Fantasy Baseball Today - 04/30: Hot and Cold Hitters, April Trends and More (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 30, 2019

Nate Lowe is up! Is he a must-add player? What about Alex Verdugo after the A.J. Pollock injury (4:40)? And we discuss Jesus Aguilar's big game (6:22) and whether or not you should buy into Jake Odorizzi's start (10:00). Also, keep Casey Mize on your radar (14:52) ... "Hot Blooded" players (17:35) and "Cold as Ice" players (25:30) as we get some classic rock on today's show. Are we concerned about Manny Machado? Can you drop Kyle Freeland? Plus bullpen notes (33:00) ... SPs from yesterday (36:00) including Zack Wheeler's lack of command and drop in velocity. And then we spotlight some April storylines (43:30) as Tim Anderson keeps on hitting, Corey Seager has no power and Luke Voit keeps getting on base. Also a peak at today's matchups at the end of the show ... 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

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Now here's Adam, Scott, Keith, and Chris. Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to the Tuesday show. It is April 30th.

And I'm pretty sure there's only 30 days in April. So I think this is the last day of the basically first month of the season. Am I right? Only 30? That would be correct, sir. What's the rhyme? What's the like nursery rhyme that teaches people? I never knew that one. That is one that I just, I never got to that part in class. Scott, you never learned. I told me out for bad behavior or something.

Okay, I'm going to go. It's just kind of easy enough to remember. Not for me. Without admonic device. Well, what is on today's show? We are going to do some foreigner-themed, segments. That would be the band foreigner. That will be fun. We've got of course news and notes.

Jesus Aguilar hit two runs. Jacob Rizzi had a great start and he's actually having a pretty good season. So we'll talk about him and some hot hitters, some cold hitters. Mani Machado. I know you're worried about Mani Machado. We're going to talk about that. Matt Barnes got a save. Jacob Webb got a save. Patrick Corbyn was terrible. Frankie Montas had some bad defense behind him. We will discuss it all. But first, Scott White, get low. Nate Lowe has been promoted by the raise.

He batted fifth. He's D-Hed at Kansas City. He went one for four with a double. And Nate Lowe is 30% owned. Is that ownership to, you know, low? No. There it is. What do you think?

Yes, it is too low. But they're, okay, so basically, he's an interesting. interesting prospect definitely last year between three levels he hit 330 with 27 home runs at 985 OPS and struck out just 90 times in 555 plate appearances was off to a good start this year too he is not the most highly regarded prospect he's of a certain phenotype that tends to get overlooked in prospect rankings and that's basically a a first baseman who isn't who isn't renowned for his athleticism. You know, Reese Hoskins was a recent example of a guy who didn't get a lot of prospect

love turned out to be a pretty big deal in fantasy. Maybe low could be two. The problem with owning him is that first base for all the concerns heading into the season has turned out to be a pretty stacked position. A lot of potential that was there kind of, you know, kind of off to the side has come bubbling to the surface, and it's going to be hard for people to fit low in. Just to give you, to kind of put it in perspective, heading into yesterday's games among players who scored at least 90 points in CBS head to head leagues, there were 16 first

baseman, and the most in any other infield spot was nine. So there's a lot going on at first base, a lot to get excited about. Will Lowe, who, I imagine at least at the beginning. getting isn't going to play much against left-handed pitchers. They talked about calling him up because they wanted another left-handed bat with Austin Meadows on the DL. Lately, G-Man Choy's had a hard enough time getting in the lineup, though he wasn't again yesterday. I don't know that the playing time is going to be consistent for low unless he gets really, really hot. So I wouldn't say he's, despite the really impressive minor league numbers,

and the fact that that sort of player might have been a must-ad in past seasons. I don't know that I'd call a must-ad now. Okay, 30% own again. Nate Lowe, first baseman, but he d-hed for the raise. And he might not be adding him as a first baseman. You might be adding him as a utility or something like that. But would you, right now, would you drop Hesus Aguilar for Nate Lowe? I would.

I would. I don't know with dropping Aguilar, but I'm not sure Lowe's the guy I'm doing it for. Okay. Uh, AJ Pollock is on the IL with an elbow infection. So who's a better ad right now? Nate Lowe or Alex Verdugo, who is, oh, I should have put, I should have played a vertigo by you too. Uh, 48%. Oh.

You don't need to. He's batting. Should we say hello, hello to Alex Verdugo? Ola. Yeah, thank you. Um, he's having a really good year. And now he's got a, I think a path to playing time. What's, uh, what's the deal here?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I think I, I mean. I mean, obviously there's more spots in your lineup to fit an outfielder. It's not, it hasn't been as deep as first base here to begin the year. And he's more proven in the majors than Lois so far. It's been a really exciting start to the year for Verdugo, where the biggest concern coming into it would he hit for enough home run power.

So far he certainly has when he's played. Yeah, and he's a guy that we've talked about this archetype a lot, or phenotype, was that the word you, Scott? earlier. That was the word I... Yeah, he's the phenotype of a guy who might hit for more power than we expect just because the hit tool is so good

and the ball is flying so well right now that yeah, I think he's someone who can absolutely be a starting caliber fantasy option for as long as he's an everyday player. I am going to drop Ty Buttree for Alex Verdugo right now.

There we go. Good. Scanning leagues for Alex Verdugo. Yeah, it didn't really... didn't occur to me until I saw the lineup yesterday. The A.J. Pollock is going to go out. Oh, AJ Pollock. You are really, really bothering me. What a bad year for him. And he's on the I.L., which is no surprise. An elbow infection. So Verdugo got the start yesterday.

Did get pinch hit for, I believe. But 333 batting average, four homers, four doubles, two triples and 29 games. Only two walks, but only eight strikeouts. Okay, we got some Monday standouts for you. And I think it has to start with Jesus Aguilar, Chris. We see two homer games all the time. They don't necessarily. necessarily mean anything, but he did go yard twice, and now he's batting 156 with two home runs in 26 games. For a guy who was a top six first baseman last year, Hesu Sagarlar is now 72% owned. What do you think about him?

