OTC 665 - SP Guide For The Fantasy Playoffs

0:00Hello and welcome to On the Corner of the Official podcast pitchers.com I'm your host Eric Swolzki joined as always by Nick Pock to go over these weekend starters and the starters for next week. And before we do that, Nick, I just wanted you to give a little plug or explanation about the list because the list has changed at this point in the season. Massively, it is a behemoth of an article. It's essentially every single start the rest of the way for every single team, as well as me pointing them into buckets of like generally at these are auto starts. These are ones that you usually just do it. They're ones that were Toby's and bombs and then you have the trade bombs, right? And then you also have the early streamers and the late streamers and like one game or so. And then the ones that you don't

1:00want to start at all. And that's for every single rotation. So what's really nice is that you can actually map out your playoff of weeks really effectively with it. It's just look, the list is not the same. It is not a list of the general talent. And if you like over if you run the simulations of the season, this is what's going to happen. It's now very scheduled dependent. And then there are other ones that like, yeah, you're not going to drop them at this point. Like what do you need for me? And you're not trading them. You're not dropping them. Like just start them. And if you wanted to side between two of those in the same tier, honestly, it's up to you. That's why they're all in the same tier, guys. So go check that out on Monday. You'll come out again. Huge thanks to Kyle Blant and of course, Josh Mackenstein for putting together a lot of those tables for me and helping me sort through all of it. It is a lot of words. I think that was the most words I've written in an article here and I was exhausted. But it should help a lot. And really, that merged with this podcast should make you incredibly prepared for what's ahead. Yeah. And that's just a good general reminder that as we go over the schedule for this weekend

2:02and for next week, if especially if you're in head to head formats, if there's a pitcher who you might not start for two weeks, that might be okay to move on from that pitcher, even if you wouldn't have moved on from that pitcher in, say, June. And we are now at a point where the schedule and these matchups matter more than the overall talent of said pitcher. If you're not to the time, you're still in your lineup. So we're going to start in the A.O. East with the Baltimore Orioles. They continue against Boston this weekend. And then it's Cleveland and Toronto over the weekend. And Nick, I do believe Saturday is missing from that schedule. So we should go ahead and put that in there. But it's, it's going to be a two-start week for Trevor Rogers next week. It's going to be Cleveland and at Toronto. And so that's something that we really like. I'm curious, Nick, with these other guys with Brandon Young, Shane Paz, you know, Bradish. Are you seeing these as streamable matchups? Yeah. So with Kyle Bradish, it's just been so frustrating. Are you going to have the curveball and the slider? And like, I just don't really know. I have him now down to question

3:07upstart for all of this. It's up to you. I think there is still at least quality start and win potential for this, even when you don't have the eight strikeout games from Brass, you can still get a quality start in here, right? With four or five strikeouts with Shane Baz. The curveball is really good. And some games it just doesn't go well with, say, the cutter of the change of helping enough for the four-seamer. But I feel like he's in a better place than he was in the beginning of the year. Again, it's about your situation. I need a good term for a guy with a long leash, essentially. I know I've kind of associated that with a Toby a bit, but it's not quite the same. It's a little bit different. Brandon Young just looked much better yesterday. And that opens the door against the guardians because that is a better approach for him. Sorry, a better matchup for him against left east because I like his left-handed approach a lot more than his right-handed approach where he has the footer that he can really work with against left east. So Trevor Rogers also, it's just so funny. You have a bad game and then you go into Corznyamiden Amazing Game. That makes all the sense in the world. But then you remember, right, these guys have these skill sets and they just kind of

4:07do what they do. Yeah, and Trevor Rogers as well. We've been we tried to figure out a lot earlier in the season as well. The Red Sox who are playing against the Orioles this weekend then get a really nice schedule next week. It's the Angels and the Royals. Sunny Gray and Peyton Toley right now are guys you have to just kind of use whatever they're on the mound. Keep an eye on Sunny Gray. He's scheduled to go after Saturday, Friday, but they did push him back from earlier this week. So not yet locked in on that Friday start against the Royals. We'll need to see what they do. It's two-start week next week for Patrick Sandeval and listen, I would not chase this because Sandeval has been questionable for his results and his performance in recent weeks. However, if you are really in need of wins, it's against the Angels and against the Royals. There is a good chance that Patrick Sandeval, who has been pitching far more than five innings in these outings. There's a good chance that Sandeval will pitch long enough in both of those games to qualify for a win.

5:08And the Red Sox should conceivably give him a decent win chance against the Angels and the Royals. It's super risky. He has not pitched really well, but if you are in deeper formats and you're streaming for wins, that is the one scenario where I think that Sandeval might be in play for you. I would try to avoid it if I could. I would tell you that you should actually go for Brian Bayo instead of Sandeval. I think that what they're doing is they're piggybacking Bayo a lot with Sandeval. Sandeval's ratios are just, and it's really been about the change up in the slider. And I think that Bayo, even though he didn't do well, that one innings last game, he was piggybacking with Patrick Sandeval. And I would be favoring that instead because I think it's just again too risky with Sandeval. Bennett looked good, by the way. And we're back into Proble Start with him, which is cool. Rainier Swarris is not looking good at all. He's so out of rhythm right now. He has been since the IELSTANT. And I am in that moment to say like, hey guys, you don't feel like you have to

6:10keep holding on to Rainier Swarris. Yeah, they're going to need to get that right. There's not a lot of options behind this. The Yankees get the Padres this weekend and then it's Colorado in Yankees stadium. And it's the Metz. It's going to be a two-star week for Cam Schliitler. Most of these guys are going to be guys that you're pitching, regardless of matchup. Max Fried will pitch on today, Friday against Sandiego. So by next week, we'll have two starts off the IEL for him. So I think that he should be good to go, especially against Colorado. I will say I do have some general Max Fried concerns the rest of the way because the Bone Brews on his elbow, which has popped up twice this year, it was not from a traumatic event. It wasn't from getting hit. It was from hyper extension of the elbow, which caused the Bone Brews when he was pitching. Obviously, he's going to continue pitching. And so there's a continued risk of that. And so I could see a world where the Yankees in these final starts down the stretch say, hey, we're not going to push you too much in these

7:14starts. We want you to be healthy for the postseason. So if you can give us five good innings, I think that might be good. Now that is my speculation. We've not seen that play out yet. So I would not react to that. It just wouldn't surprise me if that's a strategy the Yankees to. Absolutely. I think it's a really good point, Eric. And it's a case where if you have Max Fried you're going to keep doing it. We can just go for the best. We're going to see Will Warren actually piggyback with Max Fried today. And I would rather have Will Warren than I think Max Fried because I think they'll probably limit it before five innings are done for Fried. And it is just something to monitor it. Absolutely. So right now, yeah, you start him. Otherwise, good luck. They're raised to get Texas this weekend. And then it's Atlanta and Houston next week. Currently not a two-start week for anybody because the rays are going to keep this six-man rotation. So Freddie Peralta will get the first start against Atlanta, but it'll be E and C more getting that Sunday start. Curious, if you've seen anything, the last two starts from

