Fantasy Baseball Today - 04/20 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Ranking starting pitchers

Episode Date: April 20, 2018

There were plenty of interesting starting pitchers to take the mound Thursday, so we decided to do what we do best: Rank 'em! Arrieta or Lester? Is Charlie Morton better than any of them? Does Matt Harvey deserve to be owned anymore? Plus, we preview Week 5 and answer your emails at [e-mail] To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Domingo Sanchez Adam is away The boys will Something something something No Adam Azer today It's Chris Towers Heath Cummings And Scott White

What's the What's the name For the three of us Or this cratum And No no We're still non-zero chance Adam's just not here

We're gonna play all the hits today though We're gonna play the prospect report We're gonna play all the non-zero chance hits We don't need a new name Adam's just the tambourine Wow. He's more than the tambourine. He's the lead singer.

So we're not going to... We're just going to go instrumental here? No, Chris is going to sing. It could be a... Chris is going to screech for it. Chris is going to screech. It could be a jam. Ah, yeah.

So we're going to have to play a new song called Let's Catch Heath Up on what happened in baseball. Would you like to tell the people why you were not able to watch any baseball last night, Heath? I went to a concert. I tweeted through it. I think the people probably largely saw that.

But yeah, it was a country music concert in a country music dance hall. Yeah. And it was quite an experience. They did not... They had good beer, which was good. I was able to drink a hop gun.

Oh, that's good beer. But then once the concert started and I was up at the stage... Can't go get beer. You can. There was a little bar right next to me, but all they had was a different type of beer

that is not as good. You can't go. If you're up at the front, what are you going to push through people to get back to your seat? I did it like three times. That's... I had no seat. Bad look. No seats.

We were just standing in the mosh pit. That's even worse. Yeah. Was there any moshing? There was no moshing. Was there any line dancing? There was a lot of line dancing. Did your pearl snaps come undone?

Only one. Okay. Scott, how's it going? Hey, Chris. I'm excited about something this morning. You are excited. You want to just... It's the biggest news of the day.

Yeah, there's about to be a Mac attack. A Mac truck is coming. through the league here. Mac Williamson. More like Williams' dad. Yeah, because I'm big and strong. Oh yeah. Yeah. He's your large adult son. Is that how that joke works? He's your large adult son. Okay. Yeah. In awe at the size of this unit. I am really disappointed. Why? You are so excited you had a twinkle in your eye when you walked in this

morning before you even knew the Mac Williamson news. Uh-huh. Mac Williamson is the second biggest news of the day. Oh. I have no idea what you're talking about. The biggest news of the day is Scott White, catching his first dong ever. Oh yeah! Congratulations! We all picked Mets to Homer off Matt Whistler and I picked the right Met. He didn't even Homer off Matt Wissler, did he? Yes, he did. It was one of the two hits Matt Wissler allowed. So I'm sure we'll talk about Matt Wissler today. But I want to get back to Mac Williamson here, okay? Because he... Deep sleeper before the season for you. Yeah, deep sleeper, like deep, deep sleeper. I did draft him in a couple 15 team leagues. I've since

dropped them in those, but, you know, deeper leagues than that, 24 teams. And, and only. I got a lot of Mac Williamson out there. And he worked with the same hitting guru who made Justin Turner what he is today, had a huge spring, then went to AAA and hit 487 with six home runs of 50 at bats. It looks like Hunter Pence is going on the DL. So Mac Williamson is up, hopefully to play every day. And like, part of my enthusiasm is because this is somebody who's a complete afterthought in fantasy. 27-year-old, seems like opportunity had passed him by,

nobody's interested in him. So I want to clarify, like this is a low probability play. I'm not picking him up in all my 12-team leagues. He would need a big game or two for me to do that. But anything, 15 teams or more,

this is the kind of player, I think, worth getting excited about because while the probability is low, I think the upside is really high, a ton of raw power, that the scouts always thought was there and just hopefully this adjustment is helping him tap into it. So what you're saying is

not necessarily something we should have led the show off with. Not necessarily. Heath, would you like to poo on it for, let's say, eight seconds? Weren't we playing a game where you guys going to tell me what happened last night? Mac Williamson got called up. That happened after I got to work today. It's happening. Okay.

Yes, well, it's fine. All right. It's fine. We are going to tell Heath. what happened last night. We are going to talk about pitchers from last night. A lot of interesting stuff happened, including Matt Harvey, maybe losing his job. We're going to talk about most added players, some prospects. We're going to preview week five. We're going to get to your emails at Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. But let's start with some injuries, news, and notes. Mickey

Calloway has not decided if Matt Harvey will make his next start. That's because Matt Harvey was bad yet again yesterday. Gave up six runs on eight hits, four strikeouts, one walk, and six innings of work. It's amazing they let him get through six innings.

