Fantasy Baseball Today - 05/21: Rockin' Rookies; Rising Stars; Dropometer (Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: May 21, 2019

Monday's standouts (2:55) include Gleyber Torres and Mike Minor who have done a lot of damage against BAL and SEA, respectively. What do we make of that? Also, did ATL find a new closer (10:00)? Then we get into two awesome rookies (12:00) Michael Chavis and Austin Riley and wonder if now is the time to sell ... News and notes (19:15), SPs who may be becoming stars (23:30) and some BOS hitters we need to chat about (31:00) ... "Act Now Before It's Too Late!" (36:50) Plus the Dropometer (47:05), Team Name Tuesday (50:00) and the Monday leftovers (53:00) ... 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 Heath and Chris. All right, welcome to the show. It is Tuesday. It's team name Tuesday.

It's fantasy baseball today. What's up? Team Scam here. Adam Azer and Scott White. Ooh, got a big show. Scott did the Braves. themselves a closer last night? I hope they already had one.

I like the one they already had more than the one they used last night. I don't know. Sean Dukham's the one we're talking about here. John Dukum got the save. He sure did. It's been very good since being recalled and being put in the bullpen. Glaibra Torres hit two more home runs.

Wait to you see what he's done against all teams, not named Orioles. As dribble Cabrera hit two home runs, Ronald Ocuna hit two home runs. Mike Minor had a big, start wait to you see what kind of strikeouts Mike Miner gets when he's not facing the Mariners. Austin Riley and Michael Chavis were awesome. We got a lot of news and notes for you. We got some pitchers that look like they're becoming superstars.

And we got much more. Hey, what do you think of U. Darvish? U. Darvish isn't in the notes until like much later in the show. So what did you think of U. Darvish? I thought he was very good yesterday. I thought he was very good. He didn't allow a run until the sixth inning and allowed three.

But, yeah, 16 swinging strikes. It was one of his better walk games. He had three and six innings. And that was coming off to start with no walks and 11 strikeouts. So I think he's trending the right direction. And it's really just the one thing that he need to really solidify is just hammering the strike zone. Has too many walks. And if he can get that under control, then he's going to be very good.

Yeah, but can he get that under control? Because we have now two consecutive seasons of evidence. and say he's going to walk too many guys. Well, he made eight starts last year. And he had other issues going on for most of those starts. Yeah. But, you know, the last few were good. The last few were good.

Then he got hurt, and he's come back here. And I think he's trending up. I think he's definitely somebody I'd want to own. And, you know, if his second start goes good, he goes well this week. We might be talking about him as a starter even in a one. start week. Okay, I hope so. Two quality starts this year for you, Darvish. One of them was yesterday. And yeah, six innings, four hits, three walks, seven strikeouts, three runs against the Philadelphia Phillies.

All right, we had ten games on the schedule yesterday. We have some major storylines. It's time for some Monday standout. Scott White, who stood out to you on Monday? Well, Mike Minor was probably the one who stood out the most, Adam, with his 11 strikeouts in six innings. That was after a couple of not-so-dominant starts where we wondered if maybe we had exaggerated his prominence how good he could be from a fantasy perspective. But 19 swinging strikes in this one, a slider was really good. And this makes out of 10 starts this year, six that were just phenomenal, six that were like what you expect to see

from an ace pitcher. six of ten. So I still think we're talking about somebody who's verging on top 30 status at starting pitcher. There just aren't many in the entire player pool capable of giving you what Minor has in those six starts. So Minor, yeah, the overall numbers are really good.

264 ERA, 5 wins, 67 strikeouts and 64 and 2 thirds, and he is a 113rd. So the only thing I want, is what kind of strikeout rate are we going to get going forward. It's last year as a starter. He had 7.6 strikeouts per 9. This year it's 9.3.

If you take out two starts against the Mariners, and they strike out all the time, he has 24 strikeouts in 13 innings with the Mariners against the Mariners in two starts. He has 43 strikeouts in 51 and 2 thirds against all non-mariners teams. But there's more to that. He happens to pitch in a division with the Astros, Angels, and A's.

and those three teams don't strike out. They're among the four best in terms of strikeouts, you know, lowest strikeout rates. So I think it's a question of, is he a strikeout per inning guy? Because you pretty much have to be, if you're going to be an ace, to be top 30, I don't know,

what do you have to be, like, 8.5 or better probably, in most cases? That's the only question I haven't. I don't know that we know the answer. I'm guessing he won't strike out more than a batter per nine as minor has been doing so far. But I did not. jump off the bandwagon when he had that bad start against the Astros.

I was a little more concerned after a subpar start at Kansas City. But I'm, yeah, Scott, I'm pretty much going to start him. Well, neither of the starts were that bad. Right. I think it's worth pointing out. Yeah, I'm going to start him. He didn't get shelled either time. He's good.

He's good. Yeah, he's definitely good. But you raise some fair points about the competition he's faced because, you know, swinging strike rate is, you know, I think even more telling than the K-per-9 or the strikeout percentage. And that's like it was when he pitched out of relief for the Royals two years ago, more so than last year. But two meetings with the Mariners probably have something to do with that as well. Right.