8:20Freddie Peralta have been better decent. Curious to your thoughts on him. And then also Griffin-Jacks had a really poor first start against the Met. But the velocity was good. And he said that he looked healthy. He just had only had one rehab start. And so I think that he mentioned that just like pitching in game situations is just very different than throwing bullpens and whatever. And he wasn't sharp. Yeah. Griffin-Jacks, I know that I haven't missed a problem. It wasn't good. It's still a little for a reason. Still is a law over years. I think I came that up like 10 years ago. When back when it was called the DL, it was the DLH. But just able to hang over. I'm very happy that we changed to still ill. And Griffin-Jacks got that out of the way. Okay, fine. He at least was up to plus 60 pitches, which means you likely will see something around 70 or so. And I'm just going to say, yeah, he still has a stuff. It's just a little bit different. And I think that should be fine with Freddie Peralta. Yes, exactly what we expected

9:24happened. The rays were like, yo, more change ups. And there is something we said that maybe Freddie Peralta just needed to throw it more with his foreseemer to then say, great, this is just what I'm doing. Freddie Peralta over the years has been foreseemer is always kind of there. But then what are we going to get the slider, the curve ball, the change up? And the rays have been like, you are just going to do the change up more. And I don't care if it works or not. They've really allowed him to get that runway with it. So early the reps, I should say. And it does make me wonder if actually this is a better paralta now who understands this and can be more consistent with the foreseemer change up that said, it's really just the first time we've seen it. So at least he's not do not start now for Freddie Peralta. Sure. It's questionable. And we're going to take it from here. If it's another replication of the same kind of locations and execution, it's in a lot more encouraging for after that. Yeah. And this wasn't strictly the right on right change ups that we thought, but just more change ups in general. And that's it's working. It's fine. The blue jays,

10:27they get Kansas City this weekend. And that's in Sacramento against the athletics and home against Baltimore. It's two start week for Dylan Seas against the athletics and Baltimore. We don't really care that Dylan Seas is going into Sacramento. You're going to use him there. We do care that Jose Soriano and James and Tyone are going into Sacramento. I don't see how you can use Tyone there. Soriano is tough. I know he's, you know, being the assistant for us, but it's tough to throw him in Sacramento. Right now to me, Seas is the only Toronto starter. I feel really comfortable absolutely. And it's pretty much straightforward is that a mac sure is or a no just had an amazing outing. It was such an outlier and a anomaly. It's great. It's cool. It's awesome. I really didn't see much of anything that was different from the other games and it was just a really good two strike rate and put away rate to get some ace right out. So Soriano is a hipster. We know that I will note Dylan Seas is losing velocity is a little scary and there is nothing you can do. So good luck.

11:28You can't do anything about it. Cross your fingers and hope. Moving to the A.L. Central, we've got the White Sox there against Minnesota this weekend minutes home against Pittsburgh and at St. Louis. It's two start week for Davis Martin who came off the I.L. again was not pitching well before going on the I.L. I think this is a two starter that you need to avoid. We've talked about trusting Sean Burke. Perhaps a little less than we did like, you know, over a month ago, but these are two pretty good starts. Minnesota and St. Louis and the Minnesota and St. Louis starts the next two starts out. Why Anthony K is firmly on the streaming radar as well. But with you on probably avoiding the rest of the rotation. How cool is it the Anthony K's of thing Eric? How cool? Everyone was like, Sean Burke. All right. Look Sean Burke is still figuring out his secondary command again. That's everything with him. And I'm not quite at auto start again. But yes, as you mentioned, these are two good matchups. And Anthony K. Right is that kind of streaming option. Everyone else here, Davis Martin, Fed, a Castillo Castillo. Oh my gosh,

12:32Cantillo would have done to me. Luis Castillo. Jeez. And then yeah, it's just none of these guys that I want to go with whatsoever. It's really just Birkin King. Speaking of Joey Cantillo, the Guardians, they have a double header this weekend against the Tiger. So it's four games against the Tigers this weekend. And then they have six games next week, Baltimore and Minnesota. That is set up for a two start week for Joey Cantillo, Baltimore and Minnesota. How confident are you in that two start week for Joey Cantillo? Man, it felt like such a weird moment where everyone was just dropping Cantillo, even though like it was a rain delay start. And it was just all these weird situations. And then he had a seven walk game quality start was terrible change of command. I said, well, he's never going to have that bad change of command again. And he didn't. So it wasn't great. And he's not getting whiffs with it anymore. And all of a sudden things have gone bad for Cantillo. So I think in the 15 team, I'm going to go for it because it does not mean that he's just done so now, at least

13:33is at 90 through miles per hour on the fourth seamer. And the curveball is still going for strikes. But my gosh, he allowed that home run to Vlad Jr. That like that was such a bad curveball. And so many of those were just hung in the zone massively. It was a very bad game. So I really hope you adjust from that. It's not out of the question. Parker Messick, Evan Lambs, as you know, was good. Ternor Bobby, I don't even know if I should have this as a questionable. It's just the endless 15 team hipster thing of like 12 teamers, you really shouldn't go for it. And 15 teamers, I get it because you get the length and you have the opportunity. But man, it's the same story. You know, just you never know if it's going to be anything decent. Yeah, that's tough this time. Ternor, what's also tough this time of year is relying on really any of the Tigers starters. But decent matchups coming up. It's Cleveland again for four games this weekend. Then it's home for Minnesota and home for the Rockies. That's two start week next week for Troy Melton,

14:35Minnesota and the Rockies. We certainly like that. I'm curious because the matchups for Jackson Job are good, right? It's it's at Cleveland. It's home against the Rockies. Yeah. But the results just have not been there. Like is this wait for 2027? And frankly, have you seen anything from Jackson Job right now that makes you optimistic for 2027? Actually, you say that and I say no. I know. Jackson Job is he's a piece really. It's like you see this stuff and you go, man, this should really work. But there's something about the execution of it that I really want to do a deeper dive in some fashion on the guys like Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones and Jackson Job. And I even want to put Jansen junk in there too of these higher stuff guys who are just not getting those kinds of results that you expect that kind of withability. And even though their command isn't really like that bad, maybe it is showcasing control versus command. It's a great exhibition of

15:38this is why we say those two things separately. And right now with Jackson Job, I just I can't tell you that he's going to have a great start. He just hasn't showcased it. He hasn't showcased it. He can get whips and utilize the secondaries effectively to really match with the forceymer. I don't know if I want to even hold them right now, even though it is Rocky Road later on. And it's just I can't tell you. Well, remember, my presentation topic for first pitch Arizona is that we're looking at command all wrong. So there's certainly an avenue where we could work. I don't think I always pitch a couple ideas to like you and Eno and Paul and whatever. Like what's best for a presentation? I shouted. I was like, come and I will just say I'll you know, Keter Montereo. I have always been or this year, I have been a fan of Keter Montereo as kind of like a deeper league streamer because he does have good command of a

16:42deep arsenal of pitches. Cleveland, Minnesota are his next two starts. I think that those are totally fine, preferable for like a 15 team league. But in a 12 team league too, I think that I could talk myself into those stuff. Yeah, he's a whip god, right? Like he is someone who is going to be flirting with a one whip this year, which is bonkers for how many innings he's throwing out of the thing. He's like 130 now, something ridiculous. So fine, but you're not going to get strikeouts. There is not a great year A floor there. And you also do have Drew Anderson, who you know dealing with the DA and his split change is finally doing well. It's possible that he can go that forcing split change approach. Effectively, it's kind of like a mini-Galzman almost. And against the twins, possibly like there's a very small chance that he could steal a rocky road. Sorry, like for example, you have Anthony Andrew Sears going right now through this side and

