with Jared there’s just no kind of efficiency with the way he attacks. He looks unhittable one inning but then completely implodes. I’m holding him for his start versus SF next week, but I’m getting close.

Walker Jenkins – 1-for-3. Twins called him up to be the next big thing and because they knew your fantasy team needed a fourth outfielder.

Kody Clemens – 2-for-4, HR (22). Baby Rocket with the rocket. Am I wrong or are we not as impressed with Clemens as we should be? I know nepo babies are more common in MLB but this is the son of a GOAT and he’s a fairly decent borderline good ballplayer and just seems like he should be more popular with the MLB world. If Bronny was a 25 homer hitter people would be all over it.

Brooks Lee – 2-for-5, HR (22), 3 RBI. More like Brooks Robinson! Another one! That’s four home runs in the past week and he’s hitting .360 and I still can’t convince anyone to pick him up.

Colson Montgomery – 2-for-4, HR (28), 3 RBI. The ChiSox need CoSoMoGo to get hot like they need an actual starting pitcher. Maybe the pitcher is more important.

Andrew Painter – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He had one bad inning then went back to looking like the world beater he looked like last week. Certainly seems like he unlocked something, the high vert, the velocity whiffs on his fastball. We saw his control issues rear their head in the first when he gave up three runs, including two wild pitches, but he settled in and retired the next 11 batters in a row! (ELEVEN) He does appear like he’s going to be volatile but the upside is too good to ignore and he needs to be added everywhere right now.

Reid Detmers – 6.0 IP, 8 hits, ER, 2 K, ERA at 3.54. Meh. If the Angels did one thing right this year it’s convert Detmers to a viable starter so they can trade him.

Ben Joyce – 0.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB. BUY! But he actually got a hold for this outing along with the loss so explain to me how that makes sense?

Edmundo Sosa – 1-for-4, HR (6), 4 RBI. This was a pretty wild game in general but Edmundo channeling his inner Sammy to hit pinch hit  go-ahead grand salami with two outs in the ninth? All this immediately following Wade Meckler making arguably the catch of the year, robbing a home run the out before? How can you not get romantic about baseball, Brad Pitt? Unless you’re an Angels fan.

Jacob Lopez – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Wins? What are those? We’re the A’s not the W’s! Lopez has a 2.48 in August with a 35/8 K/BB and should be owned until the wheels fall off. He gets the Rangers next week and as long as you’re not fishing for Ws 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!

Brandon Young – 7.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 4 K. He lowered his ERA to 3.38 which is a yes but he gets Coors next week which is a no for me dog.

Jonathan Bowlan – 1.0 IP, SV (9). He got the save cause Jhoan Duran was having stomach issues which is honestly something I wish could be my excuse for everything. When am I not having stomach issues is a better question? You’re saying I can use this excuse to get our of stuff?

Bryce Eldridge – 2-for-5, HR (15), 2 RBI. He’s been underwhelming but the signs could be there for a breakout in 2027. Also he’s so tall!

Lars Nootbaar – 3-for-4, HR (5). Corbin Carroll also homered (19). The Sneks owned the night at Oracle with 10 runs off 12 hits including three homers. I thought their park was supposed to be their best player?

Tim Tawa – 2-for-5, HR (9), 3 RBI. The Tawa of terror! Another BUY! Timmy’s having a career month in case you care: .289/.340/.464, 5 homers, 14 RBI, 5 steals, .804 OPS. Think it’s a fluke? Avg EV is 90.9? 10.2 Barrel%. HardHit 45%? 74.1 Bat Speed.  Like seriously what does he have to do to get you to pick him up? Shine your shoes? Do you want him to dance for you? If this was banana ball his break dance moves would wipe the floor with the Loco Beach Coconuts! What’s the advanced metric for pop and locking?

Tarik Skubal – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 7 K. Skubal returned to Detroit for an emotional no decision. He fought back tears, he also fought back to stay in this game but Mr. Manager Roberts pulled him. The full range of emotions was on display for Tarik Friday night. We saw more emotion from him in one night than we’ve seen from Skenes in three years. Well, Skubs, if you’re that distraught over the move, you can always re-sign with the D for a generous discount. Let’s see how nostalgic you feel when your wallet is on the line.

Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!