Fantasy Baseball Podcast: September Call Ups

Jasson Dominguez and Kumar Rocker [Music] [Applause] hey everybody welcome back it is the RAS ball Fantasy Baseball podcast I am beon joined by the fantasy Master lothario himself gry Albright how's it going over there gray uh I'm good man I was just uh I was just calculating the odds that there is uh a pennant race for any team in the second half of September and the odds are uh zero do odds I don't know how odds work to be honest uh the odds are one in 100 uh so they're not zero they're they're bad the odds are bad when odds are bad I think they're higher versus lower so I'm going with that I uh yeah no I just saw uh Jeff pan of ESPN uh tweet out that uh the NL East uh race was uh getting tight the uh the Mets Braves for I want to say the second wild card so there's literally out of every playoff spot I think there's one actual playoff implications uh race in September I don't know I don't know if Rob Manfred necessarily drew it up like that but that's what uh that's what you got right now in uh in baseball they they added so many playoff spots and somehow there is a uh an exact cut off of exactly where the teams that are going to make the playoffs and the teams that are not goingon to make the playoffs so there's only there's only one actual race in baseball and the it's the Mets and Braves every other uh race I think is decided so actually I I'll I'll I'll clarify they're not decided like you know Oreos or the Yankees one of them's going to in the uh East and one of them is going to win a wild card but they're both going to make the playoffs what I mean is you know the Mets and the Braves are the only teams I think that have any sort of like chance of one getting in and one not getting in everything else basically has been decided I know it' be pretty crazy if Detroit randomly made the playoffs what wait what actually only three and a half back gray uh crazy as that sounds and the Cubs Cubs are five backs so yes those are those are the next teams in line but yes it's most things are pretty much settled here yeah I mean that's what I I said this actually someone got annoyed with me because I said something to this effect uh online and someone was like well no my uh my twins uh if they win the division then it's going to be you know then they get a by versus having to play the first series or you know what whatever was that obviously I I really pay attention to uh criticism um but I mean yeah I guess there's a little bit of difference but as we saw last year with the Braves getting in and then getting knocked out because they uh they missed the first series you know some some people were saying last year that it's better to playing the first series so I is there a real serious you know complication to whether or not the Twins win the division versus making the playoffs as a wild card uh I don't really think so but you know whatever there's actually there is a uh uh in my labor League it is uh incredibly tight I have uh I'm tied in first place with uh one other team and there's one other team right behind me so it's like it's a three- team Race right now in my labor league and um that's even less interesting to uh listeners than uh real baseball so we should jump into our uh jump into fantasy you know somebody out there might actually care about your team gray you never know but yes let's go ahead and move into some actual baseball here uh let's start let's go into the call-ups Jason Dominguez is coming back up he has 44 games games in Triple A this year seven them runs 15 stolen bases he hit 309 368 480 you know this was an obvious he should have been up already who knows what they were doing with the service time etc etc but do you think he plays every day and where do you think he sits in the lineup okay so first of all I saw that uh you know Jeff uh excuse me uh Jeff mcneel that's the Mets um they're basically the same player though Jeff mcne uh fractured his wrist uh but that doesn't really affect Jason Dominguez no what I saw was in relation to Jason Dominguez was DJ lameu got iel um conveniently right to open up a roster spot for Jason Dominguez isn't that is that funny how that works isn't that isn't that interesting what was the uh was it Billy eper uh the Mets GM last year who got suspended for a year because he was making up fake injuries uh how do you tell if there's a fake injury what what what what exactly is the uh the fake injury giveaway is it the uh player saying to the commissioner hey uh I got IED and I'm not actually injured is that is that the giveaway because I really I don't understand the whole uh you know oh yeah this is a real injury that just happen to coincide perfectly with us call up Jason Dominguez that seems a little fishy but you know what whatever we'll we'll let that go um yeah so Jason Dominguez also it is very convenient that Jason Dominguez gets called up right at the at the exact right time that if he were to get every day at bats he won't lose his rookie eligibility there also there's lots Jason Dominguez uh getting absolutely just uh uh service time uh manipulated anyway uh you know I think he I honestly from this point forward I feel like he can be a top 10 outfielder I am really like I'm not a Yankees Homer but Jason Dominguez feels to me like a superstar in the making like I I don't know maybe I'm a little bit uh gobsmacked by his sample size of last year when he came up and he just started pounding home runs I'm really am convinced Jason Dominguez he looks like the real deal I don't know I'm assuming there's going to be some Growing Pains at some point um but like everything in the miners tells me that not only is the power in speed there but he doesn't strike out at all like in Triple A 18 18.7% strikeout rate and Triple A as a 21y old feels like a superstar man I'm really like I you know I'm not usually a guy who gets all uh head over heels for Yankees but yeah Jason Dominguez feels special he feels like a guy who's gonna be if not you know uh if not next year because of you know potential Growing Pains within two years just being like