17:43what maybe that double header we don't do that or they have a way to space it out is effectively to have Drew Anderson go on a Monday versus the Thursday, but sorry Monday versus Sunday. Probably not going to happen, but against at least the twins, I would consider that for a 15 team road, Drew Anderson. And Tury Melton, I know it just wasn't as great to find. Fremervale does probably all upgrade that from a do not start against the Rockies. I meant to do it. I don't know how I skip that one. I guess to questionable just because I do it with a Cleveland Guardian start too, but it's also just what are we doing? What are we doing, Fremervale? You got like, I don't know, four starts left to save your season. Please, for all of us. Yeah. Has not gone particularly well, but yes, against Colorado, I believe in upgrading that start. The Royals. They got Toronto this weekend and then it's Arizona and at Boston next week. It's two start week for Noah Cameron. And what you know it, Nick, apparently in the middle of July, Noah Cameron started calling his own pitches. And that

18:48coincided with him pitching a lot better. Shocker that a pitcher who made it all the way to Major League Baseball. In particular, a pitcher who made it all the way to Major League Baseball on the back of command and pitch sequencing and not dominant stuff. Because we know Noah Cameron doesn't have dominant stuff would succeed by being able to call his own game. Yeah. I will I will die on the hill that if Major League pitchers want to call their own game, they should at least be given the opportunity to. And if you want to revoke the privileges because they have like five starts where things are terrible and they're not sequencing fine. But I believe that Major League pitchers should be given the opportunity to call their own game if they want to. Oh my gosh. I mean, it should be the default. And it's not. And it just look, I had a whole conversation with you know on the craft just the other day. It's out now about sequencing and just how I feel like it's never going to be solved because it's not a it's very much of a interaction. You know, it's about the hitter and

19:55the pitcher. It's kind of the way that like poker is solved. But every situation is nuanced or extra information that you have to pull into this where you can have the mathematical probabilities. But that's not necessarily what you want to be doing with sequencing. If you have a 1% chance of something succeeding 99% chance of failure. And you can also say it's a 50 50 chance of success or failure, right? Because it's either right or it's wrong. Same kind of thing a little bit when it comes to sequencing like this of like it's a sample size of one. And even though we like to lean into the probabilities of like 60% of the time this is good or 70% of the time this is good, right? But this one scenario it's different and really having that opportunity as a pitcher is so massive. Yeah, I fully agree. Sequencing is incredibly nuanced and it is a read and react situation depending on what the batter, how the batter's approach is that particular if that which might change from his at bat at the beginning. So I grew with you and I am excited to listen to that conversation on the craft, which I have not yet listened to. So we're going to move over to the twins to wrap up the AL Central. It's the White Sox this weekend and then the Tigers and the Guardians next week.

21:00Nobody is set to get a two-start week because there is the expectation that Joe Ryan will return next week. We don't really know at this point. Yeah. Like he hasn't pitched in a rehab game. He's been doing live bullpen. So more come this will more come down to the twins and their belief in their ability to land a playoff spot and how quick they want to rush back Joe Ryan. So keep an eye on that. If Joe Ryan does not return that would be a two-start week for Connor Prelep, Detroit and Cleveland. Connor Prelep, who did not make a traditional start this week but followed behind an opener and that may be kind of interesting going forward if that sticks. Yeah, it's kind of Prelep is to me the perfect showcase of a young gun. Someone who I think will be better next year because he has a stuff and you see inside of games where he'll get seven strikeouts of five innings and then he will lose the other guys. It's about consistency and really harnessing what he has constantly throughout a game. Zemmy Matthews by the way is looking a lot

22:05better. The last two games that I've seen for him are the best sliders ever had. Location-wise, like he had 23 whiffs when it got loose bowl. It's insane. Then the next one was unbelievable left tainted batter command where he actually had pitched separation and lived on the edges for the first time because he's a really great example of control is not command where he was throwing a lot of strikes in the zone but those are really hittable and just strikes and not actually surgically moving around the zone and creating that we contact. So I'm really excited to see how he's going to perform tonight on Friday against the White Sox and if that is more of the same, I mean it's a little I can't quite believe it because I saw one game of one kind of command and one game of another and the slider wasn't as dominant in that second game. It was one over 14 whiffs as opposed to like what was it 10 over 33 or something stupid. I'm not super confident but I also will acknowledge that Zemmy Matthews might actually be trying something different with his approach and

23:09his mentality of executing everything. So excited for that. And Dean Kramer looked in Kramer. I know it's not so silly, Eric, but the splitter and the cutter are still effective. And it's like I'm watching these games with him and it's little microcosms of bad timing or like the three run shop from Alec Ballum in the six that was on a splitter high and tight that somehow would two outs out there running home or right or you have the like five hits and like four runs because all of them came exactly the right time. I don't know. I get a I get a sense that Dean Kramer is better than what we've seen in at Tigers. I think it's worthwhile in a 15 year. Yeah, I agree with the 15 team week there. We're going to move on to the AL West. We're going to before we do that. We're going to take a short little break starting the AL West with the A's they're in Seattle this weekend and then it's home all of next week Toronto and Seattle. It's two-start week for Jacob Lopez and in Sacramento. Jacob Lopez might be the only pitcher that I can trust right now. Jacob Lopez. Oh my gosh. You guys listened to OTC podcast. You were wise

24:14in smart and in the second half. You saw like we did. Oh my gosh. Jacob Lopez is doing the old approach from last year. We went on an amazing stretch. So I'm going to just see how this goes. He's been insane. I mean, I really just can't I feel like I should put him in auto start at this point because we're just going to auto start this until he just doesn't do it. It's awesome. Gage jump is the most annoying hips there. There is right now of just 11 strikeouts and then I'm terrible. But then maybe I'm not. But yes, I am. I don't know. So good luck and do what you need to do there. But in my 12 team playoffs, I wouldn't go for it unless I was desperate on Sunday. I'm like, I need to find something here. That would be a good option because yeah, don't trust if a ratio is but if you're trying to find like eight strikeouts or something on Sunday, Gage jump is in option there. And Nick is talking about this Sunday in Seattle. Not the next week. Yes, next weekend. Good. Yeah. Houston, they're against Arizona this weekend. Then they're at Philadelphia at Tampa Bay. It is a two-start week for Hayden, West Nesky. I know that he has been

25:15pitching better of late. A two-start week against Philadelphia and Tampa Bay makes me really nervous in particular because even though he's been handling lefties, like he had a pretty good start against the Yankees. The Yankees throw a lot of lefties out there. But starting Hayden, West Nesky in Philadelphia against like Schwarber and Bryce Harper makes me a little nervous. Did you say Schwarber like Schwarma? I might want to criticize the words in how people town sing. I love Schwarma though. Maybe I'm Schwarber. Okay. I, West Nesky is someone who's been really weak contact focused lately. And I don't know how much I want to believe in that. But last game, for example, was like about 80% weak contact versus 20% hard. I just make it binary between the two. And there's something to that. He is locating and executing a game plan effectively. It's just really the only thing that I think is good is the sinker sweeper to right handers. So lefties, as you mentioned, the approach not as strong.