Right. And on that note, let's talk about Glaber Torres. Glaibre Torres is now the number eight second basement of points league's number six in Roto. You look at where he is at shortstop, 13th and points, 11th in Roto. That gives you a comparison of how the two positions stack up. Obviously, second base much shallower. But Glebert Torres, two for four with two home runs and a strikeout at Baltimore. He's now batting 298 with 10 home runs, three steals, nine walks, 39 strikeouts,

and a pretty decent 11 doubles in 44 games. That's very good, actually. But versus Baltimore. Glavertoe, look at that graphic. 486 batting average with eight home runs in nine games against the Orioles. versus everyone else. Glaibrate Torres is batting $2.50 with two home runs in 36 games. And quite frankly, Scott, I don't know what to make of it.

I'm wondering if now is the time to sell, because he's played half his games already against the Orioles. I'm wondering, you know, is that a fluky stat? Is that indicative? Again, Orioles have one of the worst pitching staffs ever. No joke. So what do you make of these splits for Glabre Torres? Yeah, it's hard to know what to make of those.

because obviously when you break down what's already been a small sample we're talking a little more than a quarter of a season and then you start chopping that up from there you're dealing with really small samples again that you don't want to put too much stock into but

I will say his home run to fly ball rate is looking similar to last year now and it's uh it there's it's not like we're where he's working with an un an outrageous babbitt you know so i i don't think um you know last last night's game with the two homers may have put him a little ahead of pace from what the batto ball profile says he should be but i think um this recent hot streak there's a lot of erection that happened in it too uh i Can we look at your rankings here, your second-based rankings?

I did not realize you are pretty much all in on Catelle-Marté. Because I was going to say, Glaibra-Torres or Daniel Murphy, Glaver-Tor-Sorres or Max Muncie. You got Cate-Tal-Marty seventh in points and ninth in Roto. That's ahead of Torres in both formats. You have Torres right around 12th. In fact, 12th in both points in Roe. That, I wasn't planning on talking about Cotel-Marte, but that really catches me by surprise Scott White.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's another situation where when you look at the changes to his bad evolve profile, it kind of makes sense what he's doing. And you look at what he did in the last four month last year. And, you know, he was a guy verging on a 900 OPS during that stretch. So, yeah, I'm more or less buying into it. I think the dual eligibility and the fact that one of the positions of second base help. But it's a close call between him and Glabertoros. Okay. Marte right now is currently fourth in points, eighth and Rhodo at second base.

You want to say anything about his Drobo Cabrera? He had two home runs yesterday. He's boring. Yeah, I mean, there's definitely some pop there. I'm not sure there's enough of anything else. And he's kind of found himself in a situation where there have been so many surprising, so many surprise contributors for the Rangers this year

who are capable of playing third base that I don't think his role is as secure as we thought it was going to be coming into here. Yeah, especially, this is a dribble Cabrera we're talking about, especially when you factor in, he's been so bad against lefties. So right now they're not healthy, but they will be when Elvis Andrews comes off the IL,

maybe this week, where does Danny Santana play, where does Logan Forsyth play? Does that mean that Cabrera could start maybe? Taking some seats against lefties, he is a switch hitter, but right now has a 560 OPS. against lefties, so we'll keep that in mind. And Sean Newcomb is the other standout.

I have 25% owned one scoreless inning for his first save at San Francisco. Since being recalled on May 6th, he's pitched exclusively out of the bullpen. And Newcomb has eight and a third scoreless innings with seven hits, no walks, and eight strikeouts. So I wonder if they're just figuring out that this is the future for Sean Newcomb. He can't hack it in the rotation. The control is not good enough, but he can do it for one inning at a time in the bullpen. And I feel like Luke Jackson probably should have been available.

He pitched Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. So that would have been four times in six days, which is reasonable. But you know what? I am actually going to go just to see what happens where I own Luke Jackson at the 12th team categories. Like I am actually going to go pick up Sean Newcomb right now. Buddy, take that. There were two lefties due up in the ninth, which probably contributed to the Braves choice there. but it's possible.

Look, it's possible Sean Newcomb could have this stuff to be a good reliever. He has given up a fair number of hits, but the walks have been down and the strikeouts have been there. So this could be the role where he's most valuable to the Braves. I don't think, like, Jackson has only gotten better since moving into the closer role. Like his numbers, they look kind of shaky when it first started, but now they look, they look good. So I don't think they're going to be so quick to turn the page on him,

but it may be more of a committee situation than we had suspected. I've been scooped. He's already owned in this league. Oh, my goodness. Nukum was just picked up in our 16 team for the People podcast league. But listen, he wasn't picked up recently. That means whoever owns Sean Nukum probably never dropped Sean Nukum. You don't deserve to have Sean Newcomb.

That's ridiculous. You should be forced to drop him because you're a bad fantasy manager that just got lucky. I resent this Sean Nucom ownership in this league. Oh, man. Okay. Scott, I got a trade offer yesterday. Michael Chavez for Fernando Tatis. And we got this email from Jolan, from Esteban, Saskatchewan, Canada.

Can you discuss what the metrics are looking like for Chavis? He continues to crush it. But is a result of mostly good friends? Fortunately, or does the batted ball data support what he's doing? Michael Chavez-Scott is the number one second baseman in both points and roto since his call-up. That's pretty amazing. He's number six at third base, but he's number one at second base. And he's walking a ton.

Only Brian Dozier has more walks among second-base eligible players since Chavez debuted on April 20th. So he homered yesterday. He's batting 2.96 with nine home runs. He's got a 60% hard contact rate, I believe. No, no, no, I'm sorry. That's Austin Riley. We'll talk about him. He's got a 39.7% hard contact rate.

