Fantasy Baseball Today - 04/25 Fantasy Baseball Podcast: Worryometer, Double Dongs

Episode Date: April 25, 2018

It's Worryometer Wednesday but it's also Ronald Acuna Day! Where does Scott have Acuna ranked (1:10)? And there is a lot of big news (4:00) as we could have reason to pick up Domingo Santana, Willie Calhoun and Jack Flaherty ... We're impressed by a couple of AL East SPs (9:15), and the double dong list for last night (16:00) includes Scooter Gennett and a very interesting Kyle Schwarber ... DL stashes (25:50), Jose Altuve thoughts (34:10), Worryometer SPs (36:50) like Robbie Ray and Shohei Ohtani, Worryometer hitters (42:13) such as Matt Olson and Andrew McCutchen, fringey SPs (49:50) and a look at today's matchups (57:10). Plus Grade the Trade! ... Your emails at [e-mail] This episode is sponsored by www.ZipRecruiter.com 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

He chooses Travis Shaw over anyone who's grazer trade. The other team's getting played. And he's to Chris is most guys number threes. Have any of these dudes ever won the podcast league? Coming at you on a grade the trade Wednesday here on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Do you want to send us your emails, your trades that you want graded? Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. I am Adam Azer.

follow me on Twitter at Adam Azer, A-I-Z-E-R, and you can follow Scott White on Twitter at CBS Scott White. Don't have to spell it. And Scott, I want to wish you a very, very happy Ronald Acuna Day. Yes, Ronald Acuna finally getting the call. Yeah. It's very exciting. It's very exciting. I wish it didn't happen. I wish the announcement wasn't made at 1 a.m. and I didn't still happen to be awake at 1 a.m. So I didn't feel obligated to react to it then and there. So I'm going to be tired for Ronald O'Cunia Day.

No, come on. I think the adrenaline will carry me through. Good. And where are you going to rank Ronald O'Cuna in your outfield rankings? I did move him up a little. He was already 24th. So, you know, it's not like I was shying away from the upside there, even when he was down in the miners. But I moved him up three more spots to 21.

That's just behind Keras Davis. and, you know, A.J. Pollack, Starling Marte, that group of outfielders. So basically, I saw it as the, Acuna is my top outfielder just after the group that I consider to be no questions asked, must-start options, impossible to trade for outfielders. Because, you know, after that group, I have just as much confidence in him as anyone that's going to be a leap. production. I mean, it's kind of, I know he's 20, and so it's weird to say a 20-year-old has a high floor, but I feel like it's kind of the argument I was making for Tommy Pham before the season where he's capable of contributing in so many ways that you don't have to get his best case scenario for him to offer stud production.

Right. Batting average home runs power, home runs, solo bases, they're all, they're all part of the skill set there. So, no, if he falls short in one of those areas, he's still going to be a really good player. So a few days ago, Heath did a Twitter poll. Who would you rather have rest of season? And it says points league roster. Mitch Hanager or Ronald Ocuna. And Akuna got 51% of the vote to Hanigar's 49%.

I don't know if Rodo would be different because of the steals. But here's what I want to do. I want to do a Twitter poll. I feel left out. I want a Twitter poll. I want you to tell me who to compare Acuna to. And I will ask my Twitter followers, and we will tally the votes throughout the podcast.

Who would you rather have rest of season? Ronald Acuna or... And then you tell me who to make the other guy. Ronald Acuna... It doesn't even have to be an outfielder. It doesn't have to. Could be Shohei Otani. How about...

How about Ronald Acuna or AJ Pollock? A.J. Pollock. And I would take Pollock, but should it be somebody who I want to take over Acuna? No. Let's see what the people say. Ronald Acuna or AJ Pollock. Okay, that's out there. Acuna's up. We assume Preston Tucker is going to lose the playing time because Nick Marquacis has continued to be very good. And we shall see. All right, big news. Then we will get into Tuesday standouts, which include one of the best strikeout pitchers in baseball in the American League East. is not Chris Saylor, Luis Severino. A really good pitcher on the Red Sox, and his name is not Chris Sailor, David Price.

We'll get into the standouts in a second. But Eric Thames left with a thumb injury, and it could be serious, Scott. And Domingo Santana, do I want to add you? He's 73%-0, but he has been Baye this year. Should we go add Domingo Santana thinking more playing time is coming? I don't think that's a bad idea. And there are questions about his, what he brings to the table skills-wise with all the strikeouts. But there's definitely power there, there's speed there.

He overcame it with a high-line drive rate last year. And I just think the upside, when he has this opportunity, it warrants the pickup. Yeah, playing time has not been the issue. Performance has thus far, but Santana very good last year. And it's early. Adrian Belchay left with a hamstring strain It does seem like this is a DL thing But we don't know for sure

And I dropped Willie Calhoun last night Now I'm wondering if we just got an email It was a pretty good point They could really use Willie Calhoun He's not going to play third base They're trying to get him to be a little bit better in the outfield Yeah What do you think

And he came up as the second basement But I don't think the endfields Is even a possibility for him anymore But what is possible is Drew Robinson, who's been one of a handful of players they've been using to fill in the outfield. He's also an infielder, and he could be the one who steps in and plays third base with Willie Calhoun coming up to play the outfield. Now, if they had a lot of confidence in Willie Calhoun in the outfield, I think he'd already be up. but at the same time, Adrian Beltrace's,

that's a big chunk of offense they're losing. They're going to have to replace somehow. And he's the most obvious candidate. So I think that's a pretty good call. Okay, so would you rather pick up Domingo Santana or Willie Calhoun? Santana, because the opportunity is going to be longer term and he's more proven and all of that. But Calhoun's interesting.

I mean, big power numbers in the minors with the kind of strikeout. rates you'd expect for like a slap hitter. So it's, it seems like there's a high offensive ceiling there. He's just, you know, he's probably one of those guys who deserves to be playing DH and nothing else. Okay, yeah, Willie Calhoun, 31 home runs with a 300 batting average in the minors last year in 128 games, only 61 strikeouts. Not going to get you steals.