26:21I think it's a 15 team worthy two step. But I don't think it's a home run there. Peter Lambert we're still going with Christian Javier. It's going to happen, guys. He's like, I don't get it, like why it hasn't totally yet. He did actually acts the cutter last game, which is low annoying because I feel like that was a game changer for him. We like, but I don't know. He's, he should be better than he has been. He really, it's kind of frustrating to me. And I'm waiting for that to happen. But I understand completely again, 12 teamers like you can't bank on it because we haven't seen it yet. Yeah. And we've talked about this before that sometimes those, those pitch mix changes don't click in immediately. And so maybe it'll click for Javier at some point in time. I probably wouldn't take the gamble against the Phillies next week. But there could be a decent start here against Arizona. I feel like it might be in the cards. The angels who are firing everybody, their entire pitching staff, all their scouts just everything. That's a good move.

27:21Honestly, not just, yeah, not a, not I think against the, no, no, I'm saying it more of just like, look, we've done it in certain ways, certain amount of time and we need just something new. That's all not saying that they miss it. So you're bad. Just you got to have something new. I agree with a whole heartedly. They're at Pittsburgh this weekend. Then it's at Boston at the Nationals. It's two start week next week for Grayson Rodriguez. Listen, I can't, I can't do that. We've already talked about that before. I will say the Nationals and the Red Sox are both teams that will throw a lot of left handed hitters against him. And the fastball changeup is what is working for him. So there is a world where Grayson Rodriguez could actually have two decent starts. I don't think those are going to be starts with lots of strikeouts. And I don't think those are going to be starts with wins. And so you have to take that risk where you want. You're basically making that a ratio only play for Grayson Rodriguez, which it's a difficult sell to me outside of like an AAL only for that.

28:27So first and foremost, I was thinking, what wins, but he's on the Orioles and they are they like five and I'm like, Oh, right, right, right, angels. Grayson Rodriguez, I kind of hear you. And I feel like against the Nationals, especially next Sunday, that was very tempting to point into questionable the very least. I think in a 15 teamer, I would consider Grayson Rodriguez here. Because Grayson Rodriguez, I think is getting better. He also tried to throw a cutter, if you remember, and it was a pitch that hit a guy in the foot, but it was 89. He finally, I like, Hey, here's 89 mile per hour breaker hit the guy in the foot lefty, but you know what, at least exists kind of. And the force him command is really good. So this could just be enough to like throw these in the zone and get through them. I do very much believe that Grayson is improving and it's a it's a perfect showcase of just I need runway. I just need reps. I just give guys time to really find themselves across the season, especially one where they haven't pitch for as long as he has. And you will see

29:31improvements in consistency over time does a skill that they need to relearn. So I would consider that a little bit. You say, Kucu to me is a real interesting one here because last game was a 88 mile per hour gyro slider that was very effective against the Phillies. The force him or got away with more than I expected to these throwing strikes. And it is at Pittsburgh and then it's at Washington. I think there might be something here, especially this weekend. If you're looking for a stream, Kucuji should be someone to consider on Saturday. And then Friday next week at Washington could work as well. Brian Johnson, I can't touch. We've talked about him a lot in the past. Arrayna is amazing right now. And so is that more so rolling with those. We'll just say Ryan Johnson with a new approach since the angels change their pitch coaching staff. That's not to take away from what you were saying or change it. But it the results have been a little bit better. At least, you know, the ratios have been a little bit better because he is going like very I believe he doesn't go deep into games either. Yeah. No, yeah. It's not it's just watch the changes. Yeah, I don't think you need to put him into your lineup.

30:34Seattle. Remember when this rotation was just locked in and great. Yeah, I can really get the athletics this weekend. Then it's Texas. And then it is at the athletics next week. Their expectation is that Emerson Hancock comes back next weekend. His still ill will be in Sacramento. And so that's a situation we probably want to avoid. Shocker that we have seen growth from Kate Anderson's fastball in terms of its IVB since he has made that debut where we were like, oh my god, he lost all this vertical movement because he's adjusting to the new ball. He's been, you know, solid enough that I'm taking that start at home against Texas next week. And then Logan Gilbert. I mean, I can trust it. Brian Wu on the road in Sacramento. I'm like a little bit nervous about. I get that. But who's pitching great. That's a thing. I mean, I think like all the home road splits and stuff too with Wu. Well, right now he's realizing, yeah,

31:36and he and my fastball to be amazing right now. And he's pushed it up in velocity. I'm still very much in on Brian Wu here. Kate Anderson, I absolutely agree with you that the the vert was about 15 or so in the first game in the last two have been about 17. Both of them, all three have been in a dome that is either in Safe Co. Sorry team mobile or in Toronto. And Kate Anderson to me is someone who should have a good floor. He is a good command pitcher. It wasn't actually very good against the athletics last game. I was easily the worst I've seen from him where his change up and his curveball and his forcing were found the middle of the plate against right handers a lot more. And thus what do you know? He allowed more hits in that game. He was not able to put away guys only a 30% overall put away rate had a much lower two strike rate, which means that these guys were seeing good pitches that they wanted to hit and put them in the play earlier on in that bats. And I think Kate Anderson is a really solid pitcher. It does not have the overwhelming stuff. And it

32:37really is so dependent on that command that it does make me in general concerned. But I see this as like a floor of a Toby. And that's fine. That's absolutely fine. Kirby is a hipster. So whatever Bryce Miller, I just can't touch. And yeah, I don't want to do that. Emerson Hancock one. Of course, we're starting to get the brice Miller thing is so weird to me. They had moved him into the bullpen because they he admitted he was pitching through a Lat injury. Now they're going to let him start again because of other. They have no one else. This is the dude. They have they have Ryan Sloan in double. They're not going to start Ryan Sloan though. But they could. I mean, they should. But they're not they feel like clearly injured. I know, I know trust me. I am I understand. This has always been the weirdest thing about the Mariners to me is that they just have no depth. And like they've been it's been insane that they've had such a rock rotation that they had six guys were no injuries. Only someone coming back that was Bryce Miller until this Emerson Hancock

33:39injury, which is nuts. Like absolutely nuts. It's crazy. And they treated me cast. Do even though I was like, I don't think they can because they need they need it. I don't know. Right. No, I got I got it at that point. But yeah, it's a little tough. Right. Who on a Texas? This is a situation now. Okay. Yeah. The Rangers get Tampa Bay this weekend. And then it's on the road all next week at Seattle at Arizona. It's two-start week for Cody Bradford, Seattle and Arizona. That stuff. I was a little more optimistic about him coming back. I thought we'd at least get like really solid ratios and like five innings stints. But again, you're talking about a command focused pitcher who's coming back from elbow surgery. And so you know, this isn't a guy who could just rely on raw stuff if the locations aren't there. And so I think it made sense that there would be some some rough moments in here. Cal control at Seattle next week. Are we keeping this train rolling? Oh, yeah. You know, one of the things I actually was talking about Jason

34:44Collette with this is like man, the people who picked up Jacob Lopez and Cody Bradford because he recently saw them against the race. It was like, man, those guys were saying pretty. And it makes me really think about our philosophy of having a 12 team redraft league where you are going after the exciting guys and not the Tobis because if you have a Toby, if you have a guy with Frember Balda's, you're just holding onto him throughout the entire year and you're dealing with that whatever. And if you go for someone like like Collette did, which is he had Jack Leiter, but he drops him and then he's able to pick up somebody else and then gives you the opportunity to get someone like Jacob Lopez or Cal control. So it's something to think about with, you know, it's not necessarily for the whole year when you get these guys and who are the ones that you're able to drop quicker in the season to give yourself the opportunity to make these kinds of pickups. But Cal control is just in a groove right now. I mean, really just don't think about it. Cody Bradford is is that 90, slightly underneath it, but that's never really been like we knew that. It's more about