I mean, look, we've all been saying we were just waiting for the point where Heser Sagalar's OPS would get over 500. OPS. And now it finally is, so it's all good. He's been bad. This hasn't been just a result of bad luck. he's around average in average exit velocity, well below average and hard hit percentage. He's been miserable so far this season. He was pretty pedestrian in the second half of last season.

I have sort of given up on Jesus Aguilar as a potential impact bat at first base. Like some, I mean, think collectively as an industry, we thought he might have been able to be coming into this season. I think you're probably slotting him in in like, the Justin's smoke range of a useful guy, but also a guy that you may drop. Okay. So not someone that we need to rush to pick up if he's available. I'm more excited about Aguilar. I guess maybe excited's too strong of a term.

I don't think he immediately goes back to playing every day after this performance because Eric Thames is so hot. But I have very little confidence in Thames sustaining his hot street, given how much he's striking out. Aguilar, in terms of strike out to walks, in terms of how many line drives versus fly balls versus ground balls he's sitting basically the same as last year. They've been saying,

everything I've read about him, I've been talking about how his timing is just off. And in terms of, you know, the main thing I've noticed that's down for him is barrel rate, way down. And that would seem to back up what they're saying. You know, guys get cold, and obviously it's been a really cold start to the season,

I don't think it's a loss of skill for Aguilar. And depending on where things go from here, he could get scooped up pretty quickly across the board. I'm not saying he's necessarily must add for the same reason. Lowe is not necessarily must add, just because there's a lot of competition to fill that spot. But I am more interested in him than low. I think the chances of him becoming an impact player this year are greater than they are for low. Yeah. Well, I would just say this.

I don't know if it's a loss of skill. I think it's probably the skill set wasn't as good as it looked in the first half last season. I think he's probably more like a high 700s, low 800s OPS guy. And like Eric Thames has a career 825 OPS against right-handed pitching. So what about Aguilar in 2017? I mean, he was good in 2017, too. He had... It wasn't just a one-year or a first-half phenomenon.

It was a very limited sample size. It was a 265 batting average, 16 home runs. He played 133 games, but he was like a part-time player, so the games played as a little deceiving. What was the OPS in 2017? 837? Yeah. But you're talking about a guy, a pace of more than 30 home runs.

And he had an... And though he was mostly a platoon player, then the OPS was over 800 against right-handers still. Okay. Yeah, I don't think he's going to be good enough to make it so that he just plays every day when Eric Bames can hit right. He's really well, too. Okay, let's talk about Jake Oteresey. And another guy that we are definitely going to talk about is Mike Zoroca. Woo!

He's been awesome. But Jake Oterese, right now he has a 334 ERA and a strikeout per inning. but he just threw his first quality start since the first start of the season. And this was against the Astros, seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. A dominant performance against the best team in baseball, the best team of the AL for sure, the Houston Astros. Is anybody buying Jake Oteresey's only 39% home, which means he's available? And he does get the Tigers next week, assuming he makes a second start at the Yankees this weekend. Tigers next week for Oterizzi.

Is anyone interested in Jake Egs-Oterese? going to be cutting him within the next three weeks, I think. He does have a 319 fit, but that's mostly because he has somehow only allowed two home runs so far this season, despite a 23% round ball rate. Now, one thing he has always done well and is doing well now is get infield fly balls, pop-ups, and that can help him keep a lower home run rate. you would expect, but pretty much all the ERA indicators point to him being a above-four ERA guy. And so, you know, I'm hopeful. I wish he could figure it out because he was pretty good for a couple of years in Tampa. But I generally don't buy it. And it's just been, like you look at the game log, it's been so, there isn't a lot of consistency to anything he's done either.

He's had two great starts. He's had one good start. He's had two awful starts and one pretty bad start. And the strikeouts are all over the place. Given his track record, there's nothing here that would lead me to believe he's a different guy. All right. Is there any standout I'm missing that's not, if it's in the notes, and you say his name now, I'm going to yell at you and tell you.

Just be patient. We're going to talk about him. But is there any Monday standout that you really want to talk about? I'm afraid of getting yelled at to me. honest. I just did a control F. My guy's in there. Who is it? I can't mention it.

Okay, okay, okay, okay, fair enough. I do want to mention just a couple things real quick. Our sponsors, you know, they're great. I want to thank all of our sponsors and, you know, you hear the reads on the show. This week, you're going to be hearing reads for Sherry's Berries and for Pro Flowers. And I just want to say, like,

please take advantage of these offers. Sherry's Berries. I think it's Berries.com and at Pro Flowers as well. Our promo code is FBT. FBT on those websites, berries.com and proflowers.com. And I got the packages from those two places this week and actually ordered more and just outstanding stuff. The berries.com, sherry's berries, the strawberries are like the size of my fist.

They are awesome. We got them and we were like, oh, these are amazing. So there's a great discount. Use the code FBT. And you also hear in the reads for the draft app that I am competing against you guys. And that is true. In fact, let me check the results of the contest I did last night. But people are challenging me on the draft app, and I want you to get on there, and I want you to challenge me, and I want to beat you.

And I won yesterday. I just played one-on-one against one of our listeners, and I beat him 48 to 38 because I had Verlander and he had Corbyn. And I had Bellinger and Betts. All right, that's not a bad day for me. So thank you to the sponsors, and thank you all for supporting us and for supporting them. News and notes, J.D. Martinez returned to the lineup. Billy Hamilton was out of the lineup. Robinson Cano is still day-to-day. He expects to play maybe today or tomorrow.