But yeah, Calhoun, somebody should be on your radar. Chris Bryant is day-to-day. He does not have a concussion. I hope he plays today. Jack Flaherty, jumping Jack Flaherty is going to start at Pittsburgh on Saturday. Let's check the ownership. What do you think the ownership is for Jumpin Jack? I think it's probably in the 68ish percent.

I think it's over 70. Okay, Scott, whatever. Let's see if you're right. Jack Flaherty's ownership. What should it be? It's seven. Oh, it's 70. We're both wrong.

We're both wrong. But I was the closest without going over. So I win. Yeah. I think it should probably be higher than that, given the upside. There's a better chance than not. I mean, there's a really good chance. It's just one and done.

Like, last time he filled in for Adam Wainwright. But, you know, if he goes out and dominates again, like you did in this first start, like he did all the spring training, like he has in the minors this year. And we just don't know what's going to happen. I mean, next start, Michael Waka could grab his shirt. shoulder or any number of possible any of the pitchers could get hurt obviously they may decide you know to kind of ease wayne right back in he may insist that he's ready but jack flaredy may perform so well that they make the decision for waynwright and keep him on the d l longer right

i think well who would you rather is walker beuler or flarity well definitely flarity but walker bueller got sent back down he'll be back up though for the for the start this weekend. They'd have to put somebody on the DL, I think, right? Oh, I don't know. Does the 26th man rule not apply for that? I'm not sure. That might be the case.

I'm not sure. But yeah, I mean, also Jack Flaherty, I think, is... That's start for Walker Bueller yesterday, well, good. I mean, obviously five shutout innings. He can't complain about that. The fact he had three swinging strikes against the Marlins. He didn't flat out dominate. And the 89 pitches he threw where the most he's ever thrown as a performance.

So I think Flaherty clearly has more upside for the here and now. All righty. And Blake Trinan left after being hit by a comebacker, but he is day-to-day. So Santiago Can see you got the save. I'm not chasing that. It looks like Trinan should be just fine. And we'll be back closing for the A's. All right, Scott.

Let's talk about Tuesday's standouts. Who you got? Who stood out to you? Well, I think we have to talk about J-Hap. because it has been one big strikeout performance after another eight or more in four straight, 10 in this most recent start against the Red Sox, one and run and seven innings.

Six-toin swinging strikes, and he's had 12 or more in every start. He's looked like this preeminent batmisser here in the early going, and I'm not really sure where it came from. There was that stretch, remember when he spent the half season with the pirates. Yeah. Back when the Pirates had a good pitching coach.

Same guy is a bad one now. Yeah. Yeah. Ray Searge seemed to work his magic on him then. But the key was he was throwing his four-seem fastball more. He was throwing it like two-thirds of the time, and it was a good swing and miss pitch for him. Since then, he shied away from it, but it's not like he's gone back to it now. That's what I had hoped would explain this big boost and strikeouts. It looks like the stuff is the same.

The pitch selection is the same. name, but how many starts have been? Five starts, or just four? Four. For half? Yeah. I think it's five. Yeah, after doing that for that stretch of time, I mean, I'm not exactly looking to buy high on him, but I'd be reluctant to sell him.

He actually only has two quality starts and five starts. That's the weird thing. Hap's got a 372 ERA, but seven walks, 41 strikeouts in 29 innings. I was looking for the DFS, podcast yesterday. You know, we do Dong Chasers, who's going to home or whatever. So I always look at the BVP, and Hap had great numbers against the Red Sox, the current

Red Sox. They had an OPS under 700 against him. So I didn't think much of it. I really didn't have a ton of confidence in him last night. Maybe, you know, an okay start. But seven innings one run, 10 strikeouts, amazing. Yeah, all right. So I think he's like around 50th for you right now, Jayhap.

Will you be moving him ahead? of Nick Povetta. Oh, he's 58th. Yeah, I already have him ahead of Pithta. Oh, you're not Heath. Sorry. I'm not Heath. Believe it or not.

But you actually have a 65th, then. Heath's higher on half than you. Well, I didn't need to move him up then. Joey Lucchese or Jayhap? Yeah, I'll stick with Lucchasey. Okay. It's going to be hard for him to break into my top 50, just because there's not really anyone in that group who I've lost confidence in, you know?

Sure. And I don't know what to make of Jayhap. I just know, again, I'd be reluctant to sell on him because while it doesn't make a lot of sense with his track record, the numbers kind of jive with themselves, if it makes sense. And if that's in that same game, I think Rick Porcelo is a standout. I know you buy into Rick Porcelo. I asked you, Rick Porcelo is back, baby.

Buy your sell last week. you were buying it. Maybe not Syeung good, but, you know, he gave up three runs, and I was flipping back and forth, and the Blue Jays announcer, Dan Shulman just kept saying how unlucky Porcelo got in the three-run inning. It was like soft hits, a hit-and-run base hit, a wild pitch. There was an error, I believe, on Devers. And then two runs scored on a hard hit ball by Granderson, but it basically, like, it hit like Rafael Devere's glove popped up in the air and somehow two runs scored on a ball that

barely left the infield. And then he, other than that, he was scoreless. So Porcelo continues to be off to a great start. He has 32 strikeouts and 32 and two thirds. Yes, she's been a little lucky. No home runs allowed yet. Low Babip. But, you know, he's got a 193 ERA. Sure, there's been some luck. So who would rather have? Some luck, but I mean, prior to this, or I can't remember exactly what day we did the sex or something. He was leading the major league in FIPP. So, a lot of luck,

but... But still really good. Really good. Yeah, right. Like, room to... For there to be correction, and him still be a really low-fip guy. Yeah. So I... Which is obviously something we care about.

