Fantasy Baseball Today - 2026 Top Pitching Prospects! Bubba Chandler Over Trey Yesavage? (12/16 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: December 18, 2025

There's no such thing as a pitching prospect (4:15)! ... Bubba Chandler is up at the top (8:45). ... Trey Yesavage just had a meteoric rise (17:09). ... Nolan McLean projects as a high-floor pitcher (20:54). ... News (26:00): Brad Keller signed with the Phillies and Luke Weaver with the Mets. ... Thomas White has huge strikeout upside but rough control (39:20). ... Will Andrew Painter get back on track (41:23)? ... Next up we have Kade Anderson and Jonah Tong (44:57). ... Robby Snelling looks like he's ready (50:35). ... Seth Hernandez and Ryan Sloan have huge upside but are far away (54:30). ... Payton Tolle has an unbelievable fastball (57:06). ... Liam Doyle and Jamie Arnold were both just drafted (1:00:54). ... Noah Schultz and Jarlin Susana both have big strikeout upside but big control questions (1:03:11). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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. Well, fantasy. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Hello, welcome into fantasy baseball today on Thursday, December 18th. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

I am back, baby. Today on the show, we are breaking down pitching prospects and taking a look at the latest transactions, mostly reliever stuff and Adrian Houser. There's not too much going on right now, but thank you to you guys for holding it down the other day. Wisdom teeth extraction. Yeah, Frank, can I ask? One of the least fun things I've ever had in my life.

Teeth are not great. Yeah. Just like the whole process, like, you know who has it right with regards to? to teeth sharks. No offense to dentists out there. You're doing a good service in our world. But if we had shark teeth, none of this would be a problem. It just fall out.

You got a new one right there. It's all good. Sharks perfected teeth. I can't disagree. Nobody can. I mean, teeth maintaining them. You only get that one set. You get two sets, I know.

Yeah, you get the trainer set. Very early on, you get that. That one set and it's got to last you for life. Got to take care of those puppies. I got to say, though, Frank, you surprised me just now because I didn't think you were hosting. Start up the show. You play the little intro. And then you're like, hello.

And I'm like, oh, really? We're doing this? I thought it was going to be Chris again. Wally Pipps situation. Some are clamoring for Chris. No, no. Fortunately for everybody, Frank is back. Some are clamoring for Chris to host the podcast now.

Literally nobody is clamoring. Including Chris. Oh, man. All right, well, here we are. Let's get into pitching prospects here. They say there's no such thing as a pitching prospect. And with that, we're going to wrap there for Scott and Critt. No, I'm just kidding.

But seriously, what is the thought behind tin stab? If people haven't heard it before, there is no such thing as a pitching prospect. It's an acronym, I think that's what that's called. Scott, what is the thought behind that? Oh, the thought behind it is they're just so volatile. and they're so often injured and one injury can totally reshape their trajectory. And it often happens. And I, you know, think of how many high-end, like I could think just in recent years you got

Forrest Whitley was at one point the top pitching prospect in the game. And who was that Cardinals pitcher? I can't remember his name now. Alex. Alex Reyes. Alex Reyes, yeah, was the top pitching prospect in the game. For years. When they were on the verge of reaching the majors, they were that.

And didn't go anywhere. Of course, you see busts among hitting prospects, too. So it can be overstated. But just the idea that, you know, picking out which of those minor league pitchers is going to hit is much harder to do than it is with hiters. I would also just point out, it's often the way you said it is the, way it's understood. TINSTAP, they're all volatile and so they can, things can go wrong for all of them, I think would be the way to put it. It works both ways, though. I think part of why TINSTAP is a good mental model for how to approach pitching prospects, especially when you're talking about dynasty

leagues, when you're multiple years away and you're not like, look, when a guy gets called up, get excited. But when you're two years away from seeing a guy in the majors, there's so much that can go wrong, but also just there are so many different ways everyone can go. It's not to say that like talent doesn't matter and pedigree doesn't matter, but like I distinctly remember this was pretty early in my time at CBS. It would have been 2014 when he made his debut, but I remember Jacob de Grom and I believe Raphael Montero got called up within a week or two of each other on the Mets. And Montero was by far the more hyped of the two.