He was laboring through this start. I think he only had five swing strikes last night. Is Matt Harvey done? Like, if you want a clear indication that Matt Harvey's done, team scams, spite dropped him in the middle

of that game last night. So... It wasn't a spite drop. We were looking for an opportunity to drop Brandon Bell. But, yeah, in a 16-team league, I was on board with dropping Harvey, which means I'm basically done with Harvey at this point, I think.

The velocity has only gotten worse since a year ago. None of the glowing narratives we were seeing this spring have really followed him to the diamond. And I think it's been long enough. It was worth holding on to that hope as high as the upside is and as troublesome as his rehabilitation was. But I think it's enough. I think it's time to move on. And Jason Vargas, working his way back. So I would assume somebody in the Mets rotation is pitching for their job.

Matt Harvey may have lost that competition, but, you know, Stephen Mats was not very good, what, just the day before. Yeah, he has a lot of strikeouts this year, but it's kind of fluky. And, I mean, Zach Wheeler just got called up from the minors. This had one really good start, one so-so starts. So there's, yeah, it's not necessarily going to be Harvey, but the fact Calloway, who was his biggest fan in spring, it seemed like, he didn't give him a vote of confidence. I don't think that bodes well for him.

All right, Ryan Braun hopes to play Friday. He was able to get in the lineup or get in a pitch hitting appearance on Thursday. He was in the lineup later in the game. He was not in the starting line. He did hit a home run, so his calf injury does not seem to be bothering him too much. Tommy Pham did not start Thursday as well, but he was also able to pinch hit, so his groin injury does not seem too serious. Does that mean Tyler O'Neill is just going to be a bench guy for the next week and then get sent down? Yep.

I think so. Freddie Freeman was in the lineup after his hit by pitch on Wednesday. He went two for three with two singles, did not hit a home run off of Matt Harvey. So I don't know, is he okay? If he didn't hit a home run off, Matt Harvey, he's fine. I'd be worried. Zander Bogart's went through agility drills on Thursday. That's a good sign as he progresses back from his fractured ankle.

Luis Perdomo was optioned to AAA. Kendris Morales is coming off the DL Friday. Ken Giles has been dealing with a back injury. So does that make you feel better about Ken Giles? Or do you think the back injury is a result of his poor performance rather than the other way around? I like excuses when they seem like their valid experience. I like making excuses for players who I think are good, and I think Ken Giles is a good pitcher,

and this might be reason why he's struggled. His stock is still down just because the Astros have been experimenting with other options in the ninth. But if he is right. Yeah, I mean, Hinch has said he still expects Giles to lead the team and saves. Zach Britton will throw off a half-mound Friday, so that's a good sign in his recovery from an Achilles injury. He had an Achilles injury, and now they're having him throw off a half mound. Shouldn't they just use a full-size mound? That seems risky.

I don't understand the joke. Like half the mound's just not there? I don't... It's a shorter mound, Heath. Oh, how that is just half the mound. Cut the other way. Oh, boy. Ryan Healy will begin a rehab assignment at AAA today.

I wrote that awkwardly. Hunter Pence is dealing with a thumb injury. Mac Williams will get called up, as I already said, in case you missed it the first time. Thank you, Heath. And let's look at the most added players around baseball at CBS Fantasy sites. Jed Lowry is up 42%. He's up to 83%.

How long do you think that lasts? Is he the kind of guy that you just ride while he's hot and drop as soon as he cools down? I think it's going to last. I think that we need enough players of his position in Roto leagues that he should be owned. And I think he's going to be good enough end points to where he should most. mostly be started. Yeah, when he's healthy. I mean, he was top 12 in that format last year. He was top 20 or 21, I think, in Roto. He was 21st. Which, you know, obviously you start more hitters. So that, you could argue he was borderline rosterable just based on last year's numbers. Now,

he's on a 50 homer pace right now. If he had half as many home runs as he does, he'd still be way ahead of what pace he should be on. Um, but But, you know, even as a 15-homer guy who gets on base and hits a lot of doubles, there's value there. Would you rather have Jed Lowry or Christian Villanueva, who has also been added in 42% of leagues? He's up to 58%. Lowry, for sure. Yeah. I mean, Vianawava is going to hit more home runs, I think.

But there are questions about his skill set otherwise. All right. Chad Bettis is up to 42%. He's 35% up. Third most added player, was he a two-star pitcher this week? or what's going on there? That doesn't make any sense. He's been awesome.

No chance I would be adding him. I can't think of the league that I would add him in. Scott? Who was it again? Sorry. Moving on. Joey Lucchese is up 32%. He was only 49% owned a week ago.