Yeah, I'm buying. I mean... I wish we had the explanation last season that he basically didn't have his best pitch, the two-seamer. He just didn't have the feel for it all the last year. I don't know. How is that possible? I can you not have a feel for a pitch an entire year? I don't know. I don't know, but he wasn't throwing in nearly as much,

so it seems to the pitch selection seems to validate the narrative. Okay, so more standouts coming later. Trevor's story is the number five shortstop and fantasy. We had a lot of double dongers, actually. We'll get to that in just a second. We had Joey Votto homering, and somebody wisely pointing out that every time I speak ill of Joey Vado, he does well.

So yes, I will be doing that more often in the field. Yes, yes. He is over the hill. He is done. I don't know if this works with me saying it. No, actually, you're going to make it come true. So you should just stop. Nope, nope, nope. All right, so we will talk about Vada. We'll talk about his teammate Scooter Jeanette. And of course, we are grading your trades. But you should really be trading in any job site for ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter is the best. It is the smartest way to hire. And, you know, running a business is a lot like running a fantasy baseball team, right? You need the top talent. You need the best talent. It's not always so easy to find.

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Double dongs. Oh, yeah. Gary Sanchez, double-donged. I think for the second time this year, and he is the number four catcher in fantasy, still only hitting 208 with a really bad walk-to-strikeout ratio, three-walk, 17 strikeouts. Do you have anything to say about Gary Sanchez, or is he the same Gary Sanchez we thought he was at the beginning of the year?

He is the same. He's off to a slow start, and yet he's still fourth among catchers. I think that's pretty revealing. Okay, good pace of play. Scooter Jeanette hit two home runs. He's on the board. Welcome to the board, Scooter Jeanette. Yeah, one was a walkoff.

Yeah, he walked off. Oh, sorry about it against the Braves. That's okay. I mean, it was conflicting because obviously I have a lot of stock in Scooter Genet. I was one of his most vocal supporters this spring. So I'm responsible for other people having stock in him too. And I was glad to see this happen. And I don't, like, I'm still hopeful there's more of this to come

because he's actually making harder contact than he did last year. He's actually, you know, elevating the ball about the same as last year. He isn't pulling it as much. But I noticed during the Braves broadcast last night, they said it seemed like he was looking for something to pull all night, which I don't know is a great plan always, but if pulling the ball is something he's had a problem with this year and it's compromised his power.

I'm going to take it as a good sign. Yeah, look, so Jeanette, he's got now 287 batting average, two home runs, six walks, 20Ks. He has walked more lately, three in his last six games. Now, it's been 23 games for Jeanette. Double that, and that's 46 games, according to my math. So let's look at the first 46 games last year. He hit 270 with three home runs. He was a nothing.

He was a complete non-factor, and he had five walks of 30 strikeouts. Then he had a four-homer game. He finished the season after those first 46 games with a 9-10 OPS in the last 95 games of the year. Does one mean that it's going to happen again? Of course not. But he did get off to a much slower, well, a similarly slow start for a much longer period of time last year. And then was great. So that's an optimistic outlook for Scooter Genet.

Like a hopeful outlook. All right, Angleton Simmons double-donged. I called him a sell high a couple weeks ago. I don't buy him as a hitter, but, Right now he is the number six shortstop in points, number seven in Roto. And I specifically think he's a sell high in Roto, because last year he was the number four shortstop in points leagues, and he doesn't strike out. So Simmons double-donged yesterday. He's batting 317 with three home runs and two steals, Scott.

Yeah, he's actually my fill-in for Elvis Andrews in the podcast league, which, you know, the original podcast league, 12-team points league. The OG. So the better format for him. And I had put in a claim, somebody drops that Cozart in that league, and I put in a claim. and I put in a claim for him dropping Simmons. And this was enough for me to cancel that claim. I don't know. Like, I don't think he's suddenly a power hitter,

but, you know, if he's the 12 to 15 homer guy he was last year with the low strikeout rate, with an okay steals total. Like, it's going to mean the whole, like, he's a whole is better than the sum of the parts player, if he's who he was last year. Yeah. What about in a, would you have dropped him in a Categories League for Coney? Cozart? I think so. I mean, Cozart has been just brutal lately.

I mean, they're both of their... The points format's better for both of them, but I think in the traditional roto categories, Cozart has a better chance of being a standout. Freddie Freeman double-donged yesterday. He went two-for-six with two homers. He is a top three first baseman. And he had been a little bit cold, batting 267 with no home runs in his last 16 games. I guess my only question is about Freeman. Do you think he's just not going to get a lot to hit?

Because he has 18 walks this year. I think he's not going to get a lot to hit. Does that even matter? For Freeman? I mean, Ronald de Kuhni is coming up. So there's some line of protection. Yeah. Like, we've been saying that about Freddie Freeman since the rebuild began,

and he's only gotten better and better. So no, I'm not worried about it. All right, good pace of play. Kyle Swarber double dong yesterday. And right now he is the number 16 out for. fielder in points, number 12 in Roto. In his last 10 game, Schwerber is batting 412 with four home runs, seven walks, seven strikeouts.

There is a lot to digest with Kyle Schwabber. He's still just one for 13 against lefties. His strikeout rate is way down. His Babbup is way up, and I was reading today on CBS Sports.com. He is going the other way a little bit trying to beat the shift with some ground balls, but the Babbat will come down. So all good things, though, except he's hitting a lot more ground balls this year. And his home run to fly ball ratio is 43%.

Just last thing as I keep giving the numbers on Schwabur. 24% home run to fly ball ratio in both 2015 and 2017. He only played two games in 2016. That's extremely high. So he's going to be a high home run to fly ball ratio guy, I guess. But 43% is obviously ridiculous. So what do you make of all this data right now for Kyle Schwerber? Interesting player.

It's a lot to digest, and I actually put a column on the site yesterday, 12 legit hitter breakthroughs. And I considered putting Schwerber on there, but there's as many red flags as there are encouraging signs, kind of like you summed up. And the biggest serve, of course, is he going to play every day because of those struggles against left-handers and the hitter's surplus the Cubs have. and why is he not elevating the ball better? You know, some players do hit a lot of home runs with a fly ball rate between 30, 35%, but Schorber has yet to prove he can be that guy. He's always been a high fly ball guy in the past,

majors and minors included. Probably will be again, right? I mean, we don't think he's going to be a ground ball hitter. I mean, we don't know. The evidence this year, and obviously it's small sample, but that goes for anything we say about any player. he's been putting it on the ground a lot, and that's not a good thing. Hopefully it'll end, but I don't know.