a top 20 perennial top 20 guy for Fantasy at least that's what he looks like to me I I I really would I would grab Jason Dominguez in every single League like he feels like he could be a Difference Maker down the stretch um you know and as I say that of course Aaron Boon will be like I think Verdugo should get some advat so yeah I mean we'll see with that for you know for the for the extent for uh like the rest of this year yeah maybe he gets a little platooned even though he shouldn't obviously you know what what I said uh you know previous ly he should play every day um you know but Aaron Boone does some crazy things who knows I don't know I would assume he plays every day and if he does there's no reason why even in the shallowest of leagues you should be grabbing him I mean he could potentially have you know difference making uh numbers for the rest of the way I don't necessarily you know I I also feel like with the sample size from this point forward he could be basically you know you know the same as I don't know pavin Smith just to use some random guy who got hot uh you know this past weekend you know so I don't necessarily know if he's gonna be like Jason Dominguez could come up and go you know hit 200 and only have like a home run or two and maybe a steal or two and be like you know not worth rostering in any league but for the upside I would absolutely grab them and then you know looking forward like to next year I really feel like I don't know I'll have to uh I'll have to uh touch base with itch but I feel like Dominguez is probably gonna be the top rookie off the board uh going into next year I don't know we'll see he's uh I mean he's definitely in my eyes like he feels like he feels special he feels like a guy who's honestly like what we thought we were getting from why Langford it feels like Jason Dominguez actually is that thing but you know we'll see I I'm I'm super excited though to see him yeah um it'll be really uh fun to see him up I mean he should have been up you know a few weeks ago if not sooner I you know when he came up the first time and played a game he hit fifth they were down a bunch of guys who were injured it'll be interesting where he slots in in the lineup I think there's room maybe they could put him in front of ston they could put him in front of Rizzo they could just swap him in for Verdugo because they're lazy and that feels like something that that they would do but um I mean he could climb this lineup pretty quickly if he hit gets gets off uh hitting well to begin with let's talk about another call up in Kumar rocker he's supposed to start Thursday in Seattle for the Rangers double A this year he has 19 Innings 29 KS three walks one earned run in tripa a he had 10 Innings 18 K one walk two earned you know you mentioned kind of Dominguez and where he fits in the prospect you know world for next year rocker's definitely taken a little bit of hit in his you know his Prospect ranking and and what people think of him but those numbers that I read sound pretty good gray yeah no I I you know uh Kumar rocker is like uh rocker actually is a uh a good word for uh the well no maybe it's not I'm thinking of I'm thinking of John Rocker now that's so it does no longer good Kumar rocker uh is uh yeah I mean he's taken it's been like a roller co uh excuse me Kumar rocker has been like a roll a roller coaster for his uh fantasy value um you know in just the last couple years because you know he got drafted Ed by the Mets oh not good not good for the Mets to give up on him if uh this new Kumar rocker is the Kumar rocker to uh that we're gonna be seeing but yeah so the Mets drafted him turned out he had an injury let him go back into the uh you know uh the pool uh then he got redrafted by the Rangers the following year and uh so his so his stock was way down right so it was like oh no he's hiding an injury uh this is bad uh and then you know uh he went rehabbed uh looked great uh you know this year for the Rangers uh minor league teams like you mentioned and now I think his Prospect status is on the rise again because like we see what he's capable of uh I you know to me this feels like one of those situations like you know uh I I want to hope for the best with you know as far as this year goes with rocker uh he'll get that out of the way I think he's a streamer I like him I would grab him in any league but you know it's the same as like if uh you know Casey m is taking on the Rockies this week I would grab Casey M like it doesn't you know it doesn't matter uh what you know from now until the end of the year you know which starters are you know good or not more about what starters are having you know facing good matchups anyway that's as far as this year goes um but you know with Kumar rocker what I'm afraid of in the big picture is that he's uh you know he's he's one of these guys like you know we'll say um another guy who is on the Mets and now is on the Rangers in uh you know Jacob deg Grom now I'm sure rocker would love to have Jacob deg Gram's career and I think anyone would you know anyone would but you know by what uh what I mean by that is like I I'm afraid that we're going to see like huge insane great starts from uh Kumar rocker and then but he's not gonna be able to stay healthy uh you know I hope I'm wrong but you know the fact that he started off his uh professional career uh well he didn't really start it but the fact that he was you know drafted and had the uh you know the injury issues and then he went back into uh the draft the following year I mean that that really concerns me so if like people are looking at him for you keeper leagues I'm a I'm a little concerned with the whole you know uh the potential for injury here because I mean the stuff is really n i mean you see it with the numbers that you know the numbers that you read off and you know just looking at him if he is able to command his pitches I mean he you know for me I'm I sort of you know Jacob deg Gro was like that's Pie in the Sky sort of like turnout uh my actual I think a better comp is probably Mason Miller and uh you know