We think he should be universally owned, right? 10 team. 99%? Francisco Cervelli up 29% as well. Junjin, Ryu is actually up to 68% do you think that's too high? His velocity is actually up just a tad this season. I think it's about a mile per hour over last April.

So that's a good sign for a guy who has dealt with a lot of shoulder issues in the past couple of years. And before dealing with those shoulder injuries has been a good pitcher. Yeah, he's off to a good start. I frequently gave him the benefit of the doubt last year. it never seemed to last very long. So I'm skeptical of him even now. But with a good offense backing him,

it seems like he's getting priority every time through the rotation over Kinta Maeda. So you don't worry about him missing turns so much. That's, yeah, I think he's, I think he's fringy mixed league material. He is a guy who doesn't have a super high ceiling, but he does have a career like 3-3-ERA. So.

Yeah, and really good. at his best really good control. Like, you expect a low whip from him. And the most dropped players, obviously, two guys who are having Tommy John surgery, Towen Walker and Denelson Lemaet, Josh Harrison, broke a hand? Broken hand?

Sure. Tyler Malley, down 16%. Are we less interested in Tyler Malley now? Scott dropped him as well in our 16 team league. For Mack Williamson this morning. Without asking Adam's permission. Without asking Azer. You beg forgiveness rather than ask permission.

Am I right, fellow? That's correct. That is the saying. Marco Gonzalez down 16%. He was actually pretty good last night. Are we giving up on Marco Gonzalez? Giving up? I mean, I don't...

No, I don't have a lot of hope for Marco Gonzalez. He did have eight strike at some four and two-thirds innings on eight swinging strikes. Not a hard thrower. I don't think has a lot of bat missing potential. And it's a good start where he's, win four and two-thirds innings. So that's a no. Yeah. All right, let's talk about Thursday's standouts, Heath. Well, uh, oh, is this where we play the game? Where you guys show me what happened?

Scott, do you have a standout today? Sure, I do. I have several standouts to tell you about. The first will be. I got a standout. Jamer Candelario. Jamer Candelario. Jamer Candelario hit a home run yesterday, right? He did hit a home run. Third of the season for Jammer Candelario. 9 for 17 with 3 homers and a triple over over the recent stretch here. And I mean, you look at what he did in last September for Detroit.

A guy who walks a lot. I don't know that he's going to have the big power you expect from a corner infielder, but I think he has like 20 homer upside. Three homers in his last four games. Like he might be the Jed Lowry of third basement. Okay. In that at the start of things when there's, you know, the world is your oyster and everybody's, you're only seeing potential in everybody.

You're not seeing the downside of any, like, you could pass over a cantalario, but by mid-season. Okay. Yeah. I was trying to figure out where you were going. By mid-season, he's going to be, if he's healthy and performing like I think he should, he's going to be in a lot of lineups. That little grain of sand has turned into a slightly more interesting grain of sand. Yes. Jammer Candelaria.

Heath, you were going to say you had a standout, and I couldn't tell if you were going to series. Louis Brinson. Louis Brinson, double dong. Double dong for Lewis Brinson. And there's a little narrative here. We like the story, right? Well, revenge game. Well, it was the revenge game.

But also, he sat out their entire series in New York to get his head right. He got his head right. He hit two dongs. Lewis Brinson has been miserably bad in the major leagues that has continued. has continued this year. These were his first two extra base hits of the season. He struck out 20 times in his first 15 games. But there's still so much upside.

I don't think there's as much upside as we thought before the year because he's only attempted one steal, and he's not really looked that interested in running. And he was like, I think it was 0 for four on stolen base attempts in spring training. That part may be gone. Yeah, well, it might also just be, they need to get his head right in general. general. But his swing's been off.

He's hitting a ton of ground balls. This could be the start of something interesting. But I also think he doesn't have to run to be valuable in fantasy. Like he could just hit like he didn't, maybe not quite in AAA, but... Sure. Anybody else have any standouts? Scott, you said you had several. Or we can just move on to what I think was a really interesting pitching day and kind of

want to start ranking some guys. Let's go for it. Let's get into it. All right. So some pitchers who were very good last night. Jake Arietta, 10 strikeouts, seven innings, one hit. He's down to a 204 ERA in three starts with 16 strikeouts, six walks. John Lester turned it around.

He's got a 310 ERA, 18 strikeouts in 20 and a third. He went six shut out with seven strikeouts yesterday. And Charlie Morton, eight strikeouts, three hits, seven innings against the Seattle Mariners, has a 072 ERA with 33 strikeouts. six walks and 25 innings. And Zach Granky, one earned run in seven innings, three hits, only two strikeouts, but he's got 23 and 24 innings. I want you to rank those four pitchers.