DeGrom had closed the gap, but I'm looking at baseball prospectus's list from that year. Montero was the number four prospect on the Mets list. DeGrom was 16. Obviously, DeGrom has had a much better career than Raphael Montero. And even, like, a couple starts in. It was clear Jacob deGrom was really good. So it's just to say that they're volatile in both ways, right?

like pitching prospects come at like, remember Terrick Scoobel is the best pitcher in baseball. We had kind of given up on him by the time he actually figured it out. Garrick Crochet, it was a joke that the White Sox made him their opening day starter in 2024. We all laughed at it. I would say it's pretty close to 50-50, just scanning through the starting pitcher rankings. Whether or not the guy was, whether or not a starting pitcher, we think, think of as valuable in fantasy now was a high-end prospect or not. He may have been a minor

leaguer of some note, but in terms of being a prospect like we generally think of the term, it's probably about 50-50. Yeah. And there's just, I mean, look, inherently, there's a lot of volatility at the position. There's a lot of injury at the position. There's just so much turnover, too, from one year to the next. Production can sway. Big names drop off. New names emerge out of nowhere. That is something that you won't see. You will see it at some other positions, but not as frequently. We don't get as many breakout prospects at other positions as we do at pitcher. I mean, seemingly names that just kind of like pop up out of nowhere.

Who might have been like prospects on the periphery, but then boom, out of nowhere like Nolan McLean is one of the top pitching prospects in all baseball, right? Like that's the way it can just happen really, really fast for a pitching prospect. So I think that's part of what goes into like, yes, there's no such thing as a pitching prospect, but we still have to talk. talk about them, obviously. So let's do that. Let's get into Scott's pitching prospect rankings for, again, these are for Dynasty Leagues, but we will talk about some of it from a redraft perspective as well. Make sure to check out his full ranking list on the website where he ranked 30 pitching prospects heading into 2026. And number one at the top of the list is Bubba Chandler from the Pirates, 23 years old, a third round pick back in 2021. And what a weird year for

Chandler who got off to a great start in the minors. We all think he's getting called up in May, and he just doesn't. He never gets called up, and then he starts to struggle big time. He eventually got called up late in the season, and he looked really impressive. Scott, what gives Chandler the edge over, spoiler alert, Trey is Savage and Nolan McLean? Yeah, I think that's the top three, and you could convince me to rank them in any order, honestly. I'm going with Bubba Chandler because I think his pure stuff is the best. He has the best fastball of the three of them. And that is that is kind of the shorthand way to, to evaluate a pitcher stuff.

It's like if you have a great fastball, you're probably going to do pretty well. Chandler, of course, has a couple of good secondaries too. So he's, he has a well-rounded, pitch, fully developed pitching prospect. I was pretty worried mid-season when he was crashing so hard at AAA that the control was terrible his strikeout rate was was suffering um but really that control because once he got to the majors totally flipped he walked just four guys in 31 and a third innings he was suddenly uh a strike throwing machine obviously a small sample and and he could you know if he if he's capable of blipping at triple a he could blip in the majors too but he he admitted uh even before getting called

up, I believe. He admitted to some frustration when through his, through his first 11 starts at AAA, he had a 203 ERA 12.8K per 9 and he hadn't gotten called up yet. And that's about the time thing shifted for him. And he collapsed, frankly, at AAA. So I don't know exactly what he was doing wrong, but it does seem like there was a degree. of mental struggle there that contributed to his falloff. And obviously the way he finished the season in the majors, I think totally restored his prospect standing in my eyes. Yeah, to add some color to the discussion about what he did when he got to the majors, it's a very small sample size.