35:44are you getting the pitch separation with your forcing where you change up right now? And the forcing were actually did come down and get some called strikes, but then it got hit upstairs. So I don't like it right now, especially against Arizona, but I will at least say, hey, maybe he can go six in Seattle. So I'll give that as a questionable. And that's going to do it for the AL. So we're going to move on to the NL here. We're going to start at the NL East with the Braves at Philadelphia this weekend, including Sunday night on Sunday night baseball. Make sure you check that out where my research gets used and a lot of the broadcast, which is pretty cool. And then they have a wrap around against Philadelphia on Monday. And then it's Tampa Bay and then it's at home against Philadelphia. It's two-star week for Grant Homes next week. Both starts against Philadelphia, which I can't do. This is Chris Sale to me. And then Tyler Malley, I don't love that it's Philadelphia, Philadelphia, but he's just been pitching so well

36:48since coming to the Braves. A lot of that is a little added velocity on the forcing fastball. He's elevating the forcing fastball a little bit more often and locating the splitter better. And so elevated forcing fastballs plus more splitters in the zone is lead. And especially when those elevated forcing fastballs have an extra tick of velocity that's leading to that success from Ali. Right now, I just I can't see moving away from him given how he's pitched. But it does make me I'll just say it makes me nervous that it's Philadelphia, Philadelphia. Yeah, I was really fun with Grant Homes. He was something of perfect games with three innings and then a reandole knocked him out. I mean, of course, that's just like through, you know, one turn of the lineup. He has been doing better and I can understand people like, how many great homes is a vargas for one right now for me? I gotta do it. I'm like, okay, you go and do that. Just don't do AJ Smith-Shawber and don't do a Brais Elder. And if you need to cheap win, sure, Martin Perez can be that. He's not pitching. He's a little bit more in rhythm. Tyler Malley, I just think is great. I just think he's doing everything he really wanted to do.

37:51He had a bad game against Philly earlier in the season, but that was actually a careful liquorice where he was cruising until like the last inning and then he just kind of got singled out. So I'm in on Tyler Malley and Chris Sale here, Martin Perez is for a cheap win. And if you must with Grant Homes, I don't blame you. I think one of those could be serviceable, but just boring, honestly, for the real estate broker, Grant Homes. What's not boring is the two pictures we really like on the Marlin. They get the the cup this weekend and then that's Miami and the Dodgers. Yuri Perez is not boring. Yuri Perez gets a two-star week next week against the Metz and the Dodgers. I understand that you know the Dodgers start will worry us a little bit. I will say the Dodgers are basically like a 500 team over the last like 35 games. Let's say the Dodgers aren't good, but that should not scare you away from Yuri Perez in a two-star week. And then I know that Sandi Alcantara might be a little boring, but I'm going to lock him in and pitch him against the Metz and I don't think I can use the rest of the Smarlans rotation right now.

38:54Yeah, Yuri Perez is going through a weird moment and it's kind of funny we had a great article yesterday going deep piece on Yuri Perez, but it came after his two starts that were just really bad. Going deep to take a while guys, you know, sometimes it's not always the perfect time. It's really really tough, but I mean, I used to have a role with it and I think he should be better than this. I think it's fast, but we're just too good. He's throwing a little bit too many pitches over the middle of the plate all of a sudden and it goes. But at least he's throwing his change for strikes now as opposed to like the 25% rates we saw last year for Yuri. So we're going to go with those two and then Junk, Gusto and Phillips are just all under performers and not to mention that the Marlins are really, really short on their leashes. Maybe Tyler Phillips is getting a little bit more, but it's not enough Cubs and Dodgers from the most part in Junk just to not go five constantly. So attention. Yeah. We've talked a lot about Junk and how the pieces are there. And we want to see them be put together there, not being put together right now, but I still maintain I might be interested in Janssen Junk in 2027. The Mets get the Jonsons. We get

40:01that's at Miami and at the Yankees. It's two start week for Sean Menaya at Miami and at the Yankees. This is not Sean Menaya pitching like he was pitching a month ago and I do not love that at Yankees on the back half. Even though the Yankees lineup against lefties is less intimidating just because some of those guys that are hitting well right now, those lefties that are hitting well right now are far worse against lefties. And then you bring in guys like Ilya Romus into the lineup and it's Ilya Romus isn't bad, but it's not the same as what they're getting from some of the lefties against righties. That being said, I still don't know that I could trust this. I'm curious if you can trust Sean Menaya and then I'm also curious, it seems like we're going to get Jonah Tong coming up do you have any interest in that in any of the? Jonah Tong. We had a really I think a very interesting discussion on discord about it and it's really huge props to the community and also a dynasty team really for like really digging into this stuff. And with Tong, I am not a

41:07believer because it's really still just forseamer and split change, vulcan change. With the cutter that is getting more strikes, which is nice, but it's not something that I feel like he's brand new and different and it's not really anything to say like yes, we should expect Jonah Tong to do well right out of the gate. I think he recently overperformed his last start and I wouldn't go for that. Zach Thorden is I mean making it work with forseamers and cutters inside the righties and fine. Do you want to just roll with that? Sure, you're not going to get strikeouts. It is not the greatest ratio ceiling. It's like a weird like small room of like you should be expecting six innings of two to three yard runs and a whip of like 117 essentially something like that. But hopefully you do get those six innings. Sean Menaya is not locating his forseamer well enough for me to really lean into it and no McLean is just no McLean and his Christian sky against the Giants should work. He has these weird moments of like one ending we're just like there it goes. He still is also not really focusing on

42:08the what I call the change up, which is the 91 mile per hour mystery sinker. But I think you really should against right handers. He needs that depth so badly and the splitter to me isn't really that. The curve ball isn't really that he needs that thing to work. The sweepers the hand of God sweepers staying up. So I hope he finds that but he still has a really good lefty approach. So I'll go with against the Giants question. Well, again, see you. Just a note on Jonah Tongue. He is scheduled to pitch on Saturday at AAA. So if he makes that start, he will obviously not pitch for the Metz on Wednesday. If he does not start on Saturday in AAA, expect him to be up for the Metz against the Marlins. So if you were even intrigued by Jonah Tongue, just that's one thing to watch over the weekend that will tell us if he's coming up or not. The Phillies they get Atlanta this weekend with the wrap around on Monday, they get Houston and Atlanta next week, which means it's two start week for both. Hey, Susie Zardo and Andrew Painter Houston and Atlanta. We have talked

43:11enough about how Painter has been pitching that I like him in that two start week, even though Houston and Atlanta aren't like, hey, I have to attack that offense. It's a two start week from a pitcher who's on a pretty good run against offenses that are solid, but not, you know, scaring the pants off me. And so I think I'm using that two start. Yeah. I would say, I, yeah, I get that completely with Andrew Painter. I mean, just a little worried that the Four Seamour is not the good one. Like we got two starts of him having this like 97, 98 mile per hour Four Seamour with extra stuff plus on it. And it was just like, oh, we're so excited. It's the best as fast as ever felt. And then it's been 96 cents. I'm like, okay, okay. Good thing is that the sweeper in the slide or gain whiff since being located really well against right handers. And that change up that he brought back from the minors is still very much present and good against lefties. So I'm still in on Andrew Painter. I'm not as excited because the Four Seamour is not