I don't know if that would, you know, I don't know if that's not great. It's fine. But what do you think about Chavis? I think I'd rather have Tadis, I think, still. But I don't have a lot of conviction on that. They're both awesome. Yeah. Chavis, wow, what a start he's been off.

Well, yeah, I'm less convinced Chavis is awesome than Tatea. The need for a second base man. is probably greater. I mean, maybe not specifically for you, but for fantasy baseballers as a whole, the need is greater at second base. But other than, yeah, I've been saying it every time we talk about Michael Chavis.

A lot of his production is driven by a walk rate, and he didn't show that kind of patience in the miners. So I'm skeptical that it's truly who he is. Definitely a power hitter. Definitely that. but I do think he's performed over his head in other ways. He strikes out a ton, 30 strikeouts and 26 games, but nine home runs at this point, 296 batting average.

Do you have any concerns about his job security? When Dustin Padraea comes back, I have a hard time thinking they're just going to turn him into a bench player. But at the same time, Chavis is providing them so much. It would be a combination of two factors. One, Troy's back. They want to find a bats for him, and two, Chavis's pace has slowed.

I don't think there's many opportunities for him at third base with Raphael Devers picking it up. Maybe at first base, but like Mitch Morland, Homer again yesterday, he's been pretty productive. So I don't, I guess Chavez's versatility probably provides him enough avenues that as long as he keeps hitting, he'll be able. able to get those at bats, but that is a question, too, will he keep hitting like this? Would you rather have Michael Chavis or Brandon Lowe? I'd rather have Lowe. Would you rather have Chavis or Kestanhira? I think Chavis.

And finally, would you rather have Chavis or his teammate? Oh, no, that's wrong. I mean, they're not teammates. Austin Riley, certainly not a teammate. They don't play in the same league. Nevertheless, the same team, you know? Austin Riley, though, he has a 60% hard contact rate. He's batting 409 with three home runs in six games,

and he is just awesome right now. 500 Babbit, a little high, but if you're hitting the ball that hard, I guess not so high. Third base eligible as of today. Yeah. What do you think, Chavis or Riley, these hot call-ups? Who would you rather have? Yeah, I think it's a little too early to start dissecting Babbitt from Riley

because he's only like a week into things here. it's close I think Riley's upside is higher but Chavis obviously has sustained his production for a much longer time so I would go Chavis right now but I would

I would have a hard time like I think they're both pretty close to Mustown right now I guess is what I'm trying to say and the fact that Riley is outfield eligible or is going to be outfield eligible very soon That's what you got. It's almost like a need situation between the two.

I think I said he got third-based eligibility. I think he actually got outfield eligibility. You just picked up outfield? That would make sense. I think so. And he's been up for a while now. Yeah, it's almost like a neat situation between the two. I think you're more likely to need either of them at second base or the outfield than you are at third base.

All right. So what would you do if you pick them up? They might be spare parts for you. Would you try to trade all of something? Riley or Michael Chavis or are you concerned that you're going to be trading away the Juan Soto or Ronald Acuna of 2019? That's such an unrealistic outcome. Those are historic rookie seasons for those two, Soto and Acuna.

You have to trade them with that possibility in mind. The only reason you'd be trading them is because their value has reached a point that you can get something. You can get something great in return that's more secure, you know? So if you are making the right sort of trade, I don't think you need to be scared of missing out on the best case scenario because look at what you're getting. You know, that's the kind of trade that I think makes sense using these two.

Okay, we're going to take a quick break on fantasy baseball today. News and notes coming up. Some pitchers that are looking like stars right now, like Mike Soroka and Luke Weaver and Chris Paddock, are they stars? The Red Sox put up 12 yesterday. We'll talk about Morland and Bogart's endeavors. I've got some hitters that might be available in your league, and they're starting to maybe come out of some slumps,

and you might want to pick them up, and plus a lot more from yesterday. Quick break, right back after this on fantasy baseball today. And a look at your news and notes now. Jose Altuve took batting practice. That's very nice. Eloy Jimenez is back. Not so nice because he had a bad game.

ESPN had a story on Tommy Lestella. Did you read it, Scott? How it's like about his... You know, actually a very funny headline. Tommy LaSluge. I think it was. It's about how he got his power stroke. Oh, Larry.

Yeah, it was good. It was interesting. Tommy La Slugger, yeah. How Angels Lestella found his power stroke. It was about how he, when he, a couple things was like, he basically trained himself to be a pinch hitter. And that changed his swing. And he went back to his, he looked at video from when he was at like Coastal Carolina or somewhere, wherever he went to college. and he made some adjustments.

I don't know. I've read more convincing arguments about how somebody got good, but you never know. You never know. I encourage people to read it, see if you buy more into Tommy Lestell, who had another good game yesterday. Chris Davis has had this nagging hip injury. Very annoying.

He sat yesterday. Aaron Judge ran and through. Still no timetable. He hasn't swung a bat yet, but Aaron Judge on the mend. The Mets are sticking with Mickey Callaway for the foreseeable future. You went a Cespitus fractured his ankle in an accident. in his house, so you don't need to stash him if you have been.