I mean, this is a guy who had, after the All-Star break last year, an 894 OPS, but, I mean, the only thing he did was Homer. He had only four doubles in 61 games. He had 17 homers. He doesn't play every day. Swarber's just really interesting. He's the kind of guy because of playing time that could have good numbers and not be nearly not be as good as good as the numbers. Especially in a points league because he sits.

I don't know that he will sit though. That's the thing. But he won't be good against lefties. If he's this good all year, I feel like even if he struggles against lefties, they're going to have to, like he's just going to be too instrumental at the line if they're not going to be able to justify taking him out. But that's a big effort.

All right, so what are we doing with Swarber? Where are we ranking him? he for me is he's probably right around that 40 range in the outfield let me see exactly where I have him I have him exactly 40th so look at me yeah that sounds about right you have Hanager ahead of him

yep and Hanager's going to be moving up but I have Enciarte ahead of him that's interesting yeah I mean he's off to a slow start but I think a two-year trend where he's basically been pretty close to must start. Obviously, the upside isn't as high as Schwerber, but he's very safe player.

NCRte over Swirber. I don't know. NCRte is, I mean, maybe, all right, fine. I won't fight, John. He's the kind of guy. NCRth is the kind of guy at the end of the year. You look at where he ranks, you're like, oh, I didn't realize he was that effective.

All right, then, those are your double dongs. News and notes. Christian V. Inueva sat again with a hamstring injury. Rich Hill is expected to start on Monday. Jason Vargas will start on Saturday. Do you want any Jason Vargas? No, not really. I mean, a very deep points league, he's going to be an innings eater.

But I don't have a lot of confident in the skills. Eric Hosmer's on the family medical leave list. He should be back, hopefully Friday. Josh Donaldson could begin a rehab assignment later this week. Salvador Perez is back, and he homered. Tommy Fam is back, and he homered. Wei Yin Chen will make his season debut against the Rockies on Saturday, I am assuming you want even less of Wei and Chen compared to Jason Vargas.

That's correct. Brian Dozier had a 17-game hitting streak snapped. I don't know how long it was going back to last year. It was over 20, but it was 17 this year. Ian Kennedy left with an ankle injury. Milwaukee catcher Stephen Vote is approaching a rehab assignment. Do you want any... Do you want to vote, Scott?

I do not want to vote. Let's see how many Pena has done this year. Not well, 194. But at best, I think it's going to be a 50-50 split, the playing time there. And both skills have diminished quite a bit. Zander Bogart should be back on Friday. Real quick, I'm going to give you some DL stashes. And I want you to tell me how much you want them.

They're mostly owned in less than 70% of leagues. A couple of exceptions. All right, a hitter. A. E. E. E. Hanyoswarez, 71%. In theory I want him, but there have been so many third basement emerging Christian Vienaueva, Miguel Anduhar, and I'm not sure I can drop either of them for Suarez right now. So the ownership's probably about where it needs to be. Who's the best stash here? Carlos Gonzalez, Stephen Sousa, Greg Byrd.

Carlos Gonzalez, Stephen Sousa, Greg Byrd, they're all owned in 63 to 68% of leagues. I'm going to say Byrd. Yeah, he's coming back. Maybe in like three weeks. He's beating his timetable, and he could change my seasons. So it would be very nice. Come on, Greg, Bird. How about this next group?

Mark Trumbo, Josh Harrison, Ryan Healy. They're 43 to 49% owned. Trumbo, Harrison, Healy. The best? Their best. In theory, it's Trumbo. He's especially in categories, leagues, the most rosterable in the hopes of another big home run total like he had two years ago.

But I'm not confident in that. I think there's a... a good chance a lot of the people who have him stashed in a DL spot as soon as he's activated they're going to realize he's their best choice to drop. And then finally, Brandon Drury, Ben Zobrist, Dustin Padrella. So I

think Drury is headed for a super utility role with the way Andrew Harz performed and supposedly Glaver Torres is here to stay. Yeah. And I think he'll still play a decent amount in that role, but

you know, he was just in terms of performance, he was having a hard time factoring in fantasy. I have Padraoya when he comes back, I think he's going to be pretty useful. Not obviously like he was in his prime. Pace of play. Pace of play. Who do you want? I guess Padroi is the most rosterable. There we go.

All right, how about the pitchers now? D.L. Stash pitchers. Danny Salazar is 78% owned. How much do you want Danny Salazar? Not much at all. No? No, I mean, I guess he could overtake Tomlin. They've been reluctant to bump Tomlin to the bullpen in the past, but he's been pretty awful.

Ervin Santana, Zach Britton, Louise Gohara. You don't have to just pick one. Are all three of these guys good stashes? Irvin Santana, Zach Britton, Louise Gohara. Yes. And I can't imagine being in a position where I felt like I could drop either Santana or Britain. Maybe if it's like a 10-team league, that's shaller than I'm used to playing in. So maybe you could justify it there.

But Gohar, I've had to drop in a couple leagues just because of roster crunch. But I think he could be great. Yeah, so he's coming back fairly soon, right? Luis Goharra for the Braves? Yep. And that's only going to make the roster crunch worse, because then you can't stash him away into DL spot. Well, is he going to be in the rotation?

I would imagine so, unless Whizzler... has another start like his last one. They can't afford to remove him. We've got Adam Wainwright, Jason Vargas, and Jimmy Nelson, and Carlos Rodon, and Dan Strelie, and Joe Musgrove and Matt Shoemaker. Wainwright, Vargas, Jimmy Nelson, Rodon, Strayly, Musgrove, Shoemaker. Who should people be stashing on their DL, if anyone? Rodon and Nelson. They both have the kind of upside to, you know, that if they were held.

healthy. There's no way they'd be on the waiver wire. So that's kind of the litmus test for me. They're both weeks away. But they will be back eventually. Scott, let's see how I did last night. How much money did I donate to the listeners? Well, it would have been just a dollar. I finished in fourth place out of five, which is good for me. This is good progress for me in the draft app. Okay, so I had a zero from Trey Turner and a zero from Will Myers and six stupid points. from Tanner Roark. I had Trevor's story of the Grand Slam, and I didn't win yesterday.