Jake Areietta, John Lester, Charlie Morton, and Zach Granky. Grinky's number one for sure. Yes. And before the season, he was probably 50 spots ahead of the other three? Not for Scott. I think it's got, no, no. Not 50. Not 50.

Not 50. More like 30. Maybe 20. No, more like 20. Lester was in my top 25. Yeah. Oh, no, I was talking about overall. Not a starting pitcher. Yeah.

Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, you may be right about that. All right. Yeah, so Granky number one, right? I am, because I am tempted to make more than number two here. That's where I think I would go.

Yeah. Heath, you were the bigger Charlie Morton skeptic out of the three of us coming into the season. Yeah, and he's been incredible. And in ways that are sustainable. Somewhat, yes. Health permitting. I mean, that's my biggest question for him. He wasn't healthy last year.

He wasn't healthy the year before. Those are the two years where his velocity is kind of spiked at the level it's at now. I'll say Morton, Lester, Areeta. Yeah, his average fastball velocity is up to 96.4. I think it's the fifth highest in baseball so far this season. This guy's touching 98, 99. Now, what's interesting about what he just said is, he put Lester ahead of Arieta

when the debate for me was between Morton and Arieta after the start Arieta just had Oh! And it's like... Arieta's curveball yesterday was ridiculous. Well, his two seamer was ridiculous. The movement he was just getting on his fastball

was ridiculous. And if he gets, if he can repeat that start after start, he doesn't need his own velocity. His old velocity, I mean. And he didn't have his old velocity back. it was still averaging mid-92, not 94, like, two years ago. Swinging strike rate for the season for Jake Areeta is almost half of Charlie Morton's. Yeah, Charlie Morton's 16%.

That's probably a little unsustainable, but he's been just absolutely ridiculous. But again, last night, Arietta got 11 swinging strikes just on that fastball. So, like, We got to see him do it again. But I think there's the potential here that I was a little too quick to write, Aureeta All. So, Heath, you went Grinky, Lester, Arietta Morton? No, Grinky Morton, Lester, Arieta.

And Scott. I'm telling you about what Jake Arietta did last night, Heath. Is it changing your mind? No. Okay. I would go Granky Morton, Arieta Lester. And I think they're, like, Grinky is still 10 spots, 20 spots ahead of these guys, 15 spots maybe. How high are you willing to move Charlie Moore in its starting pitcher, though?

I was just doing that. I think 24-ish. Okay. So who's in the area with him? John Lester, Jake Arrieta, James Paxton, Godley, these guys are Nola. Okay. Quedo. Scott, are you moving Charlie Morn up?

I am moving more than up, yes. All right, let's talk about some other good pitchers on Thursday. Aaron Sanchez limited the Yankees to two runs in six innings, seven hits, only two strikeouts, two walks. Matt Whistler, as we mentioned, eight strikeouts in seven innings, one earned run allowed, and Eduardo Rodriguez allowed two runs and six innings with five strikeouts and three walks. Rank those three. I know Heath, you hate Aaron Sanchez. I do hate Aaron Sanchez.

Um, it's well established. Why? Who am I ranking him with Wizzler and Rodriguez? Yes. He's first. Okay. Rodriguez is right in that same range. Okay.

I think I would, like, I don't have a lot of confidence in Rodriguez, staying healthy and being consistent. I think I know what Sanchez is. It just doesn't excite me at all. Well, here's the problem with Sanchez and why I'm actually willing to move him behind Eduardo Rodriguez, who I think I do like more than you. But his velocity's been down. a couple miles per hour in each of his last two starts. Two starts in a row, not as much velocity.

And obviously he hasn't been getting, he hasn't been missing bats all season. Yeah, 15 strikeouts in 25 and 2.30. And he doesn't have that extreme ground ball rate he did. Well, actually, the ground balls are kind of high. It's just, yeah, no, never mind. The ground balls are pretty high. But not, the stuff doesn't look quite the same, and he's not missing any bats. and Eduardo Rodriguez, I think, has the ability to do that in a way that's gone underappreciated. I mean, Sanchez has never missed any bets. Yeah, but it's kind of...

Well, he's missed bad. Like, how many strikeouts did he have two years ago? It was over seven per nine. It wasn't a terrible rate. Yeah, it was a little below average, I would say. Yeah. Yeah. And this year, it's, you know, he's been chen-mead long. How do you compare Aaron Sanchez to two guys who were bad last night,

James and Tyone and Luke Weaver, who had their first. bad starts of the season. He's well behind them. Not even in the same conversation. Yeah. Are Jameson and Luke Weaver in the John Lester's at Grinke conversation? Or John Lester, Jake Arietta, conversation.