Michael Conforto is symptom-free. He could be back this weekend. The Braves acquired Anthony Swarzak. We didn't talk about that. They gave up Erodus Viscayano and Jesse Biddle. You don't think Swarzak factors in in the saves column, do you? I would be very surprised. This seemed like a desperate way to get another arm in the Braves' bullpen,

because this guy is obviously out for the year, and I think he's a free agent after the season, so he had no value. And Biddle versus Swarzak, well, I think Swarzak can at least be Biddle. Okay. Shohei Otani was hit by a pitch on the finger. No word on the severity there, but Andrewton Simmons did have a possibly significant ankle injury,

and he could miss some time. Zach Gottlie's going back to the bullpen. Javier Baez did not start, but I expect him to be in there today. George Springer is going to be out maybe a couple more days, but it seems like Springer is going to avoid the IL. Brett Anderson left with a neck injury. Andrew Heaney.

We haven't talked about him much, but he is on his way back, might see Andrew Heaney this weekend, Scott. What do you think how... Let me check his ownership. I'm going to guess Andrew Heaney is 53% owed. Just a guess. How own should he be?

Well, I'm not sure how his rehab assignment has gone. I'd be interested in seeing that because the kind of injury he was dealing with, you could see how it might compromise his effectiveness. He showed some good signs last year. He showed some good signs, some good strikeout rate, and was permitted to pitch deeper into games

than I think the standard pitcher we see around the league is these days. So I'm intrigued, but it's, I'm not, like he's not such a sure thing that I'm rushing to make a move if I don't, if I wasn't, already inclined to make a move. Like if I didn't already have somebody who I felt comfortable dropping. Heaney had 45 walks to 180 strikeouts last year in 180 innings.

That's a heck of a ratio. He had a 322 ERA at home and a 506 ERA on the road. So keep that in mind. And I don't throw the word genius around too often, Scott. But when it comes to guessing ownership percentages, I am not quite a genius, but I'm close. 55% owned Andrew Heaney. Julio Arias expected to be activated today from his leave.

Jed Lowry's on the 60-day IL. Danny Janssen, D.H. for Toronto. They wanted to keep his bat in the lineup. That's his third start at D.H. He went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. And Ryan Healy left with a lower back strain, and Dan Vogelbach replaced him. And maybe that's an avenue for Vogelbach to get some starts against lefties.

but he is hitting so well right now. It's crazy. All right. Scott, let's talk about some pitchers. I want to know if they're stars. Are they stars, Scott White? Mike Soroka, Luke Weaver, Chris Paddock, Jake Oteresey, Brad Peacock. Are they stars?

Again, the names are Soroka, Weaver, Paddock, Odaresee and Peacock. Who's a star in that group? Well, Paddock definitely is. If there weren't concerns about his innings, and how long he'll be able to last this season. He would probably be among my top 25 pitchers. So he's great.

I think Weaver and Soroka are must-own. I'll go that far with him, saying their stars seems premature. But if Weaver can sustain what he's doing, then I think he rises to that level. He's definitely gotten back to what made him successful and his rookie season as opposed to what went wrong. Last year, getting ahead of hitters again,

added a cutter to his arsenal, so less predictable. Those two factors working together have made him less predictable. And Soroka, I'd like to see more swing and miss potential from him because it's been pretty... It hasn't been particularly exciting in that area, but he's making up for it by showing extreme groundball tendons.

these like Dallas Kikele and his prime levels of generating ground balls, which is going to make him somebody who doesn't get beaten much on balls and play, on batted balls anyway. So, yeah, I mean, his ERA right now is 101 in seven starts. Obviously, that won't last, but it shows you he's doing something right. So your three favorites here are Paddock, Weaver, and Soroka, followed by Peacock-Oteresee, I'm guessing, or Oteresee, Peacock?

Yes. Peacock, I'm sorry, Oteresee is the one I have the least confidence in. He's doing it mostly on the strength of a fastball that's been, you know, he's always had an effective fastball, but this year it's kind of gone above and beyond, and I feel like he's had some good home run luck, and, yeah, the track record doesn't inspire me, and it doesn't look like there have been significant enough changes. Peacock still has that issue Like his slider, which was the pitch that

led to his breakthrough a couple years ago Just hasn't been there for him It hasn't been effective for him And last night was no exception He's getting it done with other pitches But it seems like the ceiling is much lower Than we perceived it to be coming into year Well see, I'm going to disagree

That the ceiling is lower for Peacock Because if he's doing what he's doing right now. 359 ERA, 105 whip, and only 2.6 walks per nine, which is the headline to me when you talk about Brad Peacock, who has had major control issues in the past, and he seems to have fixed that. I think that if Peacock does get that slider going, then I actually think you could be looking at a star. I just don't know that they're going to let him pitch deep enough into games. It seems like they're sort of keeping his innings down. He has thrown only one start so far of more than 91 pitches. I don't know what the circumstances were yesterday.

but five scoreless endings, two hits, nine strikeouts, and they took him out. So, you know, I just don't know that they're going to let him go that deep into games. But I guess, Scott, what I'm saying is if he's been able to be good enough at this point to have a 315 FIP, a 359 ERA, more than a strikeout per inning, a 105 whip without his best pitch, I just wonder, you know, the walks are, he don't walk guys anymore. So I just wonder if there's actually star potential there for Peacock. I think you might be selling him short. I mean, there's a case to, I guess if I'm saying Darvish just needs to start throwing more strides,

Peacock just needs to regain that slider, which is more plausible, which is more difficult. You know, I think just based on performance, Peacock probably needs to be owned. I just question it, if nothing changes for him, can he sustain this performance? and I have real questions about that. Yeah, that's fair. So how many of these guys would you take over you, Darvish? Would you take Soroka over Darvish? Yes.