we see what happened with him with the A's where he was just so incredibly good as a starter but he could never stay on the field for longer than like 20 Innings so they moved him to the bullpen and now he's been relatively healthy out of the bullpen so you know I think if Kum if I'm Kumar rocker or if I'm the Rangers and you know we see rocker's inability to stay healthy going forward I would I I mean I kind of feel like the Rangers wouldn't be too bad off to move him to the bullpen and have him be like a high leverage you know uh Mason Miller Devon Williams type who just throws like maybe 50 Innings a year and has like a 15 point you know 15K per nine or something like just ridiculous so I I mean that's just you know sort of me speculating there's no there's no word of that that I've scene um so yeah we'll see though I I'm looking forward to watching him in his first start against the Mariners but yeah I don't for this year he's just a streamer yeah I think so and it's not really clear how long he's going to have a roster spot as you know the Rangers have like 85 pitchers on the iil that are working their way back so any one of those old guys could could eventually come back John gray who goes to the iil you know as the reason rocker is called up it's not going to be him because he's out for the season um but you know sherzer is coming back still so we'll see how long this lasts and what it looks like but the accounts I read said his fast ball was back up in velocity which was a big reason why the numbers started to go bad was the velocity dropped massively uh the slider's always been good so it's really just that he needs the fast ball velocity to be there because he doesn't really have a third pitch right now so we will see what happens here and that could be very interesting if you're if you're looking around for somebody to grab yeah moving over totally yeah no I uh yeah he's he's a he's a really interesting one I uh yeah I'll be I'll be interested to see what happens with him because like his stuff is just so it's filthy like he's topping out at 99 it's just like you know I I don't know it's just the whole uh I don't know we'll see we'll see what happens because like the injury history and when guys are and when guys are hitting 99 and you know his elbows already you know he blew out his elbow in uh May of 2023 and uh had Tommy John surgery so you know and and then you know the velocities back up like you said which is great but I don't know it's it's always is a concern like how long do you have like you know look at like Walker berer for instance like how long do you have the uh the ability to keep continue to throw like say six to six to seven Innings a start hitting 90 even if he was down at 95 like 95 miles per hour throwing six Innings every fifth day is that really like you know feasible I don't know I mean I that's why I feel like the smart move here is to move him to the bullpen but you know anyway we'll move along yeah we'll move on until something like that pops up and maybe that's something they do at the end of the year if they're just looking to to find a place for him uh let's move over to dodgerland where Landon Knack was recalled he's going to go back in the Landon Knack and Jordan Walker rotation he has 68 innings in triaa where he had a 371 ER 126 whip with a 28% K rate 11% walk rate his 54 innings in the majors he actually has better numbers he has a three er 096 whip 24% K rate and a 6% walk rate his first start back he went six Innings to earned eight KS one walk is this an ad across leagues what are you doing with Landing that um no I mean again I I feel like with this little time left that you know you're looking at a guy uh who's probably just a streamer in most uh shallower leagues at least if uh you know if you're in a weekly 15 team mixed League uh well you know this is coming out after Sunday's Fab so he's probably gone by now but yeah I mean if you're in a a league where you have like everyone's rostered more or less or you know even a 15 team mixed League I guess yeah he's fine to grab there but if the matchup isn't good I don't think I'm starting him unless you know unless I really need it but at this time of year it's so much about like your fantasy team's needs than anything else um you know for him in the big picture wise uh he looks good I you know I really like the uh the Dodgers uh you know development for young arms until like you know maybe their second year in the majors when they need Tommy John surgery or something like the uh like the the Dodgers push guys they they really they throw their young arms a lot and they're good when you know before their first or second Tommy John surgery so I think Landon KN could be interesting you know for uh he looks like a a number six fantasy starter for potentially for next year like I I you know I'm thinking I'm already like in 2025 mode a little bit but you know for this year he looks like a streamer for next year I I could see the uh I I could see potential here for you know a 120 inning three and a half to 36 erra guy with like eight and a half Caper nine not not bad like definitely worthwhile it it sounds what I just uh said off what I just said those numbers are very similar to like what you would have expected from say Michael Waka or Seth Lugo like those are fairly safe numbers so if Landon Knack finds his way into uh the Dodger rot you know um next year there could be something here for this year we'll we'll see I guess if if you need the start and uh the matchup is good yeah I don't mind starting him like we like you heard from the numbers he's been very good and his starts the one concern is they do seem to have him on a pitch count and outside of that they also seem to pull him at kind of the first first sign of trouble which is fine you know managing young pitchers that way is is worked for the Dodgers um so that's my only concern if you're looking to stream him or looking at looking to roster him long term for this season uh long term being like three weeks but yeah that's uh that's all about all I would worry about everything