Yes. Yes, I think they are, especially Weaver. He gave up six runs in four innings on nine hits yesterday, but the Cubs are very good. It was in the way the Cardinals beat writer described it, death by a thousand cuts. It was, you know, a lot of holes being found. and it's not like Weaver was getting knocked around out there. And it kind of was one of those snowball effect things because after mixing in his curve a lot, the first couple starts,

it was a new pitch he developed. He worked on this spring and was throwing it as often as this change up. He had to abandon it in this start just because he had to get things over the plate. So it seems like he gets a pass for this start for me. Yeah, I had him below this group about 10 spots, more in the Kyle Hendrick's Sunny Gray range. Tione was kind of in between the two.

I'm a little bit, like, we were looking at it yesterday, and you were talking about how James and Tyone isn't striking a video out, and so he was due for some negative regression. And... Wait what? No, you weren't doing that. I was doing a thing. Oh.

You remember when we talked about James and Tyone? Yeah. Yeah, he's striking out plenty of people. His swinging strike rate is awful. Sure. And it looks like it kind of caught up to him here. Maybe. So the way I view Tyone, and he has...

He throws really hard, and you would expect... expect a lot of strikeouts, and he has a healthy strikeout rate for his career. It's about average. This year it's been above average. The one thing he does exceptionally well is he induces a lot of weak contact. He's very much like Kyle Hendricks in that way, but he's a Kyle Hendrix who throws 95 instead of 85. But, you know, this was a bad start.

There's no getting around that, and, you know, just regroup. I kind of feel like the pirates are doing to him what they did to Garrett Cole, where They're just, he's throwing a two-seem fastball more than his stuff suggests he should. Like, his secondary stuff is great, doesn't get to throw it enough. His four-seamer's great. And we saw that the first start. Yeah. But, I don't know, the Giants, the pirates have this philosophy pitched to contact to go deeper into the game.

I kind of feel like it's ruining Tyone. Did not work yesterday. That's my broad take. He only threw one and two third innings yesterday. Yeah. Two other pitchers who were very bad yesterday. Alex Cobb has been not good to start his Baltimore Memorial's career. Five earned runs on 10 hits, four strikeouts in three and a third innings.

The Tigers absolutely beat him up yesterday. Does Alex Cobb deserve to be owned? He's 64% owed right now. He was owned yesterday by the Tigers. He's not going to be this bad. All year. No. But you could probably make better used to that roster spot right now.

I doubt this is the last time Alex Cobb is owned in a 12-team mixed league. I just don't know that there's much reason to preserve him right now. And Nick Trapiano struggled in his second start of the season. He'll have five runs and five-and-a-third innings. It was against the Red Sox, that's kind of, they do that to everybody right now. Yeah, I wouldn't take too much from this. Would you rather have him or Alex Cobb? Trapiano.

I'd rather have Cobb. And Chase Anderson was kind of mad yesterday. He's been kind of mad this season. He's got a 325 ERA, but the strikeouts haven't been there the way they were yet last year. Velocity hasn't been there. A little worried about Chase Anderson, one of the better breakouts of last season.

All right, before we move on, let's talk about the draft app. We're going to talk about prospects first, but at the draft app, you just use regular major league players. You've heard Adam talk about the draft app. I also have the draft app on my phone, and I love playing daily fantasy baseball on draft. I like it because I get a new team every single night, and I get exposure to players that I don't have in my seasonal leagues. When you've got some teams that are doing as poorly as

mine are in the season long, it's nice to be able to draft a roster every day. So you need to start playing on draft. Get into a real money draft for free. If you use our promo code FB today when you make your first deposit on draft, again, that promo is Fee. FB today. If you love fantasy baseball, you will definitely love this app. You get to do a snake draft every day as often as you like. For as little as $1, you can win cash and get paid out the next day. Download the draft app right now or go to draft.com. Our listeners get a free entry into a real money baseball draft when you make your first deposit. Just use the promo code FB today when you make your first deposit. Again, search draft in the app store or go to draft.com and enter the promo code FB today. Scott, let's talk about some prospects. Yeah. The prospects report earlier this week. I did.

Did not get to it on yesterday's podcast. No. Let's do it today. Nobody exciting has gotten called up yet. Like, Mac Williamson is the most reason we've had to get excited about a... There are a lot of players we think are going to get... Like, we keep saying, boy, this is the one. Yeah.

Well, I mean, it's still like, it could still be any week for a week for a week for a day. Coquonia, he just has to get hot. So that's obviously the most important one, but he's universally owned. Glaber Torres, there was some rumblings about maybe him getting called up to take over at third base where the Yankees are missing Brandon Drury. And he's actually off to a good start in the minors this year after a rough spring. The Wednesday was the first day the Yankees could, or actually I guess it was yesterday, it was the first day the Yankees could call him up and retain a year of team control.