Trey Mancini expects to play today. Fernando Tatis was out of the lineup and he still may end up on the injured list. Anthony Rendon remains day-to-day with an elbow injury. Travis Shaw sat against the lefty. So if that keeps happening, you know, Arnon Perez is pretty good numbers against lefties. Shaw, I think we're probably still going to say hang on to him. but it's getting getting ugly.

DJ LeMayhew's day-to-day. Mark Kana is on the IL for the A's. Does that matter to anybody? No. Playing time for Chad Pinder? Right? Okay. Swipe right.

They're both pretty much just lefties, right? But Pinder sometimes against righties. Did anybody get swipe right? Or I guess swipe left if he's a lefty. Pinder, Tinder? Very funny. No, he is a rightie. He's got a man. He plays against left.

Okay. Swipe right then. Ender. Rensiarte day-to-day with hamstring tightness. Lucas Gialito threw 50 pitches, so he's on the mend. Detroit's starting pitcher Casey Mize, a prospect he threw a no-hitter in AA. Is he on the-strand-out? Was it really?

Yes. Okay, should he be, because of Casey Mize, no-hitter yesterday at AA should be on the radar. My general philosophy, and I don't know. Scott, you haven't had him in your five-to-stash so far, right? No, this was his first AA start. It was a pretty good debut. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, he was the number one overall pick last year. And he's getting rave reviews right now from everything that I've read. He's one of the two or three best pitching prospects in baseball. My general philosophy is, and I think it's different when a team is contending versus rebuilding like the tigers are. But generally, if you're in AA, you could get called up at any point. I don't think it's likely that he gets called up until at least the summer. But, you know, once we get past that Super 2 deadline, if he continues to dominate and double A,

it wouldn't shock me to see him get called up. Okay. So that is Casey Mize. And keep an eye on him. He threw a no hitter yesterday. Miguel Sino is going to begin a rehab assignment today. And he'll keep an eye on this. Jose Parraza, 59% own.

He batted lead off yesterday. And he batted lead off twice. Who did they face? Did they face a lefty yesterday? I don't think they did. It was a righty. and because he had batted lead off against a lefty twice last week, but this was against the right-handed pitcher,

and he had a good game. He stole the base, two for five, and maybe that could get him going a little bit. Some guys have already been getting going. Ozzy Albies is hot. Mike Soroka is hot. Michael Chavis is hot. We're going to talk about them.

We're going to talk about some cold players when we come back on fantasy baseball today. Are you ready for the musical portion of the show, fellas? Yeah. Are you ready to rock? Yes. All right, here we go. We got some players to talk about.

Ooh, that was good. I nailed that. I said rock. What do you mean? This is rock? Not foreigner. Do you know the song I want to know what love is? Right?

Yeah, of course I do. That is like an amazing. It was like a top 10 ballad. No? It is. I have no response to that. Great modern family. You do you, boo-boo.

Okay. Um, hot-blooded players, Ozzie Albys. In the past six games, he has gone from number 13 second baseman in fantasy to the number three second... Okay, this has got to stop. Number three second baseman in fantasy. Ozzy Albies is homered four times in six games. He has three steals. He's batting 299.

Things have changed in the last week for Albies. But he's good. You know, he's good. He finds a way to produce. He leads off. RBIs are a little low because he leads off. but Scott White, talk about Ozzy Albiz. Yeah, I think things have played out pretty well for people who took a chance on him,

even though he basically had one great month last year. And five win. It seemed like he was selling out for power. Not so much anymore. He has a batted ball profile that doesn't condemn him to a low Babbitt like last year. And since he doesn't strike out much, that could mean pretty good. a batting average from him. I'd like to see him run more still, and I think just given the way the Braves typically

handled the lead-off spot, if he's there, he has a pretty good chance of winding up with 20 steals or so. He's a must-start second basement. I think he's everything you hoped he'd be when you drafted him. And a good sign here. He's absolutely demolishing left-handed pitching, but that's what he's done all his career. He has a 1,200 OPS against them this year. I think it's around 900 for his career.

He has improved against right-handed pitchers, and since that's who he sees about 75% of the time, that's a good sign. His plate discipline's been pretty good against them. Not hitting for a ton of power, but he's hitting enough. He has a 756 OPS against Ritey's. It's not great, but last year it was below 700, so that's a good sign for him taking a step forward.

So that's Ozzy Albies we're talking about. By the way, the Braves have the third highest OPS against left-handed pitchers. They've had the 15th most at bats and the second most run scored against lefties. Another guy who's a brave who is, is Mike Soroka. Mike Soroka, 162 ERA. 21 strikeouts in 16 and 2 thirds. He has faced Arizona, Cincinnati, and San Diego. He finally got a quality start.

He's thrown now five innings, five and two thirds, and six innings in three starts. He'll be at Miami this weekend, so he'll be even more hot-blooded when we talk about him on Monday. All right, is Mike Soroka just a short-term fix in your rotation or someone who's going to be contributing for a while? Chris Towers. I think he can be someone that sticks around and makes a difference for you for, possibly the remainder of the season. We know the Braves have a lot of guys,

but right now, who looks like they're definitely going to be staying in the rotation on their merits? like Julio Taran and Kevin Gosman are probably going to stay in the rotation, but there's no guarantee they're going to pitch well enough that they can't lose a job. And I don't know. I think Soroka might be one of their best pitchers right now. And, you know, there's the prospect predigree. There's pretty good stuff. I'd probably want to see him throw his change up a little more,

but he's actually throwing his slider a ton so far this season. and up from 22% last year to 32%. That's a great sign, and that's in keeping with trends we're seeing around baseball. And I don't think there's a ton fluky about this. I was going to say that about the change up too. I feel like the fact that he's barely throwing it, and yet it's been so effective when he does, I feel like as he learns maybe to use his arsenal to maximize it,

because he's kind of doing that two-seamer thing. that, you know, pitch efficiently don't necessarily worry about missing bats that a lot of pitchers are raised on. And I think maybe he could grow out of that as he kind of rounds into form in the majors, which isn't to say it's two seamers bad, but, you know, he has, I think deep within him is an ability to biss more bats than he's already shown. And he has 21 strikeouts in 16 and 2 thirds inning. All right, next up, one more player. He's a rookie, and you know what I noticed about this guy? He's very...