Wow, I am just, what is with me? All right, anyway, I still love it. I don't even care. I'm going to play again. I'm probably going to play multiple contests tonight on the Draft app. And I learned a few things. First of all, yes, you can follow me on Draft.

Big Cain 2, C-A-N-E, like the Miami Hurricanes, Big C-N-2, on draft. Or another way to follow me, if you use our promo code when you make your first deposit, Our promo code is FB Today. You will automatically be following me, and you will see any drafts that I post.

You'll either see them in the lobby or you'll be notified on your phone. I think you have to probably just turn the notifications on. But, you know, it's not intrusive or anything. But use the promo code FB Today on the draft app, and what happens there, you get into a real money baseball draft for free when you use the promo code FB Today. And I play every day for a dollar. I'll play multiple contests sometimes with you, listeners, and it's really fun.

You get to win some cold hard cash. You get paid out the next day. The drafts are really quick. They only take a few minutes, and they're live snake drafts. They're really awesome. So go to the app store and search for draft, or go to draft.com, and enter the promo code FB Today. Also, just found out they're going to be doing some best ball football drafts. You listen to the Fantasy Football Today podcast.

I'll tell you more about that. But the draft app is killing it right now. You need to get on there and use the code FB. be today. All right, Scott. Class is in session. It is time to grade the trade. And this is this week's

teaching theme song. You like it? Yeah. Yeah, it's good. Probably should have started the chorus earlier. Here we go. Okay, anyway, let's grade some trades. This is from Walker. I traded Rees Hoskins and Robbie Ray, Hoskins and Ray.

We'll talk about Ray later. For Abraeu and Cinderguard, grade the trade. I give that trade. I'll give it a B-Minesis. I'll give it a B-minus. I think it's pretty close to even, but I would rather have the Cindergarde of Brayu side. Who would you rather have Hoskins or a Brayu?

I'd rather have Hoskins. That's why I think it's pretty close to even. But the gap between Cindergarde and Ray is enough that I'll take the Cindergarde side. The number one first basement of fantasy, Reese Hoskins. All right. From Ryan, grade the trade, Categories League. Give up. Yeah, I have to get rid of this one because Thames is probably going on the DL.

Maybe he's not. Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions, but I'm not going to read this one because it's Thames related. Pace to play, Adam. Pace of play. From Kurt, grade the trade, 12-team Roto, Devers and Hap. Give up Devers and Hap. Ian Hap. Get Will Myers and Joey Lucas.

Casey. Interesting. Yeah. I think that's a go, especially in a Roto League where Will Myers is going to give you steals. I'll give it a B-plus. Who would you rather have straight up? Myers or Devers in a Roto League? Myers. Okay. From Mike in Nueva, York. Grade the trade, 10-man Keeper League, Scott. Keeper. But the only keepable player here is Blackman for $20.

Give up. Adam Eaton. Alex Wood and Jonathan Quato Big time trade Give up Eaton, Wood, and Quato Get Blackman and Paxton And pick up David Dahl with the open spot Yeah

You put context there Like he wants contextual credit for picking it up with With Dahl And that's a great That's why those You know trading Consolidating lesser players For greater players

That's why it's such a great option because then you clear a roster spot for somebody else exciting. But this is no-brainer. I mean, you're getting the best two players in the deal on Blackman and Paxton. So I give it a A. Way to go, Mike and New Wave, York. You demand, and that is great, the trade part one. All right, we've got to get into the Wuriometer.

It is Worryometer Wednesday, of course. So Worryometer Wednesday begins with an email from Kevin. Email of the day, number one. Kevin says, I am not concerned, but where have all of Jose Altuva's home runs gone? Any indication in his batted ball data? And, okay, where have his home runs gone? Where have his steals gone? And where have I gone?

How have I not mentioned this? We're four weeks into the season. Jose Atouvae is batting 333 with no homers and one steel and four doubles. Yeah, it's weird. It's weird. The steals especially because steals, you know, he's getting on base as much as he always does. And as I've said before, steals are as much a product of intent as ability. So I do

Wonder if You know that Astros lineup is just so loaded That there's much incentive for him to steal anymore That would be a problem It'd still be a stud without him But less so But they're not even hitting that well right now, I feel Like Springer's not hitting that well

Bregman's moved down in the order I feel like Reddick has been Arguably their best hitter I mean maybe I'm missing something here But they're You know He should be running You know, but last year, you're right, Scott.

Last year George Springer said, I'm not going to run that much. Like, look who's behind me. Al Jouvae still did. That thought did cross my mind as well. Yeah, I mean, what do you? Is there any evidence about the power about the home runs? I mean, his batted ball profile is basically exactly the same as it's been the last two years when he's been the 20 homer guy,

nearly 25 homers. So I just think that's one of those fluky things. Okay. And I kept saying, you know, every first round hitter is doing so well except for Stanton. And I just forgot about it too, because he's not like he's been terrible or anything. He's hitting 333. But yeah, no, he's been disappointing. If you were drafting today, would he still be the second pick in the draft for you?

Well, what other candidates would there be? Blackman, I guess. Hobby Baez. Hobby Baez, I'd say. Hobby Baez. No, it's probably between Harper and Blackman. Aeronado.

Yeah. I'd still go out too, Dave, Scott. I think I would, too, but it wouldn't be a slam dunk. Okay. All right, so here's Wariometer Wednesday. A lot of guys here. Pitchers.