Obviously, they didn't. So we're still in a holding pass. pattern there. Nick Senzel's off to a slow start, and it sounds like Ehuyahenio Swars isn't going to miss too much time. So I'm kind of skeptical that's going to happen, but he's still among my top prospects to stash. David Dahl, we talked about him yesterday. Legitimate five category potential, especially with his home games at Coors Field, but he probably needs two openings with Ryan McMahon already in the majors, two openings to break into the lineup. You know what's frustrating about the Rockies? what their lineups kind of bad

but I think Coorsfield kind of covers that up a little bit like Beyond Aeronado Blackman LeMayhew the rest of the lineup's kind of crappy right Trevor's story's okay it's not good but like Blackman and Aeronado are two of the best hitters in baseball

right but you can still improve they get improved by starting McMahon they get improved by starting doll I think for sure which is why I think it's going to happen but that's what's first frustrating is that they have clear upgrades. And they had clear upgrades coming into the season.

It's not like Ian Desmond and Herodopara are like, I mean, I know Desmond's making a lot of money, but those are not guys who should have locked down spots. Those guys are probably making $30 million combined, aren't they? Probably, yeah. That's a bad plan. Tough to sit $30 million on the bench. That's a bad, but that's frustrating because there are clear potential options to upgrade there. That would be very exciting for fantasy. I think we would love to see Ryan McMahon and David Dahl get a shot.

shot and it just doesn't seem like if it has it if not now when uh later long season where or maybe what one eight into the season is that right about a 10th 10th even less than so even less than that um yeah it's a long season it'll happen if it wasn't for all the rainouts we'd be like halfway through this yeah maybe uh any other prospects that you want to talk about Jack Flaherty's still a big stash, and we'll be the first one up whenever somebody goes down to the Cardinals' rotation, which is inevitable. But otherwise, I mean, there haven't been, like a lot of the other prospects who we talked about stashing before the season, Austin Hayes, Willie Calhoun. They're just not doing much in the minors yet. And a lot of that probably has to do with something that's been brought up for Acuna a lot.

minor league season started later compared to the major league season and then in the past because they started the major league season so early there was a long layoff for all of these guys between spring training and when they started getting minor league of bats so we're seeing a lot of slow starts down there Preston Tucker's not going to lose his job right he's on fire well he's got he is on fire you can't bench him right now he's actually tied I think with Harper and RBI yeah but yeah he's he's he's he's he's he's like you look at like I know Nick there's an argument I'm not saying Preston Tucker should block Ronald Acuna yeah but he currently is I don't I don't think that's how it is I think if Acuna did what he was supposed to be doing in the minors they'd have no issues benching Preston Tucker I mean one thing they gets overlooked here because the Braves have only faced two left handed pitchers somehow this season Preston Tucker they don't like even with Acuna down they don't view him as an everyday player they sat them against both the lefties they did did face. So when they start facing more lefties, I think we'll see where their loyalties lie. So Preston Tucker loses his job before Nick Marquakis. Yes. I mean, I know Nick Markechakis is an unexciting player for fantasy purposes, doesn't have a lot of power from a corner guy, and that's annoying to have a lineup spot blocked by that. But look at his on-base percentage. And they seem to love him in the middle of the order because he doesn't strike out with men on base. He had, you know, he seems to be a pretty good

RBI guy from that standpoint. And obviously, he's making a lot of money. So I don't, I think he loses his job before Tucker. All right, before we move on, we're going to preview week five. We're going to get to some of your emails, fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. But before we move on, at the Real Mike Life has offered some name suggestions for the different groupings on the podcast. They're pretty good. Would you like to hear them? When Towers and Azer are together, Taser. Taser, that's good.

When Scott and Heath are together, scum. Scum? Wait. Because Cummings. Oh. Okay. He's mixing in blast names and first names here. I thought he just didn't like us.

White, Heath, and Azer, Weezer. White, Heath, and Azer's Weezer, okay. Adam Azer and Heath Cummings are Adam Aisings. Why aren't we just Ham? Adam Aisings. Ham. And Towers, Heath, White, and Cummings. Teeth Whitings.

Towers, Heath, White, and Cummings? Yes. So I'm here twice. I guess so. I just wanted to share that. I thought it was fun. That was excellent. Thank you for that submission.

You know what else is excellent? Blue Apron. I've been doing Blue Apron a couple times a week. I just got my box yesterday. It's got some Parisian steak fritas. I'm very excited for that. It's the number one fresh ingredient and recipe delivery service in the country.