He's very... Hot-blooded. Michael Chavis. Michael Chavis is hot-blooded. Yeah, he's two-for-four yesterday, three RBIs and a strikeout against the A's. He has a fever of 103. And Michael Chavis is 46%-0. He also played first base yesterday.

So now they are getting creative and getting him in the lineup. 286 with three homers and a steal. Six walks, eight strikeouts in nine games. Must-add player, Michael Chavis? They should really get him an IV or something. 103 Fevers, real mess. I think he is. My whole view on him is, if he hits,

there's going to be a place for him to play. Mitch Morland will play first base against righties, but that doesn't necessarily mean Chavis couldn't play against lefties. They also have shown a willingness to play Jady Martinez some in the outfield. So there's a chance. I think there's three opportunities for him, basically, in the lineup. It's second base primarily, which he was originally drafted as a short stop.

He moved to third base, but Scatter reports do say that he has a little more athleticism than you would think based on his profile. And so if he manages to not be disastrous at second base, I don't think Brock Holt, Dustin Pejorie, and Eduardo Nunez are really a, a roadblock and if they do need somewhere else for him to play, Raphael Devers isn't playing well enough to say that he's locked in forever and maybe they just put him at first base sometimes. I think there's a there's a real chance. This is a guy who has legitimate power, seems well suited for Boston's park. I do think Michael Chavis with

second and third base eligibility and potentially first base is someone you want to add. Okay, so let me get some names out. Michael Chavis, again, 46% owned, or Jeff McNeil? I think I'd go with Chavis. I think there's more opportunity for him to play every day. It would be hard for me to dump McNeil, I think, in like an OPP league or anything else that rewards, like, walks and strikeouts. How about Michael Chavis or Nick Senzel? Oh, I'd go Chavis at this point.

Michael Chavis or Catele-Marty? I'd go Chavis. I think the shallower of the league, the more likely I'd be to go with Chavis because I just think there's more potential for impact there. You could turn Marte loose and get something equitable later in a shallower format. All right, foreigner. So thank you for giving us the hot-blooded players. Now, unfortunately, I've got to talk about Manny Machia.

and Manny, you know, it's been a rough stretch. On the road, he's batting 229 with three home runs. At least he has three home runs. But at home, damn it, I really did not tie that well. I didn't know what it was coming in. Manny Machado is cold as ice. Last 17 games before, I think, in over three yesterday, he was batting 219 with a 614 OPS.

And people are worried. People are worried. How about you, Scott White on Manny Machado? I wouldn't say I'm worried. There is the concern that if you look at his career numbers, you know, he's been a guy who's done the majority of his damage at Camden Yard. It's a really good place to hit after he was traded to the Dodgers last year. You know, his numbers were down,

and it kind of was in line with his road splits from earlier in his career. But I never feel like it's as simple as a guy is, you know, a guy who plays in a hitter-friendly park is, is who he is at home and who he is on the road if he was out of that hitter part, you know? Yes. It's never that simple once they're removed from that heading environment. I think a lot of it, his struggles so far have to do with the fact he's striking out more, but his track record is so well defined as far as that goes that I'm not really concerned about.

There's just too much of a track record of stuttliness here for me to really worry about Machado. Okay. Chris, any major disagreements, or can we move on? I understand not being concerned. And we need more time. But we're going on three and a half months now of him not being with the Orioles and not hitting like an elite player and a career 762 OPS on the road. I think it was 889 in his career at Camden Yard. So I'm not necessarily panicking, but it's worth discussing.

Yeah. Well, that's why we just discussed it. All right, Machado. So, Mondesir or Machado? Machado. Yeah, sure. Okay. I mean, if we were redrafting today, I'd still take Machado in round two.

Okay. If we were redrafting today, would you take Kyle Freeland? Because he is... All right, that was better. That was better. First start off the IL for Kyle Freeland. He had a blister. And it didn't go well. Two home runs allowed, both the Hesu Sagalore, I believe.

Five runs and six innings. He's got a 481 ERA, and he was a top 20 pitcher last year. If Kyle Freeland were dropped, would you pick him up? So when he went on the DL, he was dropped in one of my leagues that did put in a claim for him. He got picked up. The IEL. I tested that already. Now, as good as he was last year, I don't think anybody really believed he was going to be that good again.

there wasn't really anything he excelled at. It wasn't a great strikeout pitcher, wasn't a great control pitcher, wasn't a great ground ball pitcher, and yet he had a great year. He's had a couple of really good starts this year that I think, rightfully give you a reason to hold out a little longer. But I don't think it's like this isn't a case of you're buying low on an ace right now. If you pursue him in a way you would if it was like a no assistant. Kindergard or Corey Kluber or anybody like that. Right. But I will say this about Kyle Freeland.

His strikeouts are up. I mean, he is 33 strikeouts and 33 and two thirds. And that is a continuation of what we saw after the All-Star break last year. He had 81 strikeouts and 86 and 2 thirds. It was mostly August when he struck out 42 batters and 37 and two-thirds. But that is something at least encouraging for Freeland. He's 93% on. But, yeah, I mean, there is the whole course field thing.

Right. You have to be really, really good to be a fantasy viable pitcher at Corse Field. I think the upside is probably like a high three ZRA, and I just, I don't necessarily think that's worth stashing when he's not pitching well. If I'm holding on to a guy, it's because I think they can, you know, strike out more than a batter per inning and give me a good ERA. Okay, one more guy. He's another Rocky. I keep recommending him to people. But why?