But the nice thing is these new, newfangled stuff metrics do a good job of stabilizing very quickly. You don't need a huge sample size to know whether a pitcher has good stuff. You know it when you see it and his 109 stuff plus rating would have been tied for seventh in the majors last year with Ryan Pepeyo now You'd prefer that Ryan Pepeio and Luis Severino not be the two players right next to him in terms of stuff but how valuable is this metric exciting the next thing let me there's an ellipsis here I was building to a point Okay, I'm sorry I'm sorry they also have a location metric and a pitching metric, which pitching is the one that brings it all together. And now, location is much noisier, takes a lot longer to stabilize, much less reliable in a small

sample size. But when you throw them both together, he had a 115 pitching plus, which puts him right behind Paul Skeens and right ahead of Max Fried for fifth best among starters. And that list is Jacob de Grom, Terrick Scouble, Christopher Sanchez, Paul Skeens. All right. Not far from the four best pitchers in baseball in 2025. So now, look, the command is, I think, a long-term question for Chandler, especially with the way it collapsed mid-season in AAA,

although I very much believe that it was just, look, incentives matter. And when you tell a player for all intents and purposes, there is nothing you can do to earn that call to the majors, they might do nothing. You know? Like that just, that seems like a natural explanation. It's just a guess, but it seems like a pretty good one, given like Scott said,

the way he turned to the season around once he got to the majors. Yeah, I think the combination of proximity and stuff makes Bubba Chandler at worst the third best among this group. But I think he's a perfectly reasonable choice for number one. And I also love the fact that he, He joins a rotation that features another 23-year-old who's maybe the best pitcher in baseball. So, you know, those guys are the same age.

They could bounce stuff off each other, show each other pitch grips, things like that. So I don't know, I always just kind of liked things like that. I create these kind of situations in my mind where there's like camaraderie and they're helping each other, but I don't even know if that's real. But you know what I love? It might be.

What I love is he's 10 picks cheaper than Nolan McClure than Trey Savage in early drafts right now. about 50 picks cheaper than Nolan McLean. And like, yeah, look, I get, I get it. The McLean hype is crazy. I don't, I don't get it. I don't get it. Like, why there's so much favoritism for McLean, I mean, he was great down the stretch,

but kind of all these guys were. Yeah. And it was a slightly bigger sample size, but 48 innings is still a very small sample size. If I thought there would be favoritism for anyone, I thought it would be you savage, because he obviously had the biggest spotlight in the postseason. He had two starts in particular as Major League debut and his first postseason start, which were, you know, had everybody salivating.

They were such spectacular showings from him. So I don't know why McLean, look, McLean's very good, but I just think he belongs in the same range as these other two, even in a redraft context. So I don't know why early ADP has him so far ahead. I think the hive mind has him. has gotten a little over there skis on Nolan McLean. And I say that as someone who genuinely, I love Nolan McLean.

I think he's incredibly talented. Yeah. All right, let's take a quick break. When we return, we'll talk about those two right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Continuing on with Scott's pitching prospects heading into 2026. And number two on the list is the macho man, Trey you savage. Oh yeah.

22 years old, a first round pick in 2024, a meteoric rise. Foria Savage, his season started in low A, and it ended with 12 strikeouts against the Dodgers in the World Series. I mean, it's like the beginning of Breaking Bad to the end of Breaking Bad. Like, where it starts to where it ends is just completely insane stuff here for Trayas. Albuquerque in both. Yes. Yeah, that's fair.

Scott, how did this happen for Traja Savage? How it happened is he just, he provides a unique look with the most over-the-top delivery. in baseball. And he has perfected the splitter, which is a pitch that works very well with an over-the-top delivery like that. So it's a nasty pitch. His slider's good, too.

He actually had nearly 15 strikeouts per nine innings during his time in the minors. So I totally justified how quickly he moved. And I always think it's a good sign when a guy masters that many levels all in the same year. They keep challenging him and it's just no challenge.