else looks good on him and for next year we'll just have to see what the Dodgers rotation looks like because there's there's a lot of names for five rotation spots and I don't know who who who all gets them once everything falls out uh let's move over to St Louis where our our boy is back and that is Jordan Walker he went down to the miners for the minimum stay 10 days and now he's back during his 10 days down he had 32 plate appearances two home runs and a stolen base he had 258 he has nine home runs and four stolen bases for the season down in Triple A I mean what do you what are you thinking here with Jordan Walker we've we've been teased so much Gray yeah well he uh when he returned from uh the minor leagues ali marmal uh said that he was going to be a starter every day and then I believe it took about three days until he uh bed him for like Matt Carpenter or something just so I mean you know guys guys can get rest uh you know guys can get arrest here and there but to be up in the major leagues for like less than a month and you are putting a guy on the bench after you just said he's an everyday starter it just doesn't make I don't know man I'm just so confused as to how you know it's like the uh like if you're if you're like known uh as a team that uh gets nothing out of their outfielders until until they're traded away and then they become Stars if that is what if that is the common perception maybe you look at yourself you look look at your internal organization and you say hey guys what are we doing wrong here because it feels like it's pretty obvious that if a guy is like trying to develop at the plate you let him get at bats like that's not hard now now I can also say about Alec burles who suddenly went into a platoon for no reason I you know I don't know man the Cardinals just are really bad at developing bats like really bad um yeah so I don't know I I like Jordan Walker though I mean I think I said this the last time he was called up uh from uh you know before he went down for 10 days and then got recalled I think I mentioned that you know I'm a big fan still he's still super young uh he's got power surprising speed for a guy his age uh excuse me his size and he can also hit for average so yeah I'm I'm a huge fan with Jordan Walker but I don't know man he might need a change at at 2 at 22 now he's 22 and he might need a change of scenery because the Cardinals are just so bad at this um but yeah I would grab Jordan Walker Jordan Walker in any League just because like I I do think he's really talented and you know I if you have guys available in League who are actually hot I would go that route before I would just grab a guy who has talent who may get hot I would go with the guy who is actually hot so you know take that for what it's worth but Jordan Walker is a guy who I I still like a lot yeah I mean he's got all the talent in the world he needs the opportunity and just kind of hit the ground running what do your point if there's somebody who's been playing well available in your league then maybe that's the way to go at this point um just because you know burn the hand like if Conor nor is available definitely running with Conor Norby right now instead of running with Jordan Walker yeah exactly all right let's move over to the Southside where Brian Ramos Bryan Ramos, Marco Luciano, and TEX Call-Ups was recalled uh double A he has 24 games two runs two stolen bases hit 182 then he went to Triple A where he has 64 games eight home runs six St bases hit 263 339 416 had a 20 .8% K rate 88.6% walk rate has 16 games in the majors where he's hit 196 16.7% K rate and a 2% walk rate you know is this somebody you think is going to play every day grade worth a pickup I mean the white sock have so many people they have to get a bats for so I'm not sure they're can fit you know a top prospect in their system in the lineup yeah it's it's going to be a struggle for them to find room with uh lenon Sosa and uh Corey julks Zach Delo and I actually didn't make up any of those names uh yeah I wouldn't go anywhere near Brian r i mean you know if you want in like an AO only go for it but I I feel like you know I I wouldn't touch I wouldn't touch him in a mix League it's not worth it I I don't I don't I see you know I see the potential like if the lineup was decent and the uh the the everyday bats were guaranteed but I don't see either for the white socks so yeah I wouldn't go near Ramos for this year unless he gets hot and then it's like okay sure but yeah for right now I want to go near him yeah there's not many people in that White Sox lineup you want to be starting on a successful fantasy baseball team right now um moving over to San Francisco Marco Luciano's recalled Triple A this year he has 83 games 10 runs four Sten bases he's hitting 250 380 he has a 26.8% k rate 16.9% walk rate he has 21 games in the majors where he has hit 258 254 302 356 with a 33% K rate and a 6% walk rate what do you think about Marco Luciano uh he hasn't really impressed me much uh wait is that impress Shia Twain I I'm sh I'm I'm a Shia Shia twin that's the that's what we call ourselves at the uh at the concerts when we all dress up like her we're all sh we're all Shia twaining um you say convention gr we know you're going to conventions it's okay homemade knickknacks you got like a they call me yeah I'm Shania Albright when I show up I mean they we all we we take Shai we replace our first name and we use Shania and we keep our last names I know great Twain has a nice ring to it oh yeah but you know I I I wouldn't dare presume I'm I'm married to the great Chia twin anyway I don't I don't really care for Marco Luciano um I you know he's weird one because in the beginning of the Season like prior to the year he did look kind of interesting but then he came up and you know he did so little uh with his after his promotion earlier uh that uh excuse me last year and even earlier this year it's just like there's so there's so little we've seen from him that I I'd like to see some before I really got excited but you know he he does seem like in theory it seems like