Would you take Weaver over Darvish? Yes, I'd take Weaver over Darvish. Take Paddock over Darvish. The other two is where it gets interesting. I think Darvish I would prefer to both Peacock and Odorizzi. And I'm not quite sure how to deal with Paddock right now. because, you know, for those of you who don't know, we've talked about it, but you might not know the actual numbers.

45 and a third innings in his debut season, 2015 in the minors. This is his first year in the majors. 42 and a third in 2016, misses all of 2017. Pitches just 50, no, 90, sorry, 90 innings last year, and now he's up to 51 and a third. So he's on pace for, you know, like 155 innings or something like that. I don't know if that's realistic. Scott. Do we know?

They kind of spread out Paddock starts a little bit. He doesn't pitch every five days. So they are doing their job to limit his innings. I don't know what to do with him. Because part of me is like, just keep him, man. He's awesome. Just keep him. Just enjoy the ride. But, you know, if you were going to turn him into a different starting pitcher,

who would you try to turn Chris Paddock into? Zach Wheeler? So straight up, it would have to be somebody who's underachieving and raising concerns. Zach Wheeler, yeah, that seems like a decent target. You know, you could maybe aim higher for, well, maybe not after the week you just have, but Doa Sinterguards obviously

incurred some, you know, inspired some level of panic among his fantasy owners this year. That would be, it would be harder to pull off a straight-up trade there. But Wheeler seems like a good choice. I don't know that I'd do. Flaherty probably not

probably wouldn't do Flaherty I'd have to aim higher than that You have David Price ahead of him Yeah I do Okay That's probably what trade I'd make All right paddock for price Check the rankings

I'd aim higher I mean I feel like that's not necessarily A sell high That's kind of a selling Even but Well then I think maybe Jose Barrios After two bad starts in a row Yeah

Maybe, but I have questions about Barrios and how high-int he really is. I'm sure I haven't ranked ahead of Paddock, but... You do. But I have questions about Paddock, too. I mean, he's got a 198 Babbap. He's given up 28 hits in 51 and a third. He's got a 193RA. Some regression is coming for Paddock.

I don't have any long thing, because he's basically a two-pitch pitcher. I think he's trying to get the curveball in a little bit more. But I think he's a future star. I really do. but I also think he's not this good. No, he's not Thub 2 ERA good. Right. Like, nobody good.

Yeah. All right, let's take a look at some more from yesterday. The Rock and Red Sox, Scott. They beat the, they walloped the Toronto Blue Jays 12 to 2, not surprisingly. Mitch Morland, Zander Bogart's, Raphael Devers. We already talked about Chavis, but, you know, obviously Bogart's and Devers are owned everywhere. Morland, though, let's start with him, 53% owned. What do you think about him?

So far he has against Ritees a 964 OPS. Last year it was 781, the year before it was 784. So I think this year you can make a case to own Mitch Morland in a daily league and play him against Ritees. In the past, not really. What do you think about Moreland 53% of it? It's a tough position to break in first base. Most owners have access there as opposed to a need. So that's the first issue.

issue for Mitch Morland. He has typically not been an everyday player, and I think particularly once the Red Sox have more second base options, it'll be easier for them to play Chavis there. Maybe that's something they work out where Chavis is pretty much just starting against all the left-handers at first base and then playing another position against the right-handers. Like, Morland seems like he's too limited at a position where there's just too much too much to partake of. Yeah.

Yeah, to give it some perspective, I don't know if you own Moreland in any leagues. I own him in one league. It's our 360 man, you know, 360 man league of, well, 12 teams, but 30-man rosters and corner infield, roto league. And I have been starting Morland.

And I expect, within a month, he's on waivers. But I'm just going to ride this out and, you know, hope for the best. I don't have high hopes for him. Bogarts, I don't know that we need to spend any time on him. He's the number five shortstop in points. He's number eight in Roto.

I'll point out two things. One, he's not running this year. Only one stolen base. He stole eight last year. He stole 15 the year before, so don't count on Bogarts for contribution there. But as we saw at the end of last season, through the postseason, and now this year, the plate discipline has really improved 13.8% walk rate. Really good for Bogart's, and he's just really good and really solid.

Meanwhile, Devers, I think, Scott, very interesting player. He is now a top eight third baseman in both points in Roto. And that's amazing because people wanted to drop him, and I understood, and I'm thankful that I didn't drop him. He's hitting respectively against lefties, batting 280 with a 400 slugging percentage. That's fine. Just do enough where you don't get benched. And he's been hot, but still not a lot of power. It's a high Babbitt for Devers.

Is it sustainable? Has he been lucky? And at the same time, like I expect him to hit for more. power. I don't know where the hell the power is going. So give me your take on Devers right now. Yeah, his fly ball rate was so low in the early going that it made sense he wasn't hitting for much power. It has improved

here. And I feel like he's going about his breakthrough in a way that isn't as common in 2019, so it makes us it makes us uneasy, but it is kind of, it's kind of more

the standard progression if you look at if you go back a little further, when it wasn't so common for rookies to just come up and be their best possible selves right away. Darvish has greatly improved both his strikeout and walk rate this year, and that was true from the very beginning. Scott White, you love you Darvish today. You just called Devers Darvish.