To the point that he gets to the majors and he struck out nine in his major league debut, first postseason start five in a third no-hit innings. We don't have to talk about that one, Scott. We keep moving. Clearly, Trey Yavage has great stuff. Now, if you look in between those two, probably the two biggest successes

after he got promoted, if you look in between, not every start was a master class, he struggled with control at times. And that was an issue in the minors as well. But as quickly as he moved through the minors, you would expect there to be some on-the-job learning for Trey is Savage. And obviously, he's up to the challenge,

and obviously the strikeouts are going to continue in the majors like they did in the minors. And I think for whether redraft or dynasty league, you should be very much on board. with this guy. So he got called up, Yassavage did, in late September. He pitched in nine games after getting called up. So postseason and the regular season combined. 346 ERA 118 whip 12K per 9. Biggest question is the control. It was, you know, four walks per nine and the miners pretty much four and a half, yeah. Four walks per nine in that major league sample as well. But the Blue Jays say there's no

cap on his innings for next season. So I would expect like 150, 160 and maybe even build off of that. So maybe even more because he had about that much last year. He got to 139 and two thirds last year. Yeah, he could go like 160, 170. Like if yeah, I see Chandler, you Savage and McLean all have very similar workload projections for

2025 or 2026. It's just kind of depend. I think they all got to about 140. I think it just kind of depends on. who stays healthy and who can, you know, pitch effectively enough to go deep into games. But I think all of them have the upside to. I have Yassavage third of this group, but in my overall rankings, which are mostly finished, at least for Roto. I have some work to do on head to head.

I have McLean 131, so I'm a little lower than ADP. I have Chandler 135, so he's a little higher than ADP. And then Yassavage 136, again, a little higher than ADP. I would guess they're all going to be 10th or 11th round picks at least by the time spring training rolls around. I think. McLean higher because he's 106th already. Scott's number three pitching prospect is Noel McLean, who we've talked about quite a bit so far of the Mets,

24 years old third round pick back in 2023, got called up in August and made an immediate impact for the Mets down the stretch. This is a diverse pitch mix, high spin on all of his pitches, big stuff numbers as well. Scott, why, I know you're splitting hairs here, but why ultimately did you wind up with McLean behind those other two? Well, unfortunately, the best way to explain it is to critique McLean, so it sounds like I'm going to be down on him. But I'm not. It's just, I think he is more pitched to contact than those other two.

I understand during his eight starts in the majors, 10.7K per nine. That's great. You know, it was over 10 strikeouts per 9 in the minors as well for the year. But you look at the swinging strike rate, it was less than 11% in those eight major league starts, which generally doesn't lend itself to a strikeout rate so high. He is a ground ball guy.

They tend to lean into contact a little more because obviously the contact isn't very successful for hitters. So, you know, be more efficient, get outs that way. Also, you know, we talked about, We talked about Yesavage's control issues. McLean has some himself. It was right at three per nine, three walks per nine in the majors, which is not good. It's not so bad, though.

But it was four walks per nine during his time in the minors right around there. So I don't think he is, he's, he's, I don't think Nolan McLean has whipped the control issue that much more than Yassavich has. Like, I don't think he's totally figured that out himself. And so maybe that is being underappreciated when evaluating him. Part of the reason why he's going so much ahead of you, Savage. But as you mentioned, six-pitch arsenal, I think that gives him a lot more wiggle room, a lot higher floor maybe than a tray of Savage who's so dependent on the splitter. And gives ample room to fine-tune the approach.

Like the best version of McLean we haven't even, we may not have even seen yet. because he has so many options he can he can turn to. So I'm very excited about him. But I do prefer Chandler and you Savage, at least in a dynasty context. I think Olin McLean is Logan Webb. I was going to say for Amber Valdez, I think he's very much so. And I don't want to sell him short, but it just kind of feels like he'll get to that SP2 range where he gets between 8 and 9K per 9 lots of ground balls.

I mean, that's what I see at least for something. I say Logan Webb just because he's less reliant on that one pitch. Framber, it's just the whole answer to did Framber Valdez pitch well seems to come down to, did he have the feel for his curveball today or not? And he goes two months without it and then locks in and he's amazing. I give the Logan Webb comp. One, he's a righty sinker baller change up, not nearly as dominant as Logan Webb's, but he's got the deep arsenal.