Because Ryan McMahon is... Be better if they just said cold as ice. But I'm digging it. Ryan McMahon, man. Ryan McMahon is not hitting well. And he didn't hit well last year. Why do I keep telling people that they need to own Ryan McMahon? He's batting 238 with two home runs.

Nine walks to 18 strikeouts and 17 games. It's not a bad ratio. It is a lot of strikeouts, though. And fine at home. You know, he's got, what, like an 850-ish OPS at home, but on the road he's been dreadful. Ryan McMahon, you're as cold as ice, Scott White. It's an upside thing. You look at his minor league track record, and you put that player at Coors Field with second base eligibility.

I mean, you're talking about top five potential at the position probably. Now, obviously, he hasn't offered much of anything yet, but I think because of all that time he missed with injury, it's worth holding out a little longer. He made some pretty evident changes to his swing heading into this season that manifested in a big way this spring. He was probably the best hitter of all of spring training. And I just think that kind of upside deserves more time. how much more. I don't know exactly. It depends on format somewhat.

But I can't think of a league I'm in where I would drop him if I had him stashed. I'm not dropping him for Nate Lowe. I'm not dropping him from Hesu's Aguilar if he's available. I'm sticking with McMahon. And one thing that helps his case is nobody on the Rockies is hitting well pretty much. I guess Riemel Tappi has had some good games. And so the guys who might potentially replace him aren't exactly beating down the door right. I know, but you know, I just, like with Ryan McMahon, I just want to feel it.

I just want to feel that passion, Chris. You know, I want to love Ryan McMahon. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know who I love it. Come on. You can show me, Chris. I want you to show me. Stick with your Bradley Cooper. Stick with Bradley Cooper. I want to feel with love is. Oh, geez, that right now. All right. We're taking a quick break here. We got more to recap from yesterday's games. Matt Barnes got a save. Another save for Blake Parker. He's only 50% home. Patrick Corbyn had a dud. We'll talk about Frankie Montas and Juana Rodriguez. Fringy starting pitchers. And it's almost May and...

That's a segment coming up later. We'll be right back on fantasy baseball today. All right, guys, here we go. More from Monday's games. Bullpen. Matt Barnes, Blake Parker, Jacob Webb. They all got saves. Can we... All right, look, Jacob Webb got a save for the Braves. AJ Minter, Luke Jackson, and each pitch two straight games. Jerry Blevins started the ninth inning, face the lefty, got Hosmer out, Webb came in and got the last two outs. Can we ignore that?

I mean, there's not a guy I was chasing for saves. I want to go so far as to say I'd ignore it. I think either Luke Jackson or maybe Mentor would have gotten the safe chance if they had been available. But that's the pecking order. It's Mentor with his ERA over nine. it's Luke Jackson with his career ERA, I think, over four. And then, I mean, Webb had a good strikeout rate in the minors. Also walked a lot of hitters.

But it's not like there's, it's not like anybody secure enough in that bullpen that he couldn't sneak into getting more safe chances. Chris just sent me something that I'm excited about. And I'll get to it later. All right, so thank you for Scott's analysis there of the Atlanta bullpen. I thought you were laughing at my analysis. I swear. What did I do?

He was laughing at the Braves bullpen. So here's what happened in the Red Sox game last night. It was a 7 to 4 game in the 7th inning, two on, two out, and Ryan Brazier came in to face Chris Davis, and he got him out. And then he pitched the 8th inning. The Red Sox went on to make it 9 to 4. and then Matt Barnes came in in a 9 to 4 game, but I guess with a couple runners on, tying run must have been on deck,

save situation, and he got the save. When you look at this, does it change anything for you, or is Brazier still in your mind the closer? Yeah, we've seen a couple of instances of this before where they've used Brazier earlier in the game. I guess he's number one in terms of leverage pitchers, and it's a less than traditional use of a closer.

I don't think it's any surprise. And any surprise that with that happening so often around baseball, the Red Sox are one of the teams doing it. But it's still much more consistent the way they use Brazier than it is for anybody in Tampa. Who else has done that a lot? Philadelphia, I guess, is settled in Daeneres more recently. But yeah, there's a lot of committee situations. I think Brazier is more reliable than you'll find in most of those situations.

Who would you rather have Brazier or Blake Parker? Parker with another save really appears to be the guy for the Twits. Brazier. Brazier. Okay. Brazier crane. Rotation time for, let's see, we got five pitchers yesterday. We haven't talked about this yet, but Zach Wheeler, velocity was down. But Corbyn had a bad start. Kenta Maeda, you know, it was fine.

It was scoreless five innings, but only three strikeouts. He's been interesting this year, 441 ERA. Zach Wheeler, the walks are more concerning to me than the strikeouts because the walk rate has been, you know, last start was brilliant. No walks, 11 strikeouts. Other than that, he's only had two starts out of six with a low walk rate, Wheeler. And then we'll talk about Montauss and Eduardo Rodriguez separately. But Corbin, Maeda, and Wheeler, they're all, obviously, they're in different tiers, but they're all must own. Are you concerned about any of them right now?

My head is kind of concerning to me because he's been getting a lot of swinging strikes but he hasn't been getting result and this was the start against the giants of all teams and he couldn't take care of business

and because of the terms of his contract as we've seen the last couple years he has a finite amount of time in the rotation presumably before you know they want to move him to the bullpen to keep his salary low.

And he's not, you know, if you can't trust him now, I don't know, I don't know that he's going to be the pitcher you drafted him to be. Okay, I'm concerned about Wheeler. So the velocity was down. He's still one of the hardest throwers. I mean, he's throwing like 95. But he can throw 98, 99. But, you know, Wheeler has had two seasons with a walk rate around four, four per nine, where he's had like a 350, 360. ERA, but in both of those seasons, we're talking about a 133 whip or higher.