Not only can you get great food from Blue Apron, you can get $30 off your first delivery if you go to blueapron.com slash fantasy baseball. That's blueapron.com slash fantasy baseball. Here's what I love about Blue Apron. The ingredients are fresh and non-GMO. Gets delivered right to my door. In my case, it sits at the front desk of my apartment building until I go pick it up, but it's great. They keep it cold. The meals take less than 45 minutes to make. And I get to eat meals that I would normally never make, like popcorn chicken with sweet chili cabbage sloth and seared steaks with lemon, parmesan, and roasted potatoes. They've got meat, pasta, shrimp, vegetarian options. There are plenty of recipes. that you'll love on Blue Apron.

So if you want to get started, go to blue apron.com slash fantasy baseball. Get $30 off your first delivery. I love Blue Apron, and I know you will love it too. Blue Apron, a better way to cook.

Let's preview week five. Week five in air quotes. Week six. Five. Week 12. That's week. Week five. Five.

The week that runs from April 23rd to April 29. It's definitely not week six. It may be week four for. a lot of people listening. If they combine the half week with the first full week. Week 423. It's September 1st. All right.

Let's look at some of the... Scott, do you have your hitting matchups yet? I do not. Okay. Let's talk about two start pitchers. I get it. You got work to do. You got to do it on Friday.

Two star pitchers. Guys who are available in, let's say, under 60% of leagues. Alex Cobb will be available in under 60% of leagues. I don't think he's someone that we're interested in, although he does have good matchups. Tampa Bay versus Detroit, is there any chance? No. No, it's a chance. Not a chance.

Sure. Two revenge games. Is it in Tampa? It is at home. No. He's going to take revenge on you. Zach Davies, 64% owned at Kansas City and at the Cubs. Any interest there?

No. In a points league. Vince Velasquez versus Arizona versus Atlanta. I mean, with that. kind of run he's on right now. I feel like this is the best of the options we've gone over so far. Agreed. Is there anybody else that you guys see?

No. We talked to yesterday about how bad Jake Ferea's matchups are for this upcoming week and how there's no way you could trust him. And I'm just, I'm not sure I'm totally on board with that. At Baltimore, at Boston, he has a 692 ERA. Yeah. But obviously his last two starts were good. Good.

Overcame the control issues that affected him the first two. starts. And I, the bottom line is I have confidence in Jake Farree as a pitcher, and I feel like sometimes we make so much of the matchups, like they shouldn't trump how you feel about the pitcher. Ultimately, I'd rather start a good pitcher with bad matchups than a bad pitcher with

good matchups. So I think among those less than 80% own, Fari is probably my second favorite. Mike Leek's a two-tar pitcher? Yes, but he has, he's got the White Sox and then at Cleveland. Yeah, I'll start Mike Leak for sure. 51% own Mike Leak worth

streaming. How about some lower end guys? Brandon McCarthy has very good matchups. Well, one very good matchup and one pretty good one. At Cincinnati, at Philadelphia. Would you rather have him or Mike Leak? I'll go Leak. Yeah, me too. McCarthy or Faria. Foria. Velasquez. Velasquez.

Those look like bad matchups for McCarthy. Am I wrong? At Cincinnati, at Philadelphia? Well, the Reds are just awful. Yeah, the Reds are awful. Philly's, Phillies are tough. That's a bad matchup. Both Homer, like, two of the worst parks for pitchers in baseball. What about Tyler Malley versus Atlanta at Minnesota? No.

No, I don't have a lot of faith in Malley, to be honest. Do we need to pay more attention and give more respect to Matthew Boyd? At Pittsburgh, at Baltimore, so. With, like, I don't have... Mediocre-ish matchups, but he's been very good so far. He has, in a way I don't trust. but like if you're looking for a two-star streamer off the waiver wire,

it's going to be a guy who's not fully trusted. That goes without saying. He's on a nice run. He had the, I mean, those, I know the pirates got off to a great start offensively, but they haven't been as good recently.

So those look like pretty good matchups. I think he's probably going to explode. His Sierra... That could go one way or the other. His Sierra is higher. He's the goat, right? his Sierra is higher than his K per 9. That is a really, really bad piece of information.

Well, he has a... How high is his K per 9? Because if it was like 1. 5.12. Okay, so that's not very good. He has a 98% strand rate, which basically means he's allowed one runner to score from on base this year. He's allowed a 132 bab-ip. Just no chance this lasts.

It might last two more games. But it's unlikely. So that's a no. No. He's still probably third on the list for me. Maybe fourth behind league. Yeah, let's put among those names we've gone over so far. I would put him fourth.

I would rather start. Velasquez, Faria, Leak. You would rather start Boyd over McCarthy? Yes. I would rather start every other name that you've said so far. What about Eric Skoglund? No. Okay.

I found one. Let's talk about some emails. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. From John in Austin. No, from Julian. Excuse me. It looks like it's, oh, okay. No, Azer put these emails in. Terrible, terrible formatting.