And he's also got this thing that Logan Webb has started doing the past couple of years where he only really throws his four seam fastball in two strike counts. And it's a great swing and miss pitch. And so I love that wrinkle that he can kind of pitch backwards. The sweeper got a ton of called strikes last year. The sinker, he moves that around really well. The curveball was a great swing and miss pitch for him. And he's got that four seamer that he can throw. in those two strike counts, lean on it against lefties,

and I just think he's got a lot of ways to beat you. I don't know if he can get to that, like, true ace level. Yeah, at least sustainably. I know he pitched like one for about a month and a half last year. But I think it's a high floor. Like, of these three, I would be the most shocked if Nolan McLean was back in the minors in May. Yeah.

And if you look at his, Even his major league and minor league swinging strike rates, they don't really support like a 10K per 9, which he was rocking. Again, I think he's going to settle in more like an 8 to 9 K per 9 guy. And that's not a bad thing. Again, I see him more as developing into like a high-end SP2 for fantasy, which, again, would be a great outcome for any pitcher. So I'm not trying to sell him short, but that's just what I see, I guess,

projecting forward for Nolan McLean. We actually just learned he's going to pitch for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. So that's pretty cool. We'll be able to watch him during March throughout that. Speaking of McLean, did you know that he is subscribed to our YouTube channel? Is that true? I don't know. Probably not.

Probably. Either way, if you are watching this video, you should subscribe. If you are watching this video, you should subscribe. Drop a like on this video as well. We have a lot of fun stuff coming in January and beyond. Let's take a little break here from the pitching prospects and hit the news. Then we'll get back into it. A bunch more reliever stuff that's coming out.

I'm not sure it's terrible. interesting for fantasy so we can run through here. But the Phillies signed Brad Keller to a two-year $22 million deal, and he will be used as a reliever. He's coming off an awesome season with the Cubs. He had the big velocity jump, but the Phillies also have Yohan Duran. So this feels like a high-end setup man,

someone in leagues withholds, but not really much else outside of that. Okay. All right. Surprise. The Mets signed Luke Weaver to the same exact deal as Keller. or two year, $22 million. Weaver had an awesome

2024 season. He took a little step back this year due to some injuries he was dealing with, some pitch tipping stuff as well, but like Keller, should be an effective setup, man. I think there's a little bit more upside for someone like Weaver just because we just saw Devin

Williams struggle so much in New York this past season. That's right. They're linked again. So, you know, if Weaver struggles the first month or two, I mean, not Williams, then Perhaps Weaver could step in, so. Good point. Yep.

Can't critique it. 10 out of 10 no notes. Fair enough. Is the drop that you were planning on playing the Mean Girls one? No, no, no. I do. Okay. I mean, you ruined it, Chris.

Come on, man. So, like I was saying, as a Yankees fan, I do have something to ask the Mets. I don't know. I don't know what this song is. Oh, it's Mariah Carey. Come on, Chris. Oh, I don't know. I found a musical thing.

that I know that Chris doesn't. How about that? I just needed to tap into Mariah Carey. It is a little weird that the Mets keep signing all the former Yankees guys, but I don't know. I guess like Mendoza was a former bench coach for them. Like, I don't know.

Some familiarity in the city. Whatever it is, it's kind of weird. Anyway, this is interesting. Tiger's President Scott Harris said there's, quote, at least three or four closer types on the roster. I guess that's not newsbreaking. He added, will we label Kenley as the closer? I don't know.

That's going to be for AJ to figure out. So I would still bet on Jansen leading this team in saves, but I don't think that it's just a foregone conclusion that he is just the set it and forget it, Tigers Closer, every day of the season. Maybe not. I would still lean that way, but yeah, maybe it's not a guarantee. I'm wondering how he gets to four. Somebody pointed out, someone pointed out Tyler or Holton. Holden had like 11 saves two years ago or something, right? Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?