So last year, a 2.7 walk rate, 2.7 walks per 9 for Wheeler, his only season with a whip under 133, and it was 1.12. So, like, he probably can still go out and, you know, limit runs, but if he's walking that many guys, like, he's just not going to be what we hoped Zach Wheeler could be. And I don't know, that's like, other than the velocity, which was down yesterday, but hasn't been down this year. That's the only issue I can see. Chris, what's your read on?

Oh, go ahead, Scott. Scott? I always kind of expect a certain level of while. I mean, I guess last year, 2.7 per 9 was good for Wheeler, but I don't think of him as a good control pitch. His previous starts prior to this one. I mean, obviously that 11 strikeout, no walk effort against the Phillies was phenomenal. But the two starts before that were really good. He had a seven-walk game that's inflating the rate.

quite a bit. Yeah, but if you walk three batters... I mean, it's just an odd start where it was down like a mile per hour and a half. I don't really think too much of that. Okay, we can monitor that and just throw it out for now, but three of his last four starts,

he's walked three batters. So if he's walking three batters in seven innings, that's probably too much. Yeah. Yeah, and what you're seeing in his strikeout rate and walk rate is that his walk rate's about where it's been for his career and the outlier was 2018 when he was at 7.4% pretty much every other season he's

been between 10 and 11%. Now, the sample sizes in some of those seasons are pretty small, but he seems to have reverted at least so far to who he was before in that regard. And he has a 24% strike rate, which is good but not great. I think maybe last year was a bit of an outlier. And maybe he's more of a mid to high 3 ZRA guy, but he'll give you enough strikeouts and there will be enough moments of dominance that I'm not, like I'm not dropping. No, no.

Maybe he's not going to make the ace jump that some people were hoping for. Okay, would you rather have David Price or Zach Wheeler? Price. Yeah, I guess. Okay. And then, guys, real quick, I want to get to the, it's almost May.

It's going to be May section. Frankie Montas Edward Rodriguez faced off yesterday Montas seven runs only one earned Rodriguez another bad start four earned excuse me in four and two thirds but they all came in one inning Who would you rather have and do you consider

either Montas or Erod Must Own players Chris I don't think either is must own I think both are would like to own but I think I might like Montas a little better

I think the velocity is obviously elite with him And I think some of the changes that he's made so far Adding that splitter can really make a difference for him So I think he's just a little more Talented and Eduardo Rodriguez is very talented But he's always He always just seems like he's on the cusp of figuring it out But never really does

I still don't get the Montas thing Especially now that he's coming up two bad starts because he's not missing bats in terms of either swinging strikes or strikeouts, just like last year when it all came crashing down on him. He's at a 10% swinging strike rate, which is above last year. But it's above last year. It's above what Zach Wheeler's is. It's about what Zach Wheelers was last year.

A 21% strikeout rate isn't great, but he gets a ton of- Redriguez. Right, but Eduardo Rodriguez has a long trial. Like, if we're talking about it, it all comes crashing down, That's Eduardo Rodriguez's middle name. No, it is. And he's been a useful pitcher for a few years in a row now, and you want to talk about Arsenal changes.

I mean, the fact that he's featuring his Cuttermore gives him a third pitch that seems to have made a difference in terms of his ability to biz bats, and I think in a more dramatic way than it has for Montas. And he already was at a much higher starting point to begin with. Was he? Well, yes. He had a 382 ERA last year.

He was based on 80s. He was based on 80s before. He was based on ADP, based on production, you know, I'm not sure, because Rodriguez is kind of a tease. You know, he's always like, as Chris said, always like on the cusp of figuring it out, but he rarely goes deep into games, and we know that. He doesn't give you a lot of quality starts. There are encouraging signs. One thing, one thing real quick at Motus.

Last year, the guy was 13 and 5 with the 382 ERA, 1-27 with 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings. How's that not a must-own pitcher? It probably is, but that was the best we've ever seen of him. You know, it's a high whip, you know, and it's 13 wins for the best team in baseball, though I know he missed some time. But let me just say this about Montasi. He has faced a really tough schedule. And Houston, he's faced Houston twice, he's faced Boston.

They don't strike out. So that could be lowering his swinging strike rate, which is something that we might want to consider, but something we'll have to get on. And also, it's just, maybe it's average strikeouts, but it's above average control. he has an elite ground ball rate right now, 57%. When you combine that with the velocity that he brings, I think he can be really good. I don't think he's an ace.

I don't think you're ever going to get a ton of strikeouts from him, but I think he can be a good version of Marcus Stroman. So I want to take a look at some trends, some things that have happened in the first month of the season that really stand out. I got five of them. Let's talk about them. This segment is now called. Chris Towers.

Damn it. It's going to be May. And Tim Anderson is the number one, number three hitter in Roto. Tim Anderson behind Cody Bellinger. I'm sorry, I just didn't queue it up right. I didn't have time to really check. It was perfect, Adam. You're doing great, sweetie.

Tim Anderson is behind Cody Beliger and Christian Yewitch. What's going on here? Tim Anderson, the number three hitter in Roto. I don't think what's going on is anything. sustainable. He has a 435 BABIP, so that's a good starting point for what's not going to last. Yeah, I'm not, I'm still not seeing anything in the bad of ball profile. Like 26.1 home run to fly ball rate, that's double almost what it was last year and, you know, would obviously be an outlier in terms of league standards. I think it's going to come crashing down. It's coming crashing down for Timmy too.

I, yes, I agree. I think he has. earned at least some of this hot start. You know, he's extremely fast. He's putting that to use. And, you know, there are, like, he's increased his contact percentage, which helps. This is a guy who had perhaps more swing and miss than you would want from his profile. But, you know, that can help the batting average play up. That can help the strikeout rate or sorry, the power play up because he does have decent power.

I don't think it's great, but pretty decent, you know, average HHS exit velocity in that park. I think that can be another 20 homer season. So I'm not writing it off entirely. He's not going to hit 375, obviously, but 285, 290 is possible. All right, guys, we're going to go fast here. I mean, he was a 2020 guide last year. Yeah, we're going to go fast. I don't.