Robbie Ray. Robbie Ray with 11 strikes. strikeouts in four and two-thirds, but still not a good start. Three runs, three walks, and he's got a 513 array and a 156 whip. Worryometer on Robbie Ray. So I'm not really that worried still. I'll give it a three because it's, I mean, he's still, he leads the majors in Kper 9. I mean, he's still got dominant stuff.

It's just, he's got to get those walks down to pitch deeper into games. He's had at least three in every start, and when you're talking three and four in a third That's a really high walk rate. So, you know, he's not going to be 5.8 per 9 all season because nobody who keeps their job is, and he's never been that bad before. So I think it'll be okay. So you're putting the by-low tag on Robbie Ray? I am.

Okay. I mean, I've moved him down a little in my ranking since the season started, but he's still top 20. Have you moved him behind Patrick Corbyn? I actually, I did that yesterday, yep. Patrick Corbin is now my number 15. starting picture. Wow. I worry out.

Garrett Cole's number five. I know you guys talked about that yesterday. Would you do that? Five? I'm doing it. Yep. After the big four, Garrett Cole is number one.

I don't even know. I don't even think you've got the right astro. I couldn't put him ahead of Erlander, I don't think. That's fair. Yeah. Chris tried to make the same argument to me about being the wrong astro, but he was claiming Charlie Morton,

obviously before Morton. and start yesterday. It's a bad. I mean, look, I think Heath has him like 10th, Garrett Cole, and I said, you know, what about putting him fifth or whatever? I see the reasoning. He's been amazing, and his stuff is so good.

Like, he could be such a good pitcher, and he right now is. I'm obviously given Morton a pass for yesterday, but you know I have confidence in Dallas Keikl as you do. We think he's good. Yeah. It still seems possible he might be the Astro's worst pitcher. It does seem possible. Um, I don't know, I can't see McCullors being better than him, I don't think.

Or if I was ranking them now, I would put him fourth. You put him fourth? I put him fourth? Well, okay. I put him third. Hang on a second. Hang out a second because this is, um, in terms of fantasy value, I would keep him third. Yes.

Right. So you got Cole, Verlander, Keikle, then who, Morton McCullers? But if we're talking, best case, scenario, everybody stays healthy all season long, then I would say Keikles, the Astros' fourth best pitcher. It's just, you know, more than his age with his injury history. I'm not counting on that. By the way, did you hear that?

My microphone just fell off the stand. It was sitting off. Yes, we did hear that. That is okay. Back to the Wauriometer. Luke Weaver can't even get me through the fifth. That was terrible. Sorry, but this is two bad starts in a row.

Pretty good. 10 earn runs in 8 and 2 thirds over his last two starts at the Cubs and home against the Mets. Luke Weaver, Worryometer. I'm going to say four, so not very worried. But it was kind of weird yesterday with the control. That was his biggest problem. Six walks and three of them came in the fifth inning. That's where I think he kind of fell apart for him.

What's weird is one of his points of emphasis, this spring was mixing in a curveball to go with his fastball change up because he thought he became too predictable at the end of last year and started getting hit harder. These last two starts, the bad two starts, he's pretty much ditched the curveball. So I don't know why he ditched the curveball. It doesn't seem to be...

It seems like he's getting hit hard again without it. I hope he realizes that and goes back to it. All right, back to the Wariometers. That was Luke Weaver, not too concerned there. One more pitcher, Shohei Otani. bad starts in a row for Shohei Otani. Yeah, and it's... The problem with him is he's having to thread the needle since he's limited to one start every week.

It really hurts when that start isn't good. He was such an obvious sell high. He was. Not that he's bad, but you could have gotten so much for him. You could have. Yeah, that's a fair point. I don't know that I'd sell him now because the upside is still enormous. I might buy him now.

Now, now it might be looking at a make more. It would take a lot more than these two starts, especially considering Red Sox Astros, you know? Yeah. For me to not have, for me to take him out of my lineup, basically. Like, he's still, I still see him as a fixture there. I mean, they said that Otani was not affected by the blister. I guess I would love to know that for a 100% certainty.

Yeah, I'm a little skeptical of that. I don't know how you're not. Yeah, exactly. So that could be a. reason why I wouldn't want to buy him, but I mean, he throws like 98. He's got an amazing splitter. He's going to be a really good pitcher if he's healthy. But you've got to have at least some red flags after the last two starts, and we know

he had the blister problem. All right, hitters, hitters on the Worryometer. We'll go a little quicker here, Scott. Andrew McCutcheon, 0 to 10, batting 209. That's about in 7 for me. Okay. He's when I moved behind Acuna to get Acuna up to 21. Do you still think he's a by low, McCutcheon?

Maybe in a technical sense, but it's not something I'm gung-ho about doing. He looked done last year, and then he went, like, berserk. Yeah. I mean, it's nice that he has three steals already, and the plate discipline still looks pretty good. Right, and that's something that I keep an eye on in slumps is plate discipline. He's got 13 walks to 20Ks, so it could be worse. So, you know, it's more likely than not he'll be okay. It's just he's...

He's shown evidence of aging the last couple years, and it was in a really tough hitter's environment. So, you know, I have some concerns. Yeah, all right. Last thing on McCutcheon, first 47 games, he had a 631 OPS. He was terrible. 47 games, 205 batting average. Next 63 games, he had 1126 OPS. And then he was bad for the last 46 games.

So, you know, he basically made his season last year, McCutcheon, with a 63-game stretch. middle of the year. He'll probably get hot again, I guess, based on the last two years. He's done that. All right, Miguel Sineau, Worryometer on Sanoe. He's, you know, I think it's one thing to struggle, but six walks, 32 strikeouts, that's pretty bad. It is, yeah, and that's the downside of Sanoa right there.

Like, it's going to be feast or famine with this guy, because he also has, you know, when he's going, well, he hits the ball as hard as anybody and can hit it a long way. And I imagine if he's healthy, he's still going to hit 30, 35, maybe even more home runs than that. But it's just, it's going to be really frustrating. And I, like, if there comes a point where he heats up like that, I think I would be looking to sell just to relieve myself with a headache. So if McCutcheon was a 7 on the Wariometer, where's to know? Oh, yeah. Got to give a grade, right?