he has power like good really good power that is for a middle infielder and a little bit of speed but yeah he hasn't shown anything um he hasn't even really like he hasn't even shown really an ability to like run or or hit in any way in the majors that is um so yeah outside of NL only I'm not interested unless he actually starts doing something yeah I mean there's a lot of potential there the power is is legitimate but the the hit tool I I don't know if we're ever going to see the power that that exists there at least at least right now I mean he's 22 there's a lot of development that can go on still uh somebody that Carri a lot of prospect hype when you know he first came out at 171 18 but that's cooled as well as you know the hit tool just hasn't come around like we thought it might if you're looking around and you're wanting to throw you know darts that's that's fine but as we said earlier if if there's somebody that's already performing well probably go with them um you know I would go with Jordan Walker over him definitely Jason Dominguez so of the of the hitters we talked about last for me I'm assuming last for you as well gray yeah I know totally all right let's move over to Texas where they called up a couple of arms um or sorry never mind they call a one-on-one bat um they called Justin fusu has 48 games nine home runs two Stone bases he's hitting 276 420 477 just under 17% K rate just under an 18% walk rate he has 11 games in the majors this year where he's gone 071 133 107 uh is this just uh Al only and even then maybe nothing yeah you know even uh like he he looks to me like even if he were playing every day which there's no guarantee of that that if he were playing every day he kind of looks like a a sort of a a boring fantasy uh provider in uh in general just like uh you know like good hit tool kind of boring power and speed so like you know maybe 15 15 s 15 homers seven Steel 275 average even if like he were playing every day uh from you know the start of the year uh so it's kind of a boring uh line in general uh better better in deeper leagues because if he were playing everything that is because the uh the hit tool makes him interesting for a deeper league but yeah for for right now I'm not interested all right let's move on to the arm for the Rangers that is Jack lighter he has uh 77 innings in AAA this year 351 ra 126 whip 33 K rate 10.6% walk rate not so great in his 23 innings in the majors where he has a 1041 ra and a 184 whip but it was very small sample sizes given that it didn't go great in this first time around would you look at lighter or is this a you know we'll wait and see what what happens and maybe we'll we'll look at him more for next year yeah no Jack lighter unlike Kumar rocker I'm not even I wouldn't even stream Jack lighter because the command is so awful I would be I would be concerned about a blow up so I wouldn't go anywhere near Jack lighter for this year for next year he to me he looks a lot uh worse than Kumar rocker because of the command like I would need like I don't mind if the if the command is as bad as Jack lighter is uh it's fine if it's like you know coming with a 10 plus K per nine but you know in the majors so far he hasn't really shown that ability to strike out guys he has done it in the minors so maybe it's there somewhere he just needs to unlock it uh but yeah for right now I'm not even really that interested in Jack ligher for like 2025 I mean you know in deeper leagues obviously you take a flyer on a guy but yeah for uh for right now I'm not interested at all and I don't know I'll have to dig in this offseason but I don't really think I'm gonna be very interested in Jack ligher for next year either um I guess we'll see yeah we'll see how he finishes the year out if he's maybe figured some things out but given the current numbers that we're looking at I'm I'm I'm kind of with you we haven't really seen anything yet that points to something really strong for our game at least uh let's move over to Pavin Smith and JRod the weekly a couple weekly performers you mentioned him earlier I feel like we should talk about him since he was number three on the play raater this week and that is pavid Smith you know 62 games at Triple A this year he had 13 home runs a stolen base hit 318 433 564 he has 16 play appearances in the majors for four home runs one St basis five home runs NBI sorry that was this week um where he had four home runs stolen base for the season he has 44 games 700 runs of stolen base and he's in 270 what are we thinking about pavin Smith as we're moving forward is this somebody who might have you know a a place in our our game moving forward or was this just a hot week right uh you know I see uh mostly with pavin Smith I I think there's something is here but you know there's a little bit of concern because like in 2021 he did start 145 games uh 545 at bats excuse me 545 plate appearances he had 11 homers one steel and he hit 267 which from a real baseball standpoint that's not bad for a rookie year but then the Diamondbacks never really committed to him again so I almost wonder like because they have in theory at least you would hope that the team has more information than you know the uh Fantasy Baseball podcaster you would hope I don't know if that's always the case but you would hope that's the case so you know the fact that they never really committed to him again makes me think there's there's nothing really here other than he had a hot week and that's probably it like you know I given him the benefit of the doubt it looks like you know he makes really good contact um excuse me he has a really good eye he takes a lot of walks and he doesn't strike out his actual like his you know this bar except for um this past uh week he hasn't really made a ton of hard contact like you know his hard contact is up this year but that is so heavily skewed because he just had an insane week so if you were to just take like you know his numbers in general from like his um you know his MLB career he has has a 33% hard contact rate across like almost 1,00 plate appearances it's