We're done with Tim Anderson. Tim Anderson. Jose Ramirez. So it's going to be May, and Jose Ramirez is only. one more RBI than he has steals. He has nine RBIs and he has eight steals. You look at the leaders in steals right now? It is.

Tim Anderson, Mondesie, Hamilton, D. Gordon, Malik Smith, Jose Ramirez. So good and bad here with Jose Ramirez. What's your reaction to his lack of hitting and his plethora of steals? I don't know. His steals. It's a lot easier to steal

when you can't get an extra base hit to save your life. So that's part of it. I still can't make sense of what's going on with him as far as his just unbelievably poor hitting. So I just kind of chalk it up to he's going to be better. And the fact that he's stealing bases right now at least helps make up for how bad he's been so far. He still has above average exit velocity. You know, everything else says he should be at least close. to an average hitter instead of a disaster.

So I'm maybe worried that he's going to live up to the number three overall pick, but I still think moving forward he's going to be a very valuable fantasy player. All right, Jose Ramirez. Next up. It's like not even close. I just put it. I don't know. You know, you set me the link.

Make individual audio clips. You're right. I have to. This was impromptu. This was impromptu. Do some homework. It's going to be May, and Rafael Devers has as many steals as J.D. Martinez has home runs. Devers has four steals, and Martinez has four home runs.

And you know what? I think you look at both of their profiles. He's hitting a lot of ground balls, unfortunately, not a lot of fly balls. But they both have encouraging signs, especially Martinez. Things could be turning around for these guys. I doubt we're worried about Martinez. But I do like the fact that Devers has four steals. I don't know what to make of that.

He had five last year. Uh, yeah, I have no idea what to make of that because it's not really something that's ever been in his profile. I think, I would imagine J.D. Martinez has had months where he's had four or five home runs in recent years. So that to me, yeah, he had five home runs in April and March last year, four in September. So that, that's nothing to me, really. No, he's going to go off. Like, he's batting 337. He is 12 walks, 17. He has an 11.8% strikeout rate, Jadie Martinez. Like, he's going to get raised. Okay, great.

It's going to be May. Damn it. It's going to be May. I'm not going to play the clip anymore. And Luke Voight has been on base every single game this year. Luke Voight has a 39 game on base streak. That is the longest active streak in baseball. Scott, Void is a top four first baseman.

He's been hot lately. 1394 OPS in his last seven games. His first 21 games, he had a 752 OPS. But one thing he has done, beginning with the last 15 games of last season, extending into the playoffs, and now 27-ish games into this 28, he is walking. This guy does get on base. What do you think about Luke Voigt? Yeah. 46 and a half point.

46 and a half point week for Voight last week, which obviously vaulted him toward the top of the fan of the first base rankings. And I think it's totally deserved. I think if you looked at the batted ball profile, you saw a lot of room for improvement heading into last week. And the thing about Luke Boyd that I think gets lost is, yeah, he hit a lot of home runs in a short period of time last year. He has a lot of home runs already this year. But he is more of a line drive hitter.

He's somebody who profiles for it above average BAP. It's at 328 now, so it's gotten there, obviously, with that big week. but it was lagging for a long time. I think where they are now is where I expect them to be going forward more than where they were before he got hot. All right, finally, it's going to be May, and Corey Seeger is slugging under 400 for the second straight season. Last year it was only 26 games.

Right now it's 31 games, but there is like no power there, Chris. four home runs combined in his last 57 games in 2017 and 2018. Yeah, and he doesn't do much else in terms of base stealing. So it's a concern that he might just be an empty average guy and he hasn't really been an average guy so far. When you look at the batted ball profile, there's not a ton that suggests that this is particularly bad luck. and that's concerning because at the very least,

we thought he would be a 300 average 20 plus homer guy. And right now you look at baseball savants expected statistics, 224 expected batting average, 385 expected slugging percentage, pretty much right where he is. So it's definitely a concern that he is not right coming back from the elbow and hip injuries. Now, what it does make me think is maybe as he continues to move through the season, he'll get a little healthier, get a little stronger, and it'll start coming back. But right now, I have a decent amount of Corey Seeger.

I really believed in him coming back and being the guy that he was, and I thought he was discounted. And I've been wrong so far. It's amazing that the Hudders' offenses as good as it is with them getting just absolutely nothing from Seeger and Justin Turner. And Pollock. Yeah. Right. Three guys I loved. Yeah, crazy.

All right. Seeger's going to be fine. Seeger's going to be fine? Seeger's going to be fine, but he's not a power hitter. We know that. Try to read some emails here. It's also team name Tuesday. And let's see.

I didn't put them in the notes, so I'll just try to find them in the emails. This is a great segment here. All right, while I look for that. Oh, Senzel high, buy low. L-O-W-E. Sure. Yeah, that's good. Strowman

Strowman Billy Squire Stroke Yeah that's also good Infinity War WAR Take me out to the end game These are Avengers themed

Yep Would you guys like to hear the Email argument I got into About comic book movies With our listener Michael I'm assuming you have a terrible opinion about them Michael, yeah, I do.

I said that they're all the same. He said categorizing all Marvel movies as the same screams as someone that hasn't watched them. It's not remotely true. And he went on. Also, like... Well, hold on. Okay, fine. You could say there's like a similarity in tone and tone...

I didn't say Marvel movies. No, I didn't say Marvel movies. I said comic book movies. This is what I said. Yeah, that's ridiculous. This is a comic book movie. This is what I wrote. Meet Good Guy.

Average Joe. Nothing special. probably a little down on his luck. Meet bad guy. Doesn't know he's bad yet. There's something inside him that wants to revolt. Good guy learns of his powers has early success. Bad guy learns of his powers has early success, but not in the same place as the good guy.