I just called Darvish. The D and the V and the name, you know. And there's an S in there. Yeah, and an R. There's actually a lot of similarities between Darvish and Devers. This is good to know. discovering new things on fantasy baseball today. But anyway, you Devers for the Red Sox, thoughts on him.

I'm not sure about the steals. That have been a nice surprise. That has been a nice surprise. But I think his star is just going to keep going up from here. All right. I think now that he's controlling the zone better, he's kind of turning it loose more with the bat. And we're seeing big production finally result here from Devers.

Four home runs this year. Do you think he hits 20? I do. I do. I mean, he's on pace for four home runs would be, I guess he's on pace for probably 15 right now. Yeah. I think his pace improves enough to get to 20, sure.

Yeah, and his first, like, 20-ish, maybe closer to 30 games, I don't think he homered. I'll find that out, see when he hit it. Scott, why don't you look that up? When did Raphael Darvish Devers hit his first home run of the season? We got more to come on fantasy baseball today, including Team Name Tuesday, a very good round of Team Name Tuesday, some of your emails, the dropometer, and some players that you might want to pick up now before it's too late. Scott, we're going to take a break. When we come back, you're going to tell us when Devers hit his first home run.

Everybody get excited for that. We'll be right back. Okay, Detective Scott White, what's the answer? Oh, I didn't have to. Oh, come on. You really want to be to look forward on. Yes, come on, of course. So here's the thing.

So here's the thing. There's some growing pains going on here today because I got a whole new setup here with a camera and a light. And I've kind of been pushed away from my computer as a result. So I'm totally going off the cuff here. Probably going to have to figure out

a way to avoid that in the future. But I couldn't look it up if I wanted to. Okay, I will look up. Thanks for putting me on the spot, though. I apologize. No, actually, it was good comedy. It was good for the podcast. I apologize for nothing.

Rafael Devers hit his first home. run on May 3rd, his 33rd game of the season. So in his last like 18 games, he has four home runs. Scott, act now before it's too late. Let's make an infomercial here. Some of these guys are already owned, but if they're available, do you have to act now before it's too late?

You have to pick them up so you don't miss great production. From Matt Olson. I still don't know that it's a requirement in a pulling slag as deep as first base has become and obviously he's a guy who's going to hurt you a strikeout. But four home runs already, it seems like the hamate bone concerns there were overblown because he is showing plenty of power. And in categories leagues, certainly in Roto League, where you also have a corner infield spot to fill, must own there.

Jurexon Profar, 77% owned still. But if somebody dropped him, do you need to make sure you pick up Jurexon Profar? No, you don't need to. I do think there are better days ahead for him, but he makes some weak contact. And that was true last year too. And, you know, that's kind of why I backed away from him over the course of draft prep season after initially being very hot on him as somebody who could take another step forward. The fact he got traded to Oakland, you know, the home away splits last year for him in Texas were so favored him at home. but it's it's not this he's not this bad he's not as bad as he's shown here to begin the year and hopefully he's starting to come out of it

Rugnett Odor 64% owned four home runs in his last five games for Rugnett Odor I am I really don't like Rooknett of Tor I don't like him I don't like him his play discipline is horrible he has had so many stretches where he's just completely useless in fantasy including maybe he's coming around I mean, it's too condensed of a period for me to say for sure, okay, this is a hot streak worth activating it again. But I don't think, like, if somebody else claims it before you do, I don't think you're losing more than a high handplay. Oh, it's a hot handplay.

Last year, Odor, first 45 games, 602 OPS, next 50 games, 1024 OPS with 14 home runs and nine steals. And then his last 34 games, 516 OPS. He might just be that player that has like one crazy hot stretch of season. I don't know. I mean, it's too early to say that. But I am interested from a season-long perspective, heck no. From like, hey, this guy might carry my team for a month.

I think Odora's got that potential. He's 64% owned. Miguel Suno, 58% own. He's played five games. He's batting 190, but two home runs for Suno. One walk, nine strikeouts. 58% on Miguel Sinos. Should we act now before it's too late.

I don't know. I mean, there's definitely big power. If home runs are specifically are a need for you, then he's somebody you should have interest in, but he's struck out nine times and 21 at bat since returning, and that's always going to be an issue for him. It's Joey Gallo levels of swing and miss, or I guess specifically strikeout, not necessarily swing a miss.

But I'm getting technical now. No, it's Joey Gallo levels of striking out, but is he going to have Joey Gallo levels of power? I mean, that's pretty extreme. That's like best baseball. Let's say best player in baseball power, and I'm not sure he can do that. And finally, in this section, act now before it's too late, with a question mark, Hunter Pence, 44% owned. What do you think? I think it's a crowded enough outfield that I'm skeptical if he's ever that useful in a three outfielder league.

The Rangers adding Willie Calhoun to the mix has definitely shrunk my interest in Penn. Yeah, but he's hitting. I mean, he's not going anywhere right now. I think he sat once since Calhoun came up. And, like, the work he did this offseason to change his swing. I think there's definitely something to that.