44:17that leader elite offering that it was for a moment. And it's also not as good for either. It's not 18 inches of various like 16 and that those two factors like, well, okay, it's like something's going to get back to it. Is it not, but it's so good enough like that. I have him as a probable start. I agree with you two step easy. Houston and Atlanta and Aaron Ola will find out on NBC Sports on Sunday night how that goes against. And maybe we'll have some promising. We'll have some research on that. Just about how Aaron Ola over the last seven starts has kind of changed his approach based on where he was getting hit in the zone has started to focus a lot more on pitching down in the zone. I should also note that I did some research because Noah, especially in his older years, we should say, but he's been far more command focused. And Aaron Ola this year has been losing a lot of called strikes on his curve ball at the bottom of the zone that were out of

45:18the zone last year. And we're called strikes. And this year they are at that rate has been cut in half of curve balls that were out of the zone low last year that were called strikes that are now not being called strikes because of the ABS system. Surprisingly also that where he lost the most was glove side sinkers that were out of the zone and called strikes. But then were this year not being called strikes. It's not a pitch he uses like an incredible amount of time. But was just something to think about that like those glove side sinkers mean sinkers away to righties or sinkers in on lefties. Again, it's not a common pitch for him, but he has had to adjust to, hey, I'm not getting the benefit of this like one ball outside of the zone that I used to get. And some of those guys take a little bit longer to make that adjustment. Yeah, definitely. It's fun stuff. You got to in guys. Got you. Rappin up the NL East with the Nationals. They get the Dodgers this weekend

46:24and then at San Diego and LA. Kate Cavali, it's potentially coronation day on Saturday against the Dodgers. Regardless, I feel like you feel pretty good about that matchup against the angels next week. Oh, yeah. You got to do it. And you lost the days there. And you know, even though Qatar is still present at school, you've got a questionable start for next week, not this weekend against the Dodgers. But for next week, Jackson Kent against the Podgers. I'm just saying I know two first names. I understand. But it's really actually reverse. You could say Kent Jackson. But actually, it's kind of funny. It's like two first and two last names. But anyway, Jackson Kent is a it's kind of like jig Bennett, where it's a seven foot extension plus a south paw, who can go high four Seamer and low change up. And we just saw him go seven endings of production. I know there wasn't necessarily all the whiffs, but this is something that Jake Crumpler and I have seen over his first handful of

47:25starts that Jackson Kent was close to executing this plan and has gone a little bit better since. So I wouldn't take the chance against the Dodgers. However, against the Padres next week, it's now more believable that you can give you a good start. I'm really upset that Will Dion is not getting the leash that he deserves. Do you want like 35 bitches in his last one? And it's just, oh, come on, man. Brad Lorde went like three in change, but it was a rain delay. And he was actually pitching well, yeah, like six strikeouts. That's so bad for him. Finally, a proper start for him. He's not even involved in this. And it might be something where it's another Brad Lorde, it will Dion piggyback. It could be reversed where it's now will Dion opening and then Brad Lorde following. And I would actually be okay with Brad Lorde following. He's a sinker focused guy with his throw's hard with it. They can get out with it. He has a decent breaking ball, etc. So I don't know. I mean, I kind of I still have a soft spot for Dion. If you guys don't remember, he's

48:26super over the top. Jay Crumpler comp them to a left handed and and hell. Oh my gosh, Alan Ren hell. And which is good because you don't want the super over the top from the right side. You want from the left side where it's like this glasses change up. So we'll see what happens. But for now, it's just going to be Jackson Ken and Kigaballi's ones I would consider. I would, you know, come to think of it, I am going to also put in Andrew Alvarez as a question of starting against the Angels. Just because I recognize that the curveball has been very effective. And it's the Angels and he'll be able to throw hopefully some more back foot breaking balls in there too. I don't love it. I don't think he goes along enough in the games. But I do recognize Angels are not a good offense. And Alvarez could provide some sort of a decency there. So I'll upgrade that one. There you go. We're going to move on to the NL Central before we do that. We're going to take a quick little break starting the NL Central with Chicago Cups. They get Miami this weekend. And then it is at Milwaukee at or home against Pittsburgh. It's

49:30two star week for David Peterson, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh. Makes me a little bit nervous at a 15 team league. Again, I can talk myself into any kind of decent starter with a chance at wins. At this point in the season, I would be avoiding this in my 12 team leagues. But I want to talk to you about tonight's start first. It's been tough for for show to Imanaga of late. So tough that the Cubs have to continually defend that they are keeping him in the rotation. Are you running him out there and give him moments? Yes. I think it's a good situation. It's a good pitch with Park. He's getting whiff skies. Yes. The home runs have returned in some fashion like Palpatine somehow. And it's annoying. I get it. But we were more concerned when it was 90 and changed in the last city. Now he's back of 91. I need to again. And I really just look, it's ebbs and flows of the season. It really is. When we were so concerned about the home runs earlier on, what does he do? He goes like eight starts of like one home run all of a sudden. And it just is how it goes. It's a good matchup.

50:34I think you're all with it. Yeah. Okay. And then Matthew Boyd, you're questionable on against my image. Yeah. He's I mean, he is allowing a ton of home runs and he doesn't have the withability that Imanaga has. It's that simple. Okay. Move it on to the reds. We got to talk about something with the reds. Basically, there has been nobody we want to start with the reds, except for chase burns. In particular, because next week, they get the Dodgers and the Brewers. And so those are not really good matchups. But we also got a report that after the start on Monday, the reds plan to limit chase burns is innings. And they will be using Brandon Williamson, who is just activated off the IL as basically a follower for chase burns. Now they have used the term piggyback. And so this is not like a I don't know that it's a set chase burns are going to go three innings chase burns are going to go for innings. But what we do know is that after this start

51:38on Monday, they are planning to limit chase burns as workload. And he will they have a planned starter pitching after him. Yeah. So what that says to me is it will be highly unlikely that chase burns will go five innings in any start after this start on Monday. And that makes them really hard to roster. If you're in deeper formats and you don't care about wins, but you think that for innings from chase burns is going to get you ratios and strikeouts totally fine. If you need the legitimate wins from a starting pitcher, or you really do care about the bulk innings that you were potentially getting before, it's going to be really hard to hold on to chase burns after next year. Yeah, it's it's also an interesting thing. What is what is the quote that we have or the line we say in spring is that managers lie. And I have certainly seen in the past. Oh yeah, we're going to shut them down. It's going to be this is going to be that. And then they just keep going. And it doesn't stop. I do believe with you, Eric. I am on your side that like, yeah,

52:42they are going to do this. And it's very much up to you. We want to do with it. Don't start anyone else though. And maybe eventually you do want Williamson as a as the follower to maybe steal some whatever it is. But I don't trust Nick Lodolo and his curveball field at the moment as he goes against the Dodgers. I really don't like Brady Singer. I'm even though he can't get quality starts. It's just very meh at the moment. And Andrew Abbott does what Abbott does. And it's just I'm not dealing with it. So honestly, I just avoid them all. And if you are looking at next week in like, okay, I need more volume than this. I mean, it's a two step. So you combine it into seven innings. You just won't get a win. So think of it that way. That's you. That I mean, I guess yeah, fingers crossed that that's how they actually do it. And they don't bump him to, you know, later on in the week. But yes, that is that is entirely possible. Moving on to the Milwaukee Brewers, they are at Cincinnati this weekend. And then next week,