a lot of plate appearances to have a pretty weak contact so you know my worry with him is he makes contact but it's not really good contact usually so unless he's really unlocked something in this past week which I really don't think is the case uh I'm just kind of like eh he's a hotch matato and there's not much else there but yeah I I don't know he's I I guess in general to give you a comp he's kind of like a poor man's Tai France who is already like a Poor Man's first baseman so yeah not not much there yeah I mean you could maybe look at like his teammate uh gel Marte as as maybe the upside from what he could potentially be but even Kel had the random 30 home run season which I don't think is really in there you know I will say for the numbers the K rate's down this year which is nice always good to see on every player not that it was necessarily High to begin with uh the the hard hits up but as you mentioned very heavily weighted by the very good week he had because he only has 44 games up in at the major this year so we'll see if this continues but there are at least positive signs that if he finishes out the season this way maybe looking at him you know in deep leagues as you know a multi-position eligibility guy you can kind of move around and use as a quarter infielder or last outfielder type yeah somebody that we thought was going to be a whole lot more than that this year is Julio Rod Rodriguez currently 131st on the player Raider which is actually better than I thought he would be but over the last 53 play appearances gray has three home runs three stol bases 12 runs nine rvis 11 11% walk rate and K rate and he's hting 370 434 609 on the season he has 125 games 14 home runs 21 Stone bases and he's in 262 is this like the return of Julio Rodriguez is he maybe finally healthy is this just you know him taking advantage of September baseball what what are you thinking here oh man well we were wrong about uh counting out Corbin Caroll earlier this season so wrong about Julio Rodriguez and and and expect him to be better because I was I was pretty much con I just considered Julio Rodriguez done for this year uh prior prior obviously to the last like couple weeks since he returned I assumed when he was going to return from the ilil we weren't going to get much of anything uh like it was an ankle injury so I was concerned there wasn't going to be steals the steals came back um he's even hit for a little bit of power his average is decent um he's actually 15th overall on the sday play Raider and he's uh in the 80s on the 30-day play Raider um you know I I'd say that like you know the fact that I feel like uh him being in the 80s in like on the 30-day player Raider the fact that I'm I'm thinking about that as a positive shows how bad his season really was I'm I'm just so I'm just like I'm so I so I'm like Oliver begging for GRL when it comes to Julio Rodriguez it's like please just give me something man just give me anything so I'm happy that he's he's doing something um you know that something is I mean you know I I'm trying to be positive so the positives are the the fact that he's stealing bases that's a huge positive because the ankle so for the short term things look like it looks like he's healthy so that's great like obviously that's really good um the fact that he only has one Homer in the past week ah I mean you know like even like last year like his September was so great like for Julio Rodriguez to to be quote unquote good and only have one Homer in the last week it's like man we've really lowered our expectations for Julio Rodriguez so i' I'd like to see more still even um I'm you know reluctantly uh optimistic I guess that he's a little bit better and that at least it looks like he's healthy so you know if he can finish off strong H man he is going to be a tough for next year because if he can finish off strong say because right now he's at 14 homers let's say the power actually comes back in the final three weeks uh and he gets to like 20 homers 25 Steals and a 270 average and that would take some really heavy I mean that would basically be him hitting almost half of his homers in like the last three weeks so that would take some real doing because he hasn't shown really any consistent power this year but if he were to do that I don't know maybe maybe top 30 I I I mean he's or top 25 I mean he's really it's gonna be hard to draft him next year because there's not like there's very little uh like huge like you know great signs for what he's doing like his babbit he's got a 335 babbit right now with a 262 average and, homers in a terrible park with awful hard contact like his numbers are just not like jumping off the page as being like Oh yeah he's definitely now with that said the speed looks fine and you know to take another random guy another random Superstar who looked like really bad for a couple years or at least a year was like Bryce Harper there was a moment there where it looked like Bryce Harper was like a 240 hitter uh like a good like year or two of his career it looked like he couldn't like you know make contact anymore and he came out of it he came around so Julio Rodriguez is still young enough like I I mean he could be huge next year but to say like he's gonna be huge next year you're not looking at anything in his numbers right now and being like Oh yeah that's that's why he's going to be good next year like there's nothing really jumping off the page as being obvious as to why he's going to bounce back yeah let me throw a few outfielders at you real quick gray um let's start with Brent Rucker break out of the year uh man you know because Brent Rucker like I really really like Brent Rucker right I I think he's he's having a great year and the numbers and the uh underlying numbers really like um they they they back up like his Breakout right but he's not a 20 steel guy like Brent Rucker I think is a 32 Homer seven steel 255 hitter like even though he's hitting close to 300 uh this year and he might even hit 300 this year but it it's coming with such a huge babit that even though I know the hard