He was just as impressive in spring training. but it's it's asking a lot for a 36 year old to make that big of a leap after he was so bad last year the giant of all teams just let him leave

yeah I know and then he has the playing time concerns on top of it five outfield or leagues he probably should be young three outfielder leagues it's going to be tough for him to break in okay that is Hunter Pence

44% own another homer yesterday 307 batting average nine homers in 31 games for the 36 year old We've got a quick round of emails here, and then we will conclude our video portion of the show. Scott and I will stay on for a little bit more on the audio side if you're listening to the podcast. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com is the email address. Chris from Charlotte, North Carolina, asks, Is Billy Hamilton still worth owning in a head-to-head categories league,

or would you rather have Gerard Dyson, who's currently on waivers? I'd make that swap. I'm just looking at it now. Billy Hamilton had eight steals through April 21st, and he has won since. And even steals can be streaky, but he's just such a bad hitter. And Dyson leads off.

I mean, he sits against lefties, but he leads off, whereas Hamilton vats ninth, I think. Yeah, I mean, that's really the question is Dyson, do you want the part-timer versus the everyday player? Because Dyson has been leaps and bounds better at the plate. He's walked a ton, which is something he has done before. It's really been an on-base machine. Probably deserves to play every day for the Diamondback.

Yeah, I think I would make that change, too. I mean, the frustrating part for Hamilton, and I know this, because I own him in Tout Wars, supposed to be my big steel source in Tout Wars. Six of his nine stolen bases came in one week, and it was the week that he was coming back from a knee injury. Oh, no. And he thought, oh, Bidster with a knee injury. I don't know how this is going to go. It was like the one week I benched him, and he gave six to a week.

That sucks. It's terrible. Okay, Scott, we got like two minutes for these emails. So here we go. From Sean, rank the following pitcher's rest of season. Ten team head-to-head points league. Just give me your top three, Scott. Griffin, Canning, Kyle Freeland, Canning-Freeland, Kyle Gibson, Kikuchi, Musgrove, Gialito.

Musgrove Gildo and who is the first name? Griffin Canning. Yeah, Canning. Over Gibson? Over Gibson. Over Kikuchi? Yep.

Wow, okay. From John Snow, who knows nothing. Dear Drogon, Vyserian, Regal, and maybe Balaerian, 2, 12 team, categories Lee. Oh. Will Marvin Gonzalez be fantasy relevant this year? I'm shortening up the question here. Will Marvin Gonzalez be fantasy relevant this year?

he's been hitting much better of late and I think there's enough opportunities for him to play that it's possible he's not a big priority for me though would you drop next email here I don't have a name would you drop John Gray for Griffin Canning or Lucas Gialito I would drop him for Canning

not willing to go as far as Gialito though it's getting closer and Sam wants to know who is a better stash for this season no IL spots in the league. James and Tyone or Jesus Luzardo? I would say Luzardo. If it's not a situation where you can stash somebody away in the IL spot, I mean, Tyode's going to be gone for a long time. And there's some concerns were raised by an athletic fee writer that Luzardo.

It wasn't even concerns raised. It was more like, you know, looking at possible option for the A's starting rotation as the season plays out, and Susan Slesser suggested August or September for Luzardo. So that kind of gives me pause, but I feel like he's far enough along that he could return sooner than that.

That's going to do it for the video portion of fantasy baseball today. For all of you, we'll check in with you tomorrow where we update you on the Aces metric and have some fun with Team Kreef. Scott and I are going to stick around and do more of the audio portion, so here we go.

Scott, let's take a look at the table. drop o meter now. I got some names for you, uh, for you. Zero to ten on the drop o meter. Jhap. Oh, 516 ERA, 130 whip. Youh. Jhap. That's probably about a seven at this point. He's not really giving you strikeouts. He, yeah, there's not, there's not a lot that's, uh, compelling here. There's really not. So, maybe even an eight. And he's had like four stars against the Orioles. he's been bad in everyone. Stephen Piscotti, 80% owned, 0 to 10.

7. I don't think, I don't feel like his ceiling is so high that, you know, if you manage to pick up outfielders that you're starting over him, you have to stick with him. Okay, that's Piscotti. Wilson Ramos, number 12, catcher in points, number 16 in Roto. You got these Fegleys and Vasquez's and, uh, Castros on waivers. Wilson Romo,

zero to ten on the dropometer. It's zero. It's zero. I mean, there's just, there's just so much more, so much more reason to be confident in him than some of those other recent mergers. I'm going to call him a by-low.

I think, like a good by-low, because I think there's good production to come. He's a good hitter. He's gotten off the slow starts before, Wilson Ramos. Mikel Franco, 88% owned. Yeah, 88's way too high. That might be like, uh, might be like a nine, honestly. The third base is very deep,

and there isn't a lot of reason to believe Michael Franco is any better this year. I mean, his batting averages all the way down to 229 now, so I think the regression's already hit here. Oh, yeah. Michael Franco has a 556 OPS in his last 30 games, and he has 13 walks this year, but, oh, no, he has 17 walks this year, but nine of them have been intentional. Domingo Santana,

95% owned. Where is Domingo Santana on the dropometer? I would put him about it. Not much higher than zero. Maybe like a two points leagues, I think you could justify it easier than Roto. Yes, thank you for bringing that up. Domingo Santana's batting 272 with eight home runs,

four steals, but because he has 59 strikeouts in 47 games, and his K rate, by the way, has actually decreased from last year. He's the number 30 outfielder in points at number 17 in Roto. So if you do feel like you're ready to drop Domingo Santana, he's probably going to be a streaky guy,

so keep that in mind. But Points League's much easier to justify. Oduble Herrera, 56% owned. 10, as in I would have no reservations about dropping him, but he's better than this. Clint Frazier, 62% owned. I'll go... I'll go 80.