So the promise. No separations between the emails. It's a disaster. Come on, Adam. From Julian, what are your thoughts on trading Chris Sale and Luis Castillo for Carlos Carrasco and James Paxton in a head-to-head lead. Nope. I don't really see the point.

Like, Paxton's definitely better than Castillo. Sales definitely better than Carasco, but, like, the difference is between all of them. I guess, would you rather have the ace? I would rather have the ace, for sure. I didn't. I almost always prefer the side of the deal getting the best player. From John in Austin. This one's actually from John in Austin.

From Sil, La, and Bull. would you discuss your favorite outfield waiver wire options in a non-roto league? Would you drop Pueig for Thames, Hicks, Herrara, Odubel, Herrera? Herrera? Herrera. Or Michael Brantley. Would you drop Yaseel Puig for any of those guys? I wouldn't.

Brantley and Herrera are interesting, especially in head-to-head points because of the plate discipline, but Yassel-Pueck's plate discipline is fine, too. I think I'd rather have Brantley in points. You know what? Like, I led, I wrote a column yesterday, Fantasy Fools Golden, and I led it with Eric Thames. But he's talking about a shallow league here, a non-Roto league. Yeah, I feel like I'd be willing to sacrifice Pueig for, in that, like, a league of that shallowness. Be willing to sacrifice him for Thames just to see where it goes.

All right. Mike wants to point out that. Javier Bias, his walk rate looks like it's around 10%, but it's really 3.3% that's before yesterday's game. Four of his six walks were intentional. I looked it up yesterday when he has batted between first and sixth in the lineup. He has a 281 career on base percentage and like a 4% walk rate. He actually has like 30 career intentional walks batting out of the 7, 8, and 9 spots.

So something to keep in mind, his apparent improvement. in plate discipline. That's a good catch. Has not necessarily been what it seems to be. However, that's it. He is striking out less. He's swinging and missing less.

He's going the opposite way. More often, yesterday, I think he had a triple. Harder contact. More fly balls. More line drives. And everything but the walks. His manager basically said it's happening.

And said if he lays off the low and away pitch, he's Manny Ramirez. And to be fair, he's still swinging and missing a lot. He's not main or memory. We've never seen Joe Madden say anything about any Cubs players that did not turn out to be completely and totally true. That is 100% factual. From Rob, hello cat boy, Owlet, and Gecko.

That's something. I don't know what it is. I think it's probably animated. Yeah, that seems like a fair guess. I'm in a 10-te-to-head categories league and overrun with First Baseman. I like that visual. It's like Jurassic Park, but like Justin Bore.

and Matt Carpenter. Even with corner infield and utility positions, he just has too many guys. Carlos Santana, Reese Hoskins, Justin Borne, Yonder Alonzo. Would it be ill-advised to drop Yonder Alonzo for a guy who's hot at the plate right now like Cesar Hernandez, Matt Joyce, Matt Kemp, Steve Pierce, or Eather? The only one that I would consider dropping Yonder Alonzo for is Cesar Hernandez, just because he gives you the stolen bases a little bit. He's a good batting average guy.

Yeah, what I would say is you're not going to need Yonder Alonzo. Probably not. So you would drop Yonder Alonzo before Justin Boer? I would. Yeah. That's a tough one. Those two are close for me. I do agree Saysar Hernandez needs to be owned over one.

I'd probably drop Boar just because of the limitations of his lineup. By the way, I looked it up Catboy, Allett, and Gecko. It is an animated. They are characters from the animated show, PJ Masks, about six-year-old vigilantes. Yes, I have watched that show, actually. Too young to be vigilantes.

Yeah? Lucas likes that show a lot, yes. Too young to be vigilant. It is too young to be a vigilante. It's dangerous out there, kids. Dear Joker, Penguin, and Scarecrow, from an animated thing. Should we be concerned about Wilson Contreras,

no home runs yet, and doesn't seem, particularly special. Brian does not think Wilson Contreras is special. He hasn't really heard us talk about him on the podcast. What do we think? We haven't talked about him because we don't have any concerns. Wilson Contreras is special.

Wilson Contreras is going to be fine. Contreras to popular belief. And just to point out, the one limitation in his game before this season was probably that he had too many ground balls. He had a 54% ground ball rate in 2016 and 2017. that's down to 44%. He should do it again. He's hitting more balls in the air,

not getting power production from it yet, although he does have some doubles, so it's not like he's been in nothing. So no, no concern. Tales of a fourth grade nothing. Wilson Contreras. I'm sorry. These things just come to me,

and I have to say them out loud. It's fine. Yeah. It's fine. I think that's a good place to end the podcast. Looking forward to your outro. this is it that's just the podcast

it's done thanks for listening it's ruined we'll see you on Monday have a nice weekend