53:43it is the Cubs and Cincinnati, no two start week for them because we know these six man rotation. We know that Jacob Mizorowski and Logan Henderson are guys that we are using regardless of who they're facing. I'm curious if Cal Harrison is still somebody that you are using regardless of who they're facing. The last game out against the Cubs was not a good one. He had two decent starts before that, but he also had a really bad start against the Padres. So the results have been just a little bit more inconsistent since his return from the injured list with I believe it was that forearm issue is what they were referring to it as. Yeah, I'll been hand on our discord. He's a peel pro member was really pushing in about the their home road splits of Cal Harrison. I was like, okay, look, there are like two games that were like eight earned runs each on the road that's going to do it, but he did actually run some more things excluding that. And it is a very, very distinct split of like a 103 or a versus a 425, you know, 146 whip on the road and a 0.65

54:48and I'm like, it is kind of interesting to be like that much of disparity when I normally say just like, okay, it is a random grouping. I should have actually responded to him on it. I thought I didn't I guess I did not. So thank you so much, Alvin. And maybe there is something to it. And I totally understand if you have Cal Harrison right now, you're seeing the lower velocity underneath 94 that you don't want to start him in Cincinnati. And that's fine. That's why I'm as a problem seven auto very at least hosting the reds. I'm going to at least acknowledge that there is a higher chance at this moment that he does better at home and Milwaukee. The last game was just a home run garage. And it was a lot on the four seamer. So it is a little concerning at the moment. I think if I have Cal Harrison, I don't feel like I'm going to bench him at Cincinnati. But I understand if you want to be conservative there, Dustin May, I think should be better. I think he's going to be better hosting the reds and going into Cincinnati right now because he needs like one more start to get his rhythm back and get his confidence back. It's been a very strange string of delays or a comebacker

55:49or whatever it has been and then also in last weeks, just not good one. You also have changed Ron who I think is doing better with understanding his arsenal and executing it finally. And I love the fact that the brewers are giving him a shot. But I don't trust Gasser at all. Mizorowski finally had like a bad start and it's like, what is this game above 300 runs all year? Don't slow down now, but you got like three more. And so you won't say young please. And Logan Henderson is just insanely consistent and you got to go with that. You got to go with that. Move it to the Pirates. They get LA this weekend at Chicago at Chicago and at Chicago. It's at the White Sox and the Cubs. It's two-star week for Bubba Chandler. We have talked about Bubba Chandler ad nauseam on our podcast on this show, this podcast. It's just not a picture that we have come to trust. We have continued to kind of trust Joe Jones and you're going to start him against the Angels and the White Sox his next two times out. Great matchups. I think that he does enough to come through with him.

56:51You also have Braxton Ashcraft who hasn't got enough whiffs really. He's not throwing the breakers enough, but he at least he's going to be forced to I think against the Angels. So hopefully we see the slider come to life there. And with Bubba Chandler, it's like I've exhausted so much breath on him where there's the curveball. That's like a gyro slider. But then now he's added extra sweep to it now. I don't know what we're going to get with Bubba Chandler. And it's like dude, you have the things. Don't change them. Just locate them better. Please just focus 100% on where you're putting them. And then you'll have that success. And with Paul Skins, as Paul Skins, as just nothing you can do, I think at this point, you're going to sail with this ship or you're going to sink with it. So good luck. Yeah. Braxton Ashcrafts will be leaning into the sinker a lot more, which is why some of those strikeouts have gone away. I'm like wrapping up the central with the Cardinals. They're at Colorado this weekend. And then it's Giants and White Sox next week. It's two-star week for Michael McGreevy,

57:54San Francisco and the White Sox. I'm okay using McGreevy against the Giants in a deeper format as a ratio play. I don't love it as a two-star week because I don't love that White Sox matchup. I'm curious to your thoughts on McGreevy. And then why you are so optimistic about Quinnethics. So okay, first and foremost, we have Lakey who's on a limited pitch counts. We're not going to do that. And we have Andriplante again in course. No, thank you. And maybe at San Francisco, that's good because that's a good matchup for him. He can get we contact and get through that. That's fine. Michael McGreevy is seeing kind of way. He's very interesting to me. I'm agree with you. Do you have strikeouts one game? You don't win the other? It's just okay. Whatever. It is at San Francisco. Maybe I even make that a question. We'll start against the White Sox. The White Sox offense is not very anything to get right home about. Mathematics is going more sliders. The right hander is all of a sudden. He's pushing up to 29% to strike out rate since he's done that. And I really should be actually upgrading that Chicago White Sox won for him just because he has a strikeout threat. While then you have Quinn Matthews. And Quinn Matthews, I think is a really good pitcher who just needs

58:58more time. And I like that matchup in San Francisco. I think he's he does enough with his stuff. And he's especially after grinding yesterday against the Dodgers. He really did get to see that he is really harnessing what he has and then finding those. I guess I'll put it this way. I like to see pitchers get out of jams. I like to see them go into the back pocket and execute that pitch and really showcase that they can do that. Eacon has a whole thing about this. Whereas like you can see the confidence growing inside the pitcher. And here he is after going against the Dodgers in LA at San Francisco is just so nice. So I feel like he's going to cruise in that one and then keep that moving on for the rest of the year. I think we're going to be liking Quinn Matthews in our drafts next season as well. Quinn Matthews, you heard it here. Maybe not first. Moving on to the NL West. We got Arizona. They got Houston this weekend that it's at Kansas City and against Texas. We should just note this rotation is very influx right now. There are reports that Zach Gowen and

59:59Michael Soroka are going to return next week. The plan for Zach Gowen and Michael Soroka was to pitch four innings over the weekend at about 60 pitches. I believe that might be taking place today for I day. But just know that they if they come back next week, that's after an outing that was planned for about 60 pitches. So maybe you're getting like 75 pitches from them in their return. Obviously we'll see what they actually throw this weekend. But it's not like Zach Gowen and well, Soroka's been out for a while. It's not like Zach Gowen was pitching well enough that you need to rush him back. If he makes it back to the rotation and Soroka is somebody I would certainly wait on as well. I would have no problem with you adding him because he was pitching well. But 75 pitches from Soroka maybe against Texas is not something I need to force into my lineup. I would I'm okay holding off on that. Yeah, it's not ideal there. And I'm tempted to push him down and do not start there. I might push up also Merrill Kelly into questionable because he did look

1:01:04a lot better recently and is getting the pitch separation you want to see. It is at Houston, which is very interesting this week because it is going to be fewer lefties. But I am curious to see how that happens Friday night. But Texas against Texas, rather hosting them is good. Brandon Fons pitch separation and his command is as good as I've seen in his career. So that's amazing. E-Ride you're going to roll with Mitch Bratt. But I don't have any interest in. I feel like that's just what he does when he pitches. It's like a shotgun blast. And then you have Jose Cabrero who's really a bullpen game every single time. I'm no interest in Zach Gowen. We have no interest in time at the Rockies pictures because we're running behind right now. Yes, that's always Michael a little bit long in this. Michael a little bit long. Moving out of the ducts. They get washed in this weekend and then it's home at Cincinnati at Miami. We have been basically been told show how Tony is not going to pitch the rest of this regular season. The reports of the Dodgers that they hope he can pitch for them in the playoffs. So I would not be banking on that at all in the regular season. Emmett Sheehan back Sunday against Washington potentially next Sunday

