 Hey everyone, what's going on? I am Greg Salsman joined today by Jim Sannes of Fandall. We're here to break down tonight's, and I'll be sleet. What's happening, Jim? It is all good, Greg. We got a lot of fun ways to attack this sleet. We've got a high-sourced pitcher-eyed door, a low-sourced pitcher-eyed door. We've got expensive stacks. We've got cheap stacks. You can kind of attack this one however you want. It's not a Tyler Chatwood sleet. That's even better. I'm psyched. How are you doing? It's not a Tyler Chatwood sleet, but it is a Trevor Bauer sleet. You want to talk about loving and hating? This is the definition of Trevor Bauer. There's no in-between with him. And that's both from a human being perspective, but also a fantasy perspective as well. There are people this year in season-long drafts that absolutely hated this dude, hated the ballpark that he was pitching in. They didn't believe his numbers. He had one career a year, and he's got off to a very, very nice start. Tonight on Fandall, he's 11,400 despite playing for the Reds. Bauer's been good, and he's your highest-priced player on the board. Why do you like Bauer Attic tonight? Yeah, I think it's kind of hard not to, Greg. You mentioned how effective he's been so far this year, and we should take that with a grain of salt because both starts were against the Tigers, and they might be the worst offense in the league against righties. So we should keep that in consideration here. But I think that the sample for Bauer goes beyond that. And looking at pitch mix for Trevor Bauer is kind of a fruitless endeavor because it's kind of like a dog chasing a car. You're never gonna catch up with Trevor Bauer because he's always tinkering. But we do an 11-start sample now on Bauer with more cutters. It was a second start at the Reds, used that cutter more often, and over those 11-starts, Bauer's been really good. 3.51 skill-interactive ERA with a 31% strike error. That is the effect of this from Trevor Bauer, but also the volume is there. He is a very strange dude, which means he never stopped throwing, and that means he did not have to ramp up as we got started for this year. So in 105 and 111 pitches in his first two starts, there are 0.0 pitch count concerns with Trevor Bauer, which you can't say for a lot of pitchers. So it's volume, it's effectiveness. He's facing a high strikeout team and the Brewers. It's a tougher matchup because they can't hit the ball well, but off to a slow start with a lot of strikeouts. So yeah, I think that you could push back on Bauer by saying it's a small sample on him, saying the matchup is tough. But I think with the volume and efficiency he has had so far, it's really hard for me not to go at Bauer. He just has things that a lot of pitchers don't have right now, so I'm gonna take it. And I think with the value hitters we have, he's affordable at 11-4. It's a high price to pay for Bauer, but he has earned it, like you said, getting a pitcher without pitch count concerns during the shortened season, it's not easy, but getting Bauer in the line of 11,400, it's well worth it, especially for how he's pitched thus far this season. But if you don't wanna spend up for Trevor Bauer, you wanna save some money, but you can save a whole lot of money by going with Yusei Kikuchi, who's $7,200 a year in a Vandal, I get it. You don't like targeting the team that he plays for, but this price is outstanding. Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, Greg, the Tyler Chatwood thing might be advantageous because we were chasing Tyler Chatwood based on a two-start sample, and now I'm recommending Yusei Kikuchi based on a two-start sample. So what could possibly go wrong? I mean, it can't go a lot worse. He can get scratched tonight and score more points in Tyler Chatwood. So hey, we're already playing with house money at this point unless things go really poorly. So we'll see. But I think with Kikuchi, he's basically a different pitcher this year than he was last year because the velocity change on him is just nuts. His fastball velocity is up 2.5 miles per hour. His slider is up like six or seven miles per hour. And his curveball is basically a different pitch because the Velo difference is legitimately 10 miles per hour. So I don't think he's throwing the same pitches at this point. He's a totally different pitcher. And I think that when that happens, you just kind of push what happened last year out of the frame and focus on what he's done so far this year. And what Kikuchi's done so far this year is get a lot of strikeouts against low strikeout teams. He faced the Astros and Kikuchi held his own there for sure, then had a high strikeout game in his second start and now faces the Rockies. They have been in coolers at elevation for about a week now. Now they had to readjust as they go to Seattle. Not a great team on the road to begin with but a 25% strikeout rate versus the lefties for their active roster since the start of last year. That all lines up for Kikuchi to be a really good option. I can understand not wanting to go there and not wanting to buy in on a two-start sample. You could go with Bower and Cache games. You could go Aaron Savalli. You could go Julio Rias. You've got a lot of good options on this slate. So if you don't want to take this risky path that you say Kikuchi, you don't have to. I do want to go that route because he's so cheap. He lets me stack the Dodgers. Let's me stack the Twins if I want to. I can stack the Phillies. Whatever I want to do, I can do so with Kikuchi. So although Bower is my number one guy tonight, I will sometimes take the discount and jump down to Kikuchi for just $7,200 and buy in to that was really two good starts. Not only buying the two starts as we saw yesterday with Tyler Chatwood, but it is different with Kikuchi. I was saying on Twitter that this Tyler Chatwood thing happens every year, right? We get super, super excited and then yesterday