contact like his hard contact is really good like Bren Rucker is making really good contact so I understand why the babit is high but I feel like even though it's like the hard contact is good his babbit is still a little bit it's a little bit above where I would imagine it's going to be so it's at three it's near 370 I imagine he's closer to like a 335 babit guy which puts him at like 255 as an average so 32 homers seven steals 255 there's nothing wrong with that but I think I'm going Julio Rodriguez over it all right I'm stay in Oakland Lawrence Butler or Julio Rodriguez oh I'm definitely going Lawrence but excuse me I'm definitely going Julio Rodriguez yeah I I like Lawrence Butler but I yeah I I don't think Lawrence Butler is on the same uh is not in the same class as these other is Rooker even I I think I think it's julu Rodriguez then Rooker then Butler even though you know Butler obviously has a little bit more speed but he's got so much less power and he doesn't make as good a contact he looks like a he looks like a 250 hitter Lawrence Butler too um and I like I like Lawrence Butler I think he's uh he's definitely someone I'll be targeting next year but I don't think he's on the same uh plane as uh a Rooker or jul Rodriguez all right last one before we move on the bullpen Jackson Cho oh Chio over all of them Chio over hul Rodriguez yeah that's what I was saving him for last cuz uh he's looked really great as of late and you know when we get to the end of the season the numbers are are pretty much going to be there at this point but the same time you know he's gonna have the same numbers as Lawrence Butler who you just uh shot down so just no I'm with you I think cherio probably probably moves to the top of that list let's move over to the bullpen um you know the Yankees have Bullpen, WW, and Streamers said they're going to get creative with their Bullpen so for whatever reason when I whenever I hear that I think of the guy the guy in h airplane who's like oh we can make a brooch a pterodactyl like get creative like what are you what are you making origami players like what are you doing creative like it sounds like you're at a a pottery class and you're like oh here here's a picture I don't I don't understand get creative man I mean the Yankees honestly the Yankees for for me are one of the funniest teams because like everyone is you know all their fans uh I think are like this but maybe not all of them but most of them and the media is like this where they're like you come to New York man you're gonna you're gonna have it rough if you if you can't handle New York you're you're they're GNA boo you out of this place you're not going to be able to handle it all right and then when you know you're actually in New York it's like oh clay Holmes only blew 11 saves not I mean it's okay right and then Aaron Bo it's like oh yeah it's fine we play DJ lahu for 400 bats it's okay it's like you don't have to be that good it's like oh Verdugo is one of the worst outfielders in the major leagues oh yeah but we only gave him 130 games like this is this is a yankee team that's supposedly so hard to play for it's like they're really not very hard to play for when you have Aaron Boone who is just like gives anyone a chance forever like forever it's like oh my God like how much of a sample size do you need to see anyway um yeah the Yankees are gonna get creative yeah so anybody you want there gray I grabed uh I grabbed Luke Weaver because he got the first save but honestly ly if by uh this Sunday like if by the by this time next week if uh you know Jake cousins or even clay Holmes were to get the next few saves it wouldn't shock me at all I grabbed Weaver because he got the first post homes save but other than that there's really there's no Rhyme or Reason as to what's going on there yeah I mean it could be Weaver it could be Tommy Conley it could be Jake cousins it could go back to Clay Holmes uh it could be Tim Hill in a lefty situation so um we'll wait and see what happens in New York but basically just avoid it unless you're chasing in need every little bit Dodgers we discussed them last week where they're pretty much in a committee at this point uh anything that you see different in how Dodgers approaching this no I agree with what we were saying last week which is basically I think want Evan Phillips to be the closer but copc could get saves yeah I agree moving over to uh Pittsburgh where ral's had a bad day um you know is it worth grabbing Denny Sana as the you know potential closer there or do you think they're going to stick with the oldis um well you know it's hard to say because I I think like if I were the Pirates and I'm not but if I were I would want Bednar to figure it to figure it out and to get the closer job back going into the off season because I mean I feel like he's their guy right I mean I don't know I I don't yeah I don't know I I I I don't know what the Pirates are doing because I don't think aald this is really their longterm solution for them I mean I get that he's probably better for right now but they're not playing for right now anyway like it doesn't matter what happens like in the ninth inning if Bednar gives up um you know gives up games and uh Chapman is a free agent and Bednar I I like I said I I feel like they want bedar to be their closer like going into next year so you want to get him right if getting him right means having him in the seventh or eighth inning then I I guess that's fine but I would think want to get him back into the ninth um you know with all that said I wouldn't speculate past the rald this Chapman in the pyate bullpen that would be it all right fair enough and uh I agree it seems like bedar should be the guy but maybe they're just trying to limit his Innings or just you know let him kind of cruise the season out and get him right in the off season I'm not sure what's going on there that'll be an interesting one for next year uh a situation I have no idea idea what to do with gray and that is the Marlins uh can you tell me who might get the next save there oh you know it's well there's a