there. I'll go seven there. Okay. Yeah, he sat yesterday. Since coming off the IL, 12 games, Frazier's batting 150, with 15 strikeouts. Before going on the IL, he had a 975 OPS, so you hope he's getting his timing back, but never walks. So he has to hit for power. Team name Tuesday. Here we go, Scott. It's pretty good. I like it today. We have a couple of Kestanhiras. I can be your hero, baby. or there goes my hero these are good i don't i don't think you're going to get this one we are v r the youth of the nation no i get it okay okay good yeah it's good i could have been

VR VR VR youth of a nation all right i've got one person gave us like an entire album of 90s hits oh man ben intendee caught stealing by jane addiction. Been caught stealing. Found out about you say by gin blossoms. Why not just found out about you? Are you garvish? Snells like teen spirit. That's an oldie but a good one. This one's interesting. Bitter sweet Daniel Murphy by the nerve, by the verve. How does Daniel Murphy's name fit in there?

Bittersweet Symphony. Daniel Murphy. That's bad. That's bad. Yeah. This one's good. Brad Hand in my pocket by Alanis. Okay. Yeah. We love that foo fighters hit Everlongoria. That's really good. When I Bum Around by Green Day for Bumgarner. Runaway Kane by Soul Asylum. Runaway Train, one of my all-time favorites.

Come Trout and Play by the Ospring. It's okay. This one's really funny. There's a song called Possum Kingdom by the TOTES, so Possum King de Grom. Possum King, it's good. Givens Away now by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. and Chewada Know by Lannis Morissette. Thank you for those.

Shoo on a know. Rock hits. Yeah, some of those are good. Belly Buxton? Belly Buxton? It's a Beliger Buxton combo? Scott, you're going to want to read this one next time. I can't believe it's not Butchrey.

Oh, yeah. Butry. Did you see the video of him entering to pitch for the Angels, and they have a video that plays in the stadium now. No. With a bunch of, like, images of butter. No, that's awesome. Okay, this one is really creative.

It's for Kestin Heson Heson Hira again. Hiramu, Gera, Mu, Fegli Hira-Mu. Oh, my goodness. Yeah, old McDonald's a good one. And I think I'm pronouncing this right. Tommy Lestela Artois. I feel like we had that before, the beer. Yeah, that's a new angle.

I haven't seen that one yet. Just a few more names to get to from yesterday's games. U. Darvish headlines the rotation. We already talked about him. Carlos Carrasco had a bad start. Patrick Corbyn had a bad start. David Price had a good start. He was on a pitch count after coming off the IL.

And Jake Areeta had a good start. Do you have anything interesting to say about Carasco, Corbin, David Price, or Jacob Arieta? I'm not sure I do I mean Arietta is the only one who It's your job Scott We're not completely convinced as good Right Yes

But he has been great in terms of ground balls And that might make up for some of his losses As a swing and miss pitcher It was a bounce back start for him It's you know If we were putting him on the Dravameter Arieta it would be like It would be like a one probably

But But I'm not sure it's going to be that all year. David Price is good and he finished the year really strong. He actually had a good year last year against every team not named the Yankees. But his next two matchups are at Houston this weekend and then at the Yankees next week. And this is the worst Yankees lineup in a long time. So it'll be interesting to see if people are starting David Price next week, you know, one start week at the Yankees. It's just maybe a mental thing, but he is so bad against them. Deeper leagues.

Any interest in Andrew Cashner, who's turned in three straight quality starts? And he's throwing really hard. I don't remember his velocity last year, but Cashner's throwing hard. And Felix Pena, by the way, those three quality starts are against the Yankees twice and the Red Sox for Cajner. And Felix Pena has been good when he's been used after an opener as he was yesterday. So Deeper Leagues for Cashner and Pena, any interest? So Cashner has always been a hard thrower. and is no better this year.

A little better than last year, but for the rest of this career, it's pretty normal. I can look it up now because we're not on video and I'm back in front of my computer. Felix Pena has a great slider, but he's kind of a two-pitch pitcher and is rarely allowed to face a lineup a third time through. So I've had some thoughts about picking him up to pad ratios,

but haven't made that move yet in any league, including 15 teams. Teamers. Okay, don't pick him up if you need quality starts because I think they're probably going to use openers with Felix Pena. And in the bullpen, Hector Nerris and Blake Parker both got saves. They're both owned in that Matt Barnes range, 55 to 60%. And I think it just seems clear to me that I'll just throw Barnes in there, even though he didn't pitch yesterday. Nerris, Parker Barnes.

These are the preferred options for saves. They won't get every save. They will be used in high leverage situations like Nerris was last night, facing the top of the order. in a tie game in the ninth inning on the road. But they're the best guys to own in their bullpens, and they can be pretty good for fantasy. And that's all I have to say about that. Okay, Scott White.

Have yourself a beautiful day. You too, Adam. Thank you. Beautiful, wonderful day. It's a beautiful day, as Bono once said. We'll talk to you tomorrow on Fantasy Baseball today. Thanks, everyone. See you.