1:02:10against Miami. What are your thoughts on him? Okay. I feel like Emmett Sheehan should be great. He's been killing it in the minors. He's just executing this stuff. I'm like, yeah, this is really good. Oh my gosh, I can't just like this. What's going on? So it should be good. But it's also the return and I don't know how they're going to use them and all this kind of stuff. Same thing with Justin Robleski. If it's a desperate Sunday, no one's noticing that it's Emmett Sheehan. Yes, I would pick up Emmett Sheehan and just give it a shot there. Because also the Dodgers are in a situation where like, yeah, we just need to get to the playoffs and we'll utilize Sheehan as best as we can to save our bullpen and make sure that they're rested as well. So that's where I'm leaning on that. And that's why I also have him as a problem start at the end there at Miami because I feel like after the first one, he'll get more more legroom to go maybe five, six innings with more certainty. Maybe push that e-pitch mark the higher probability. So good stuff there with the Dodgers and really Robleski. I mean, I feel like that should be fine too. And we'll see. Yeah, we'll see if I'll use any of these Padres starting

1:03:17pictures. They get the Yankees this weekend that it's Washington and San Francisco, not a two-start week for anybody because we could get a Nick Paveta return next week. It seemed like we were getting a Joe Musgrove return, but he had to pause the rehab again. At this point, I just kind of feel bad for Joe Musgrove and I had stashed him in some 15 team leagues thinking we were getting him back. And so I'm going to move on from that. Maybe he makes a start in like the last week of September, but at this point, I have no confidence in that. Paveta would be a great stash. He was, you know, he's been out for a long time. I don't know that I would use him against San Francisco, but we could get some decent starts. Remember that this is a team that is in playoff contention. So this is not a team with a locked in playoff spot. So their goal isn't, hey, we need Nick Paveta healthy for the playoffs. Their goal is, hey, Nick Paveta, we need you to help get us to the playoffs. Right. And so I don't think they're going to baby him when he does return.

1:04:21Robbie Ray has been, and Robbie Ray has been, I was going to say Casey Meis has been, Casey Meis has been questionable the last three starts. And I find it hard to use Casey Meis for the playoffs. There are so many storylines here. I don't want to talk about Walker Bueller because Walker Bueller, even though he said some success is just like, I can't believe in that. Also, I hasn't got long no strikeouts, et cetera. Randy Vase gets the same kind of thing. So you have Robbie Ray, who is finding out again that he has a good force humor to throw upstairs against right handers. Great. He's not leaning into the slider in curveball and actually the slider enough back foot curve balls somehow appears and it's like, oh, this is a good pitch or not. It's really just one of those things he has a feel for any given day. I really just want that back foot slider right handers. What is going on? Why isn't that not there? I don't know. I really, really hope he gets that going soon. Michael King is fine. It's really one of those guys. I think looking back, people are going to like it. And I'm going to be like, I went on it next year because I really feel that he's struggling to find any sort of consistency in rhythm. And to me, this is massive low potential potential for him in 2027. But right now you got no choice.

1:05:23You're going to go with it. Casey Meis is so strange where he had the weird injury stuff before the deadline. And then he felt like it was coming back and good. And then he slipped on the dugout stairs and heard his ankle. And the next started was then he won 82. And then now he's back to 93 94. Okay. All right. So we're I feel like we're finally in the position that we are okay with Myz. He's going against the nationals that it's going to require the splitter to show up. I hope it does. Simple as that. And then Paveta last game that we saw from Paveta was 64 pitches and 4.1 in nings in Oklahoma against the the Dodgers affiliate in triple A on the 30th of August. That came with Simon Strykowski, which is cool, but six whiffs and a 92 to 93 mile per hour for a seamer, which is not the 94 95 that you want to see. He had less around it. I don't know what the elevation is. But I do want to I kind of feel like it's not that elevated there because he did have still have a big curve ball there in negative 12. So it's a little strange. And I would not trust Paveta

1:06:27out of the gate here, especially 64 pitches means about 70 75. It's not the worst idea for 70 75 of Nick Paveta, but I get a sense that he's not going to be good in the first start back. Yeah, I would skip that first start back as well. We're ending here with the Giants. They get the Metzus weekend St. Louis and San Diego next week. It's two start week for Landon Roup. And listen, I think that we are back a little bit on the Landon Roup train. We talked separately. There was a report that came out. A lot of Landon Roup struggles tied back to. He had pitched. He had two where he went back to back over a hundred pitches and had mentioned that that wasn't something he had done since I believe college. And that his arm was basically very tired for the next few starts. And so we can have a whole separate conversation about whether we are monitoring innings and

1:07:28pitch counts or whatever too much. And that's to the detriment of the pitchers. But it is important to know that there is empirical evidence. And we're, you know, this is directly from one of the pitchers too that like when pitchers do have a sharp spike in usage in pitch counts over a consolidated period like two, three, whatever starts, it can lead to arm fatigue. And that doesn't mean they're injured, but it can lead to arm fatigue. And you can see some dips in performance after that. I think that was what happened with Landon Roup. And so I'm okay with this in a two start week because I think these matchups are fine. They're not great, but they're also not terrible. Yeah. It was Roup. It's all right. I think that it was really strange seeing him throw about 40% cutters. Oh, it's not really abandoning the change at last game. And I'm not, trust me, I'm the cutter guy. And also, that's a little weird because the change of has been so effective against lefties. And he's just like, I'm going to throw these cutters, which were not really the best located ones. There was like middle, middle upish and not inside as a norm. There would be

1:08:30Anthony Malena is someone to be focused on. I think I think the four seamer and 96 or so with good vert is an interesting pitch that he's able to locate these things well. And then he has a slider in a curve. I believe it was a slider in a curve. Yeah. It's breaking pitches. He has two secondaries. One against righties. One against lefties. X-J's I think it's a change of pull off these Amrit. He's kind of like a mini Logan Henderson type. That's it. So I'm kind of curious to see how this goes with Anthony Malena. It is a good home park. Of course, I'm not starting to even get some bets, but that's good again. And he is in Oracle Park against the Padres. That might actually be a stream next week. Matt Wilkinson also was a little interesting tugboat, the lefty, who's trying to, you know, be a high extension low velocity swatch. So it's like Cody Bradford. Think about that. It's kind of what he's going for a little bit, maybe a little bit better, of course. This was some a little bit better stuff in there, but not really something I want to chase right now. Playtool. I do not want to go after guys. I don't think there's enough there in Logan Web.

1:09:30You just want to start and oh my gosh, we did it. Not as short as we want, but shorter than usual. Eric. Yes. Just a quick note on Anthony Malena, though, just because you brought it up after that, after this Padres start next week, it's St. Louis and Minnesota scheduled. Obviously, those things can change. But so if you look good this weekend, then you could pick him up. And even if you choose not to use the Padres start, if the rotations hold, it would be two decent starts for him to end the season. So that's another feather in the cap for Anthony Malena. That's going to do it for us as we head into this Labor Day weekend. We hope that everybody enjoys their long weekend, enjoy baseball, enjoy family, enjoy barbecues, enjoy solitude and relaxation, whatever you're going to be doing. Enjoy it. I am Eric Smulski, Pelican. I'm Nick Pollock, the line he'll be working on Labor Day to do the list. I'll be working because as my wife says, sports never sleeps.