happens. But with all of the differences that you're seeing in Kikuchi that you did not see last year, he does seem different. Maybe that's just hopeful, but maybe it's real. There's a lot of other guys on the board. Like you mentioned, Kikuchi, he may be the cheapest and he may be the sneakiest option for tournaments over on Fandual. Let's talk about some of the higher price hitters that you're gonna go with. And well, we begin in Minnesota where Max Kepler is $3,700 tonight for the Twins. I am stunned. We're not talking about Byron Buxton after his home run yesterday. But Max Kepler is in the lineup at $3,700. Byron Buxton may not be on the graphics, Greg, but he is in my heart. I can guarantee you that, that is very sure. And the heart is fluttering after yesterday. But Kepler, a little bit of an easier sell at the top of the order with really good numbers since the start of last year against righties. A 44% heart hit rate, a 48% fly ball reverses righties. Combined that with a 17% strikeout rate, he checks every box. So you're paying $3,700 that is a lot to pay, but very much worth them. I like this Twins team in general for today facing Jacob Junis. Junis doesn't get enough strikeouts to overcome the amount of hard contact that he allows. I think the Twins are a really good stack here. And the good thing about them, Greg, is you can go at this team regardless of where you go at pitcher. They've got guys like Jorge Polanco, Mitch Garver, who are a little bit cheaper. If Josh Donaldson can play, he would fit that as well. But also if you go Kikuchi, you can go Nelson Cruz and Max Kepler. I'm never gonna say no to that combination. So they're a good team to stack today regardless of where you go at pitcher. I think the hope would be is that you use the guys like Garver, who are a little bit on the lower end of the spectrum in order to help you get up to either a Max Kepler or a Nelson Cruz, even in your bower lineup. So I think that they are not expensive enough where you are priced out even if you go bower. So I wanna try to get there. I think that Kepler worth prioritizing at $3,700 in a park that sets up really well for hitting with the winds blowing out, high temperatures and high humidity tonight. No players in the $4,000, which allow us to get a bunch of these high threes in there, including Max Kepler, who like you said, a bit of an easier sell than a Byron Buxton hitting the top of the lineup and with that power that was already been displayed throughout the season. Kepler in the lineups, Buxton in the heart. Up next for us, we get to Bo Bichette, who's $3,200 tonight for the Toronto Blue Jays. Bichette had high expectations coming into this year. Do you feel like he's met them thus far? I don't think anybody on this Blue Jays team has met expectations so far this year. I mean, they've had a rough start, but he also has to remember that it's a very small sample because they did miss some time with opponents getting COVID-19. So it's still a really small sample. And that's why the Blue Jays are a little bit risky here because they've looked pretty bad in their first three games coming back from that long layoffs and maybe the bats aren't fully tuned up. But Greg, there is no better antidote for bat hitting than facing the Boston Red Sox. And today, the Blue Jays get to face Ryan Weber who has made two starts this year and has zero strikeouts still. Generally not the way you want to play things. As a starter since the start of last year, Weber has more walks and strikeouts just an 8% walk rate that is actually 8% strikeout rate which is rounded up from 7.7%. So not generally a good sign there. And I think that we've seen all this year that you want to stack against the Boston Red Sox whenever you can. Bo Bichette and the Blue Jays next up on this list. Bichette, since the start of last year, since he came up, really impressive numbers against righties. They're not a huge stolen base guy, but does have enough juice there where we can at least consider that a potential second path upside for Bichette. And again, like the Twins, we have value players on the Blue Jays too. Lourdes Gouriel is really intriguing. Rowdy Tiles is there as well. You could bump down to Randall Gritchick if he plays. So again, I think that you can get to Bo Bichette, but if you need help in trying to afford a guy like Trevor Bauer, I think the Blue Jays are your best outlet. Lots of good value plays. And getting to the studs, quote unquote studs like Bichette, not all that hard, $3,200 still shortstop. I think a lot of good things working in Bichette's favor to get back on the right track tonight. I think the way you put that, Jim, made the most sense, right? The so-called stars on these teams, ones that you're paying up for, are just $3,200 like a Bo Bichette. So if you really need to be cheap and you really want to stack the Blue Jays, you can do it. It's the same with Twins. A lot to like with these two teams. It doesn't cost you all that much. We're in on the Blue Jays, certainly against the Red Sox, where that strikeout rate for Ryan Weber, bad, just really, really bad. So let's target it. Up next for us, we'll go to the Dodgers, but a cheap Dodger. And that's AJ Pollock, who is $3,000 tonight on Fandall. You got to make sure he's in the lineup. But if he is, well, it makes a lot of sense to get him in there at this price tag. Yeah, AJ Pollock actually laid off yesterday. I think that's probably not going to be the case today because I'm assuming that Mookie Betts gets back in there. But the last time that Mookie played against a righty, AJ Pollock still hits sixth in that lineup. So that to me says, this Dodgers team has faith in AJ Pollock. They're willing to play him. And he's justified that with how he has played so far this year. We haven't seen Pollock healthy for a full season in quite some time, but it's easy to forget how good this guy has been at times in his career when he's been healthy. He's