I'll give him a 6. Okay. How about Matt Olson? who actually is the number 13 first baseman of points number 10 in Roto with just a 784 OPS. I don't get it. So he'll be a five for me.

All right. And that's, you know, I had a lot of confidence in him coming in, so he gets, he starts from a higher point than those two previous ones. But, yeah, I still think the way he elevates the ball and pulls the ball and hard contact and all that could still be a big power hitter. All right, Matt Olson is a five.

on the Wariometer. Here's an interesting one. How about Brett Gardner? He's batting 22 with one home run and two steals. And he has 22... Wait, I might have reversed that. He either has 22 runs in 20 games or 20 runs in 22 games. He has an unbelievable amount of runs, Brett Gardner.

And he's been terrible. Couple things. I worry about the steals. He hasn't run much, and it makes sense because of the lineup. And now that Aaron Hicks is back, I worry that Gardner will sit against lefties. but he'll be a better hitter than this, and he's scoring a ton of runs. He has 22 runs in 20 games while batting 225.

Oh, oh, and 16 walks to 21 strikeouts. He has 357 on base with a 225 batting average. So Gardner's interesting, worryometer on Gardner. I mean, the playing time thing is an issue. I'll say six, but mostly I own him in five outfielder leagues for the little bit of steals potential he was going to provide late. I mean, if we think this Yankees lineup is historically great, and he's doing, he scored this many runs, Stanton really hasn't gotten going yet,

Sanchez hasn't gotten going, Bird has been out. It may be, like, in those five outfielder formats, especially, it may be enough for him to overcome the possibility of him sitting against the occasional lefty. Who is leading baseball in runs scored? It is not Brett Gardner. Okay, it's... Hmm. It's a fairly obvious one, I'd say.

Well, it won't surprise you. Bryce Harper? No, he's a lead-off hitter on a good team. A first-place team. Hmm. Now you have six options. I'm just not sure I can, I know everyone's lead-off hitter well enough. He's on that DFS world.

He's on the Red Sox, and he leads off. Okay. Is it Mookie Betts? His name rhymes with... Cookie Mets, yes, Mokey Betts. I kind of remember they were batting them lead off or not. 23, yeah, I think they are, right? Yeah, 23 runs scored for Buki Betts.

Yeah. Last one, Woriometer on Marcel Ozuna. Three walks, 23 strikeouts and 20 games. Yeah, but I just... I'm giving it as... I'm chalking it up as a slow start. Okay. I'll give it a four.

A4 on a four. Osuna, not too worried. All right, a lot more to get to here. We're just going to skip around. A segment called, well, it's about time. Joey Vito hit his first homer. Jay Bruce hit his second homer. People are concerned about him.

Do you think Jay Bruce is a bi-low candidate? Yeah. I mean, he's always been streaky. Yeah. Let's not do this again with Jay Bruce. They'll be fine. Wilson Contreras hit his first home run. Paul Goldschmidt stole his first base,

and Eduardo Nunez stole his first base. More from yesterday. I would say Jose Barrios probably pitched better than the final line, four innings, six hits, five runs, two walks and seven strikeouts. He gave up a solo homer to Gary Sanchez that was very Yankee Stadium-esque. It went 373 feet, I think. Not exactly a moonshot. And then I wrote in my notes on my phone, Burrios got squeezed, but it auto-corrected to Berries got squeezed, which sounds delicious. Yeah, making juice over there.

Where do you have Jose Burrios? Is he ahead of Patrick Corbyn for you? He's not. No, he's not in my top 15, like Corbyn is. And I probably have him lower than, I'm sure lower than Heath does, and probably lower than Chris Wood if he had rankings. But I moved him up to 25th.

He's right there with Aaron Nola for me. Oh, you have him ahead of Tanaka, ahead of Price and one spot ahead of Bundy. Would you rather have Charlie Morton or Jose Burrios? I have Morton 22nd. Would you rather have... Would you rather have... Would you rather have Jay Hap or Cole Hamels?

I would rather have... I would rather have Hap. Okay. That's a close call. That was a really tough one. Yeah, I mean, we've got to give Hamill's credit. He's really got the walks down or, you know, only two quality stars this year. Hap only has one.

but Hamils has just six walks in his last four starts and he's been more reliable. But next week will be an interesting one for Hamils at Cleveland and home against Boston. We'll find out a little bit more about him. I didn't really think any of the fringy starting pitchers were all that interesting, except for Tyler Malley, I guess. He had an amazing start.

I actually picked up Brandon McCarthy and Tyler Malley, but I prioritize McCarthy. This is a deep league, 13 teams. over Malley, despite You know, Malley being much better than him yesterday. I can't get over the two completely terrible starts that Malley, or maybe the three really, that he had. But he does get the Marlins next week, so that's nice.

Yeah. And there's definitely more upside there than McCarthy. I guess it just depends what you're looking for. Security or upside. And in 13 league, team league, I don't know. I might have gone for the upside there. I picked him both up, so. Okay.

There you go. But, Scott, I don't know if I did the right thing. I did prioritize both of them over Walker Bueller. Hmm. I think I'd rather have Malley for now, but I am not totally sold on Malley. This is not. Like, when things went wrong, obviously he had a no-hitter going through six, but when things went wrong, they went really wrong.

It was home run, double, home run. Right. Which is how he ended up allowing three runs. he threw about 70% fastballs in this game. Now it was a really good fastball. He had 20 swinging strikes, 13 of them just on the fastball. Those are both amazing numbers. But I just don't know if, like, he needs a fuller arsenal to hold up as a starting pitcher.

I mean, even in this start, it came back to bite him. So I just wonder if he's going to end up stuck in relief. It really reminds me of Tony Sangrani a few years ago. Remember the Tony Sigrani Mania? Yeah. And it was just, yeah, but he throws too many fastballs. Oh, it'll be fine. And he wasn't fine.

