This Week in Fantasy Baseball · Lee Keller, John Ke

TWF 126 - Swag by Shane Bieber

·1 hr 11 min
1. This Week in Fantasy Baseball episode 126, “Swag by Shane Bieber,” centers on late-season fantasy baseball news, injuries, returns, and weekly player performances. 2. Jon Codd hosts with Patrick Fitzgerald, and both matter because they frame the injury updates, streamer chatter, and rest-of-season fantasy implications. 3. The episode exists to tell fantasy managers which injured players, returning arms, and hot bats matter most as the regular season ends. 4. Jon and Patrick open with the timing problem of recording on Wednesday while the podcast usually comes out on Saturday, which makes news like later IL moves potentially outdated. 5. The injury segment names Nathan Eovaldi, Trevor Megill, Frankie Montas, Jackson Merrill, Marcus Semien, and Jameson Taillon, with each one carrying a different fantasy consequence. 6. Eovaldi is described as likely out for the season with a right rotator cuff strain, while Megill’s right flexor strain could keep Milwaukee without its closer for at least a month. 7. Montas is moved to the 60-day IL with a right elbow UCL injury, and Taillon’s groin injury arrives as another setback for a Cubs starter who was helping down the stretch. 8. The returns segment includes Shane Bieber, Kyle Bradish, O’Neill Cruz, Jordan Alvarez, Adolis Garcia, Victor Robles, Matt Chapman, and Kirby Yates. 9. Bieber’s return against Miami gets the most attention because he worked six innings, allowed one or two hits depending on the count quoted, and struck out nine without a walk. 10. Bradish’s return is summarized as six innings, four hits, two runs, 10 strikeouts, and no walks, which the hosts treat as a major boost for Baltimore. 11. Kirby Yates enters a Dodgers bullpen that also includes Tanner Scott and Blake Treinen, and Patrick notes that the team still lacks a clear save hierarchy. 12. Royce Lewis’ 3-for-5 line with a homer, two runs, three RBI, and a steal leads to a longer discussion about his disappointing overall season and uncertain draft value. 13. Patrick says Story’s 2025 line has reached 21 homers and 23 stolen bases, but he also points to the extreme split between Story’s strikeouts and walks as a reason for caution. 14. Gunnar Henderson’s two steals and home run prompt a value discussion that treats him as a likely first- or second-round fantasy pick despite a quieter power season than 2024. 15. Nestor Cortes’ six-inning shutout of the Dodgers is presented as a classic fantasy volatility example, because the matchup looked usable on paper but the start was still unusual. 16. Robbie Ray’s five-inning no-decision against Milwaukee gets flagged for six hits, four walks, no strikeouts, and a drop in fastball velocity to 91.3 mph. 17. The tone stays conversational and evaluative, with Jon and Patrick moving quickly from injuries to rest-of-season value questions and speculative roster decisions. 18. The format mixes recap, analysis, and direct back-and-forth debate, including comparisons such as Bieber versus Brandon Woodruff and Story versus other shortstops. 19. Fantasy managers in head-to-head or roto leagues will get the most value from this episode. 20. Listeners wanting team-level storytelling or non-fantasy baseball context may skip it.

As heard by us

A practical fantasy baseball tune-up built around news, performance, and streamer calls.

This Week in Fantasy Baseball stays grounded in the practical side of the game, with Jon Codd and Patrick Fitzgerald moving from current news into hitter and pitcher performances before finishing with streamer recommendations.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Need one more edge before your fantasy week closes?

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →
Listen to the show on