been showing that once again, the Dodgers are rewarding him, putting in lead off yesterday, but also just generally in the top two thirds of the order. And when you get that at $3,000 against Jeff Samarja, I find that pretty intriguing Samarja so far this year. Just two strikeouts in his two starts. That is despite facing the Rangers and the Padres. Two super high strikeout teams. Samarja hasn't gotten strikeouts there. Now goes on the road to phase a team like the Dodger. So the Dodgers, my number one stack of tonight, I think that if you use Kikuchi as your pitcher, they are super easy to afford. You can get your Cody Bellinger. If Betts plays, you can get there. Max Muncie for sure. But AJ Pollock, a potential one off play, even if you decide to go with Trevor Bower, getting the exposure to that order potentially right in the middle of it, I think that all adds up really well. We want to get in on guys who are hitting the ball well. AJ Pollock has done that so far this year. It seems like the team has faith in him and that is valuable to me. So AJ Pollock, a bit of a surprise, at least to me, the way he has hit so far this year, but the Dodgers seem to buy in. So I will do the same at $3,000. AJ Pollock was a high-pray signing for this Dodgers team just a couple of years back. And he's good enough for the Dodgers. He's certainly good enough for us. But someone that drafted AJ Pollock a few years ago, this dude was like the MVP through June. He was incredible, both on the base pass and at the plate. And then inevitably he got hurt. And as long as he stays healthy, he can be productive for the Dodgers and in your lineups. Tonight, he's just $3,000. So if he's in the Dodgers lineup, he's well worth putting in your fandom lineup, we think. He's played well, so let's hope he stays hot and let's get him in there. One last outfielder to talk about, one last player to talk about, and that's Andrew McCutcheon. Two for four yesterday against the Yankees. Still batting leadoff for Philadelphia. And remember the sample size for Phillies even smaller than all these other teams because they had like a week off. McCutcheon's still getting his legs under him. He's $2,700 tonight. Why do you like Andrew McCutcheon here, Jim? Yeah, like you said, it's important to note the sample size in the Phillies because if you pull up Andrew McCutcheon's fan grass page and look at it, you're gonna see like, oh, like, he's below the Mendoza line. There's been no power. But again, I think it's like 24 plate appearances so far from McCutcheon. So the numbers you wanna focus on are the numbers that stabilize more quickly. You wanna look primarily at strikeout rates. See if he's seen the ball well, which he is. Then look at hard hit rate. Is he making good contact? He is once again. So I think as the sample expands from McCutcheon, things should start to get better. And that's always intriguing because if you look at the larger sample on a guy like McCutcheon, really good numbers against righties, especially since the start of last year with this Phillies team, making hard contact about a 39% fly ball right against righties, a 38% hard hit rate, that lines up really well for him. It makes me wanna buy in in a good match with Kyle Wright, right? Another guy struggling with control, got a 21% walk rate through two starts, 14% walk rate last year in the major. Small sample on both those numbers, but even the numbers in triple A for Wright were not high enough to really scare you off. All of this Phillies team that did score 11 runs in the first leg of their double header a couple of nights ago. So although I'm still concerned about the Blue Jays bats getting back and timed up, the Phillies have shown that they're okay. They're swinging a good enough bat right now for us to have confidence. I would note that the weather here looks a little bit sketchy. So make sure if you are deciding to stack the Phillies, you keep tabs on that as the afternoon progresses, make sure that game will get in. But if we get the all clear, McCutcheon a really fun play at $2,700, those results will come eventually. I would not be shocked if that happens tonight. Like we said, two for four yesterday against the Yankees and McCutcheon just 24 at bats, hasn't shown the reason why you drafted him, or the reason you put him in your lineups earlier in the season. We're hoping that comes against Kyle right here. And as you said, there is a threat of rain. McCutcheon at this price of $2,700 is certainly one that is reasonable enough for us to get him in our lineups. Jim, I do have to throw this back at you before we wrap up here. You mentioned the small sample size and McCutcheon, the power's not there yet. Will Reese Hoskins ever hit a home run? I hope he does tonight, Greg. We'll put it that way. I could use some Hoskins home runs. I could use some Harper home runs for a keeper league. So I want some Phillies dingers for tonight, you know, and I'll happily take it from the more expensive guys, but I'm never gonna doubt Reese Hoskins. I know it's been a hot second now, but I think tonight's a good night to get one in the check call. Can we call that? Can we just say Reese Hoskins' Dinger guaranteed? Like, is that okay? I believe it's been called. Like, Reese Hoskins' home run eats luck, man. We're getting it tonight. And when we do, we're gonna take this video. We're gonna plaster it everywhere. Jimmy Sanis from Fando. We appreciate the time, man. Good luck tonight. Thank you, Greg. I appreciate it. It's been a fantastic weekend. I'll talk to you again on Monday. Absolutely. You as well, everybody playing out there. Stack those Phillies as long as they're playing and the Twins and the Blue Jays, a lot of teams that we're able to target tonight. And that's all thanks to Yusei Kukuchi. Maybe he's Trevor Bauer. But Jimmy Sanis, I'm Greg Suspin. Enjoy the games tonight. We'll see you back here on Monday for another edition of the Fandull Hurry Up.