He ended up having to go to the bullpen and has been there ever since. So that's what I worry about for Malley. Well, I apologize for not bringing Mack Williamson up. I'll get to him in a moment. I will ask you, these starting pitchers, would you be fine dropping any of them for another two-star pitcher, for a hitter, for whatever? Or you tell me if there's any that you don't think should be dropped.

Tyler Chatwood, Vince Velasquez, Zach Davies, Zach Wheeler, and C.C. Sabathia. Chatwood, Velasquez, Davies, Wheeler, Sabathia. Are any of them, don't drop? You're making a mistake. I'd be fine dropping any of them. I'd be the most hesitant with Velasquez, but they're all expendable.

Mack Williamson is 23% owned. How owned should he be? He's got three homers in five games. He should be more than that, probably closer to like 60. There is a lot of power potential here. He might be one of the five strongest hitters in the majors. All three of his home runs have just been,

they've all been over 420 feet. He's been hitting them out to the deepest parts of AT&T Park, like the places where you never see home runs hit at AT&T Park. And that includes, since he's a right-handed hitter, I mean, most of those are right center. He's going the opposite way. I don't think he's pulled a home run yet. And just obviously the back story of him,

Doug Lata is the name of the hitting guru who reworked a swing in the same way he did with Justin Turner a few years ago making Justin Turner a fantasy stud. So it really seems to be paying dividends. I am excited. Mack Attack. Mac Williamson, pick him up. Not much in the bullpen.

Greg Holland pitched the ninth inning of a tie game at home, but Bud Norris was unavailable. Holland did pitch very well, two strikeouts in a scoreless inning. Pedro Baez pitched the ninth of a tie game at home against Miami, and Dave Roberts said he made a mistake. He should have used Kenley Jansen. Jeremy Jeffers didn't get a save. He only went two-thirds of an inning in a five-two game,

but he, I guess, was sort of used as the closer, and Matt Albers certainly was not. And Ronald Acuna is currently winning 51% to 49% over A.J. Pollock, and we are going to end today's show with a couple of segments. We got today's matchups coming up, First, class is back in session. Let's get to Gray the Trade Part 2. You know how difficult it's going to be to come up?

I was jamming there and the microphone fell off again. Oh, all right. This is going to be, this is our new world, guys. I am podcasting from home. I'm going to be more often than not. And he'll have a better microphone soon. Yeah, well, it'll get better. And, yeah, what was I going to say?

Oh, you know, it's going to be very difficult for me, Scott, to come up with 26 school theme songs, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to make it happen. Shane in Dallas. Give Patrick Corbyn, get Anthony Rizzo, 10-team league. Oh, I mean, as much as I like Corbyn, Anthony Rizzo is first-round caliber bat. I'll give that a B-plus.

This is from... Ooh, no name here. All right, this is from Mark. Ten-team, five-by-five categories. give Bellinger a $7 keeper. And Rysel Iglesias. Get Nelson Cruz and Kenley Jansen. Bellinger and Iglesias for Cruz and Jansen,

and you're giving up a $7. Bellinger next year. No. Why? Yeah, don't do it. Because you like Kenley Jansen that much? I mean, he hasn't even been Kenley Jansen. And I wouldn't do it even if it was.

That's a D. All right, from another one with no name. Head-to-head Keeper League. Give up. Three players for one here. In a Keeper League. Tanaka, Sean Newcomb, and Victor Robles. Give them all up.

Tanaka, Nukem and Robles, get Francisco Lindor. My initial reaction is this is a great consolidation of players again. But, you know, Robles being one of those elite, elite prospects, and not knowing the exact keeper rules. Like, if it's the league where you just everybody keeps a handful of players. You probably wouldn't even keep Robless, so that makes it an easy call. But if you keep close to your whole roster, it's a little harder to do. I still think I'd do it, and I'd give it a B. And Douglas wants to trade Josh Donaldson and Gary Sanchez for Mike Trout or Bryce Harper.

Do you think he could get that done? Sanchez and Donaldson for Trout or Harper. I don't think that'll do it. I don't think it's crazy to try. Would you then give up Gary Sanchez straight up for J.D. Martinez. He has J.T. Rayamuto. I, I, uh, you were drafting, you were drafting Martinez first. I was drafting, yeah.

I guess if you're a security catcher like that, I have to say yes. But it's one of those trades where, like, it's so close, like, it's so even. I don't, I don't know, I don't know that I'm motivated to do it, just because it'll feel a lot worse if it goes wrong for you. Yeah. then if it doesn't. Scott, today's matchups, here we go. I'm just going to tell you the pitchers, you just say which one you want to start it or both.

Felix Hernandez at James Shields. Neither. Nick Troppiano at Justin Verlander. Verlander. Tyson Ross at John Gray in Colorado. Nope. No on Ross. What about Gray?

I'd be more like to start Ross, actually. But I'm going to say, I'll say no to either, to both. Max Scherzer at Jeff Samar. I will start both. Jordan Zimmerman and James and Tyone. Yeah, let's go with Tyone. Lance Lynn at Sunny Gray. I will start neither, even though I imagine we'll be starting both more often than not.

Matt Whistler at Brandon Finnegan. Nope. Zach Rankie at Jake Arrieta. Yeah, let's start both. Faria at Cobb. I'll start Ferrea. Definitely not Cobb. Eduardo Rodriguez at Aneran Sanchez.

I'll start Erod, but I won't start Sanchez. I'm kind of down on him. John Lester at Trevor Bauer. Let's start both. Matt Boyd at Chad Kuhl. Neither. Trevor Richards and Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw.

Kershaw, yep. You know what? I might give some thought to starting Boyd. He's a high-hand pirates. Everybody's slumping in that lineup. Yeah. He does seem like a decent sleeper tonight. Matt Boyd. Kendall Graveman, Doug Fister.

Neither. Stephen Matt's Michael Waka. Neither. Chase Anderson, Jason, Jason Amel. Once again, I say no to both. Thank you, Scott White. Thank you all for listening. Ronald Acuna Day.

Enjoy it, everybody. And we'll talk to you on Thursday on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. I'm going to sleep well tonight.