Yeah, 367 ERA. 7.3K per 9, Tyler Holden this past year. I mean... He's a lefty, right? Maybe if they just want to play matchups one day, but I don't know. Okay. I'm going to... Look, I don't know.

Obviously, I don't know. But I'm with Chris in that I would not read too much into this comment. It is technically true that it's the main... manager's decision, and it's probably wise for the GM to put it that way, if it hasn't already been discussed with AJ Hinch. I don't know. All right. Next up, the Giants signed Adrian Houser to a two-year $22 million deal with a club option for 2028. Actually, all three pitchers we've talked about today have signed the same exact contract. That's kind of weird. Just realize that. Houser saw a big jump in velocity this

year, and he was actually solid. My guess is he'll be a podcast. popular streamer in San Francisco, probably not much more. Adrian Howzer? I don't know that it'll be a popular streamer, but he'll be, Scott, he'll be an occasional streamer. I see it already. Out of the, what, 28, 26 weeks, at least half of those, he'll be a sleeper pitcher for you this year. I doubt.

I mean, he just had his best year ever, and he hardly showed up on the sleeper pitchers list. He did a couple times. Look, it's a great home park for a guy who pitches to contact. I can see a, I don't know, a 360 ERA and 160 innings from him. Yeah. That feels reasonable. All right. The Angels signed both Jordan Romano and Drew Pomeranz to one-year deals.

Afterwards, GM Perry Manassian said the team does not have a set closer. So you're seeing differences between the Angels and Tigers. The GM is making the decision here, apparently, unless he's talked to Kurt Suzuki about it. So take your pick for Angel saves. There's Romano, Pomeranz, Ben Joyce, Robert Stevenson, Ryan Zephyrjan, Zephyrjohn. It feels so wrong to say Romano doesn't. And even though you know it's right, it's just like, it's like remember Matt Diaz? Oh, yeah.

Or a situation. Yeah. Do you guys have a pick for Angel Saves or probably not? Probably not. No, I mean, it's, if Robert Stevenson, I believe he had that. he had he he looked like he was an up and coming closer when the angels first signed him before Tommy John surgery he had another injury last year though he returned last year and then he ended the season on the aisle with another elbow injury yeah it wasn't surgery but it was

like renewed soreness or something and ben joyce is coming back from a shoulder issue went from shoulder surgery I think correct and he's never been good um I I would really prefer not to have to roster an Angels closer until I see someone get a save. Fair. Chris Martin signed a one-year deal to return to the Rangers. Their bullpen feels wide open right now as well. There's still Robert Garcia there. There's Chris Martin. They signed Alexis Diaz to a one-year deal. Maybe Emiliano Tejoto finally gets a chance, although he was hurt and very bad this past season. So I don't know. That feels like a good landing spot for Pete Fairbanks, but the Rangers are also trying. trying to cut salary. So I just, I don't know if that's going to happen for them. So we'll see.

We will see, but he is out there. And so some of these teams with unclear closer situations, that is one possible solution. The Nationals are signing pitcher Foster Griffin to a one-year, $5 million deal. He's 30 years old, a former first round pick way back in 2014. He spent a few years in the majors, then he went over to Japan. And coming off a pretty strong season, any interest in Foster Griffin as a deep league flyer for next season? I mean, not really. The number of interesting starting pitchers is so long that I think he gets pushed out for most league context.

Like Cody Ponce is definitely more interesting, just kind of lumping Foster Griffin and with the other pitchers who've signed out of East. Deja, I would put him closer to, you know, with the ground ball skills, I would put him, I would probably put him third on that list behind Ponce and Anthony Kay. Anthony Kay. That's like Griffin seems the closest to Kay, but he hasn't, you know, he's had some durability issues over the past couple years.