Good guy and bad guy meet for the first time. Bad guy wins. Good guy is in bad shape. He is uplifted by someone. Good guy and bad guy meet again. Good guy wins. Roll credits. Is that not a comic movie?

That's kind of. That's kind of basic narrative. Yeah. Every comic book movie. You just described like the hero's journey. You're talking about like... Every comic book movie. The man with a thousand faces or something.

It's Rocky 3 also. As I realized I was typing it, it's like, God, Rocky 3 is a comic book movie. All right, so that's my spiel. I mean, weren't you... You're a big fan of the Dark Night trilogy. Those are the best. Those are the absolute best.

Kind of the same thing. It's kind of... Dark Night trilogy is kind of... you know, I think it kind of transcends comic book movies. Yes, it does. Like, these are so entertaining. Well, I know. They are.

I saw Avengers, I think the first one. I saw Guardians of the Galaxy. I really liked it. I just don't get that excited to see them because I know, I think they're all the same formula, you know? I'm just tired of it. That's not, but that's just, that's storytelling. Like, that's really, like, since, like, the Odyssey, we've been telling. story. That's literally

the Odyssey. No, that's not every movie is like that, but every comic book movie is like that. And what makes it, what makes it so excited? Like, it's kind of what I was saying yesterday. Like, when they initially started, you don't look forward to them

as much as where it's ended up, because they're all interconnected. They all build off one another. They all overlap with each other. Like, it's, it's become, it's, it's, it's, it's, own universe. Yeah, it's cool. Marvel Comics. I think we're getting at something, which is that, like, this anti-spoiler mentality where the only thing that matters is the end and not the journey, like, the road that you take to get

to the end matters. That's what I said. That's what these movies do really well. Yes, they might be predictable. Yes, there's going to be a big fight in the last 45 minutes. They're going to seem like they're going to lose, but then they're going to put, but like, they're entertaining throughout and it's not just like it's not just about twists no no no not everything needs to be an shaman listen I am not I am sure they're fun I would probably I would probably

enjoy them I just I don't get excited to see them because I just feel like they're the same types of movie same movie different characters over and over it just doesn't do it to the list it just doesn't yeah yeah add it okay I'm gonna read some emails here we're gonna go super quick rapid fire Justin Hendrix wants to know if he should drop

Posey to play the catcher of the week. For example, James McCann is hot. Should I drop Posey for the catcher of the week? Scott. No, you're not going to be able to play the hot hand well enough. Okay. Thank you, Scott. Yeah, no, that's my fault.

I took too long. Jesse Winker, he has 21 hits, eight of them are home runs. Is he just selling out for power? What's going on? Scott? No, he's not. His line drive rate is like it was last year. It's one of the best in the league.

He's hitting the ball to the opposite field. still, like, he's had bad Babbipa, and yet he's set a career high in home runs. I think that's very promising for his future. How about Ross and Charlotte? I just picked up Nick Povetta after a recent 14 strikeout AAA performance. Am I crazy to think Nick Povetta

could be the real difference maker once he gets the call to come back up? Sure, yeah, maybe. Why not? No. You're not at all crazy. I would have liked to stash him. I tried to pick him up in one list. where he was dropped because I think he will be back at some point and hopefully finally then live up to expectations.

I just wonder, are they going to remove Jared Eikoff now? You know, he has to find an opportunity back in that doesn't exist as of now, I don't think. Yeah. Oh, Nola, I would say. From Chad, Dear Blanche, Dorothy Rose, and Sophia, great show. A lot of plot twists. Ten team head-to-head categories. Daily League, Catelle Marte or Danny Santana.

Who do you like better? Marta. Santana is kind of interesting. What's that? Was that Golden Girl? Thank you for being a friend. Golden Girls is great. Yes, it's Golden Girls.

Oh, my gosh, crazy. You wouldn't believe it. I mean, that's a show that's very formulae. Yes. Okay, moving on. Do you like Eduardo Escobar as a replacement for Fernando Tatis Jr. if he's out? He's hot right now.

A shortstop with as much depth as there is. There might be better, but I don't know how deep your league is. A lot of what's better has been scooped up already, like Jorge Polanco, Marcus Simeon. Okay. Yeah, sure. Why not? And we'll have to save team name Tuesday for Wednesday, so I'm going to ask you if you are starting these pitchers tonight.

Adam Wainwright at Annabal Sanchez. No. Neither one. Tyson Ross at Vince Velasquez. I think you're probably starting both. Both? I would just do Velasquez. Sandy Ocantara against the Indians.

Yeah. No. No, but starting him. Aaron Brooks at Rick Porcelo. No. So wait, Aaron Brooks is athletics. Parcello is a two-star pitcher, and I don't think a bad option.

them, but just for an individual start against the athletics now. Chris Paddock at Julio Taran. Paddock? Yep. Michael Paneda against the Astros. Nope. No thanks.

Yolisha Seen against the Rockies at home. Nope. No. Jordan Liles at Texas. No. Yeah. Okay. Yvonne Nova against the Orioles. No. Jake Junice against the race.

No. Sabathia at Arizona. Yeah. I'd prefer not to, but it seems less dangerous than some of those. Walker Bueller at Drew Pomerantz. Walker Bueller for sure. Yes. Clay Buckholtz at Griffin Canning.

I really want to watch Griffin Canning. Second round pick in 2017 has been really good at AAA, but no, I'm not starting I'm in the first start. This is the first time I realized His name is a gerent You know, it's a word That's fun Cole Hamill's at Felix Hernandez

Like your canning griffins Yeah Is that what you meant? Startners in Felix Hernandez Against the Cubs No That's it All right, we're out of here

Thank you very much to everybody It's been a fun show Gosh, I just butchered in sick as I always do at karaoke. Thanks, everybody. We'll talk to you tomorrow. I'm fantasy baseball today.