bunch of guys so there's a handful of guys it's uh tanoko Bender McMillan uh mcmillion uh Cronin uh Declan decan Cronin Cronin um but what's interesting with most of those guys at least uh they're all kind of good like they're they're not bad they're like you know I I think uh Bednar excuse me not Bednar uh Bender Anthony Bender has been like the worst but he's probably the one with the most experience and then you have like uh Jesus tanoko uh who's been like really good like uh excellent uh kind of Lights Out uh recently at least and mcmillion has been similarly really like solid like a one and a half ER so yeah but I don't think the Marlins are going to win many games I wouldn't I wouldn't speculate they they those guys have all been solid but I mean I don't know I guess if I'm GNA speculate I would go Jesus to noo but yeah I probably wouldn't bother unless I was crazy desperate for saves yeah I mean too's numbers are at least good enough to where if he's not giving you saves he's still you know Prov providing you with something valuable but it's it's a bad situation to be chasing saves from speaking of a bad situation to chase saves Victor vodnik returns for Colorado is is he taking the job back is it Tyler Kinley just avoid at all costs yeah no I I don't have the I don't have their stats in front of me but I think Kinley was something like a a six plus er something really bad I I don't like personally I don't need saves that bad if you if you do need saves that bad I guess go with VI Victor vodnik because like you know he was at least uh somewhat decent but you know on Sunday the Rockies actually had a save opportunity and they went with Kinley and vodnik was supposedly back so maybe they're sticking with Kinley I don't know I honestly I'd probably I would avoid it if I could but I I think I I would lean vodnik because he's been like somewhat decent oh I don't know maybe I no I don't know he hasn't really been good either I you know I I would just try and avoid it kinley's been like incredibly bad though like the fact that Kinley has gotten one save let alone as many saves as he's had I mean he's been so bad and vodnik really hasn't been much better um yeah I don't know I would I guess you know what I guess I'll go Kinley because he got the last save so you know bud black I think probably just goes with the guy who got the last save so yeah I guess I'll go Kinley but it's really really a void if you can yeah I mean I imagine Bud Black basically doing like the uh League of Their Own managing from the very beginning where it's like oh I really like that time in the sixth inning where you scratched your nuts for half an hour like that was some good stuff good managing back there uh so yeah I mean I think it's B Kinley until he blows it he's got the last three saves he's actually got three in September if you we're starting Tyler Kinley um congratulations you know the the risk paid off but it's not a great situation no why don't you give the people some wave wire bats I'll give them some streaming options and we'll get out of here gray Okay cool so uh as we mentioned earlier pavin Smith had an insane Sunday almost uh almost it was knocking on the door of Mark Wht you know no and not just anyone marks not not just anyone knocks on that door you know what I'm saying so uh yeah pavin Smith was hot uh I would assume uh you know he's available in your league so yeah I mean why not grab him he's hot uh then moving on to uh Tampa Bay Johnny Duca has been really good for uh about I want to say the last two weeks now he was uh he was excellent last week and even I think uh it bled into uh the previous week so yeah and uh same actually the exact same goes for Conor Norby he's been hot for you know uh a little bit over a week um Spencer Horwitz um Blue Jays uh middle infielder he hit two homers on Saturday then was benched on Sunday because John Schneider is a idiot and then Horwitz came in and hit a pinch hit home run because of course he did he's hot just play him uh okay anyway moving on Cedric Mullin has been really hot Ty France um looks really good in the Cincy red uh Andre chaparro uh probably saying that wrong but the Nationals uh Corner man he's been hot Trey Sweeney on the Tigers he's been hot Seth Brown on the A's has been hot um kenic has been pretty good for the last week plus he's been uh good Victor robless has been hot recently uh but he missed uh I believe he missed Sunday with an injury so you might want to watch that um Ezekiel Duran he has been hot for the Rangers he has eligibility everywhere so uh that's good uh and then uh Taylor walls say has actually been hot and he's uh I think he was hitting like 160 uh going into last week uh and he's uh he's raised that average a little bit uh he has a uh a homer and couple Steals and has hit 300 over the last week so he's been good and then uh Grant McCrae uh on the Giants Giants outfielder he had uh two homers I believe on Saturday he's been hot um yeah oh and Cody Clemens has been hot he's been filling in for Alec bomb so uh yeah there's some there's some names for you all right on the pitching side uh Patrick Corbin he's been a little Hit or Miss but he's he's playing Miami this week so feel like you could start him Austin gomber at Detroit aronal is a two start at San Francisco I like at Arizona if you can avoid that one do that you know in a weekly League maybe you can't you just take the risk for the two start Martin Perez at s Francisco Adam Aller at Pittsburgh and at Washington ker montaro versus Detroit again if you can void versus Baltimore I would do that but if not you know Baltimore has not been as scary um recently so not the worst possible thing uh and then Nick Martinez at Atlanta at Minnesota there are some streaming options as we get down to it if you have specific questions come find us on Twitter I at rbon gray is the owner of the at RAS ball account you can find us on youtube.com rball fantasy like subscribe rate review wherever you listen to us or watch us until next week gray talk to you later good luck everybody out there late [Music] [Applause] [Music]