They're both more like ground ball and not so big on missing bats. And so I think, I think it's on. unlikely there'll be impact pitchers and fantasy, but they could be streamable at times. Definitely adding Foster Griffin to my list for the 24-team Scott White Dynasty League draft. All right, there you go. 24 teams. Yeah. Dave Dombrowski said the Phillies plan to have Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford, and Adoles

Garcia as their primary outfielders in 2026. So it sounds like it's Crawford's job to lose. You guys spoke about him the other day. he's a very interesting option, at least in category leagues. Last season in the minors hit 334 with 46 steals in AAA. His early 80P, Justin Crawford, is 458 as the 81st outfielder off the board. And after a port like this, I think he probably moves up closer to 300. So closer to names like Dylan Beavers, Junghu Lee, Cedric Mullins, guys like that.

And he's been drafted even 12-team Roto leagues. it's still not a certainty he's going to have the job. But even if the Phillies don't make any other moves, I presume he'll have to win the job. But that Dumbraowski has now said it twice now this offseason, and he's said it after they've made some moves, adding Adoles Garcia to the outfield. I think really underscores just how much he wants it to happen.

And Crawford is very interesting. I think you can think of him, in terms of what he could be in fantasy, similar to Chandler Simpson and Xavier Edwards, who he's seen break in the last two years, somebody who could help him batting average and especially in stolen bases. But I think the actual hitting ability there,

like certainly how hard Justin Crawford impacts the ball, gives him a higher ceiling than those two, gives him another layer of potential to unlock. Will he do it as a rookie? Hard to say. Will they be able to tolerate his defense in center field? I think that's a fair question as well. But when you're talking about the 300th player off the board

or even a little before that, definitely the upside is worth the gamble at that point. The Red Sox preferred position for Christian Campbell is left field. That might explain why we keep hearing Jaron Duran's name come up as a trade possibility. They already have too many outfielders without counting Christian Campbell in the outfield. So it's just a tough math equation right now for the Red Sox. My guess is they will make at least one more trade this offseason. Ray's president, Eric Neander said Stephen Matt's will be given a chance to open the season in the rotation. So could be bad news for

Ian Seymour or the race could try a six-man rotation or it's insurance for Shane McClan, who we have no idea about, or they plan to trade one of these names. I've seen some like Shane Boz rumors. Basically, we just don't know right now. Do you guys have any feel for the Ray's rotation? No, I mean, being given a chance to win a rotation spot doesn't mean it's going to happen. True. And, you know, they're a team that likes to space out at starters at times. So even if it's more of a swing man role for Mats. You know, you can understand why they're bringing up this possibility. But I don't think Mats is going to matter much for fantasy either way.

And I don't think he's going to take a job away from somebody who matters more. Let's take our final break. When we return, we'll power through some more pitching prospects right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. We left off with Scott's top three pitching prospects. That was Bubba Chandler, Trey Savage, and Nolan McLean. We move on to number four, Thomas Waite of the Marlins. He's 21 years old.

Say that name again? Thomas White. Okay. So I said, wait. Wait? Yeah. White. You know.

Thomas, since we share a last name, Thomas and I just wanted to make that clear. Crystal clear. Again, he's 21 years old. Big old lefty at 6 foot 5. He pitched at three different levels last year. Got two starts in at AAA. Tons of strikeouts, questions about control. But Chris, as we know, with your Marlins,

we almost just expect their pitching prospects to work out at this point. Yeah, I think they've definitely earned the benefit of the doubt. And Thomas White has just massive stuff. It was like a 49% strikeout rate last season across three levels. 19% swinging strike rate. Putting up near a precedent into majors. And like for a lefty especially is just a jaw-dropping number. Yeah, so obviously the control is a concern, 14% walk rate in the minors.

That's worrisome, but Lance Prostowski has him as his number two pitching prospect behind only. He really liked Peyton Tolly. That's actually his number one. Interesting. So that was interesting. But Thomas White, the data is phenomenal. It's just a question of can he throw enough strikes to be competitive right away. I would guess Robbie Snelling's ahead of him in the Marlins Packing Order.

And he's a somewhat interesting pitching prospect in his own right. I don't know if he makes the top 25. Pitching prospects? Oh, we're going to talk about him. I have him eight. Yeah. Okay. He had a phenomenal season.

Yeah. But Thomas White is, I think, on a different level in terms of stuff. And it's just if he comes out in spring training and is throwing strikes, I don't think he makes the team. but we're going to get a couple of articles that he's making the decision tough, I think. All right, let's move on to the number five pitching prospect. That is Andrew Painter from the Phillies. He's 22 years old first round pick back in 2021.

We've heard his name for years now. And he actually looked set to make the Phillies rotation back in 2020, three. 2023 as a 19-year-old. And then he got hurt. He eventually got Tommy John's surgery. He missed all of 2024. He returned last year.

He wasn't the same. 526 ERA, 149 whip. Scott, you rank paints are fifth. So that means you have some level of confidence that he's going to get back on track. Why is that? Well, I originally had him several spots lower than this, and I just couldn't find justification to move him up.

But I noticed, you know, all the other rank lists, all the scouting reports, they still seem bullish on him. They still seem like they were giving him a pass for what was a dreadful year with a 526 ERA. Of course he was coming back for Tommy John surgery, but still, you know, that started in the Arizona Fall League in 2024. So he had had enough time to kind of get past that, at least in theory. And the expectation was Painter would be up contributing to the Major League Club by midseason. And obviously the performance just didn't justify it.

So I was having trouble getting those two ideas to sync up that, okay, painter was awful, and yet everyone still seems to like him. So what am I missing? And apparently the issue I read about this in baseball America is actually pretty similar to what Spencer Strider had his issue coming back from, it wasn't Tommy John surgery in Strider's case last year, but surgery involving the same. same elbow ligament. He just wasn't getting the same fastball shape anymore, which in, at least in Andrew Painter's case, the Phillies attributed this to a drifting arm slot. He kind of lost his arm slot coming back from Tommy John surgery, which makes sense. I mean, it's a, it's a sort of thing that as complicated as pitching mechanics are,

getting that just right again after so much time off, after so much rehabilitation. it's not push button. You could see how that could get messed up. And if the Phillies feel like they understand the nature of the problem, then that gives them a leg up and fixing it. And I think that's a big reason why there's still so much enthusiasm for painter in spite of the dreadful season. But we'll need to see a turnaround here quickly or else he's going to be a textbook case

of there's no such thing as a pitching prospect, right? as good as he looked prior to Tommy John's surgery when he was on the verge of making the majors as a 19-year-old. Yeah, I'm looking at a fan graph's their top 100 prospects for the end of the season update, and they've got a pretty in-depth look at his mechanics, and it looks like he's like tilting less as he's throwing, and it's brought the arm slot down.

He doesn't get a lot of extension on the fastball, and it did not play well this season at all. He was especially bad against lefties, So it seems obvious what he has to fix. He's just got to. I think he'll be a big spring guy to watch, one of the key ones to watch. The number six pitching prospect is Kate Anderson

of the Mariners, 21 years old, third overall pick in this year's draft, and he fell right into the Mariners lap. He hasn't pitched yet in the minors, but it's a strong fastball from the left-hand side. Potentially three plus secondaries here as well. Scott, this just feels like a match made in heaven for Kate Anderson. Any chance we see him in 2026. I can't rule it out because what really sets Kate Anderson apart is polish and pitchability.

So it's going to be a question of how much of a workload the Mariners want him to take on. Question of performance too, but I'm less like I think he'll perform well in the miners. I don't know that the upside is as high as some of the other pitchers taken in the same draft. I think it's very high. But I think it's the floor is so much higher and also the upside is good for Kate Anderson. All right. Number seven is Jonah Tong from the Mets. He's 22 years old, seventh round pick in 2022, but has really built his value up over the past couple of years.

Incredible minor league numbers. He got called up late in the season, but it looked like he wasn't ready. He had some rough outings. He also just, he looked a little scared at times too. He also just has like this baby face. He kind of just looks like a child that wanted to like give him a hug and comfort him in times of need there. But Scott, what did you see from Jonah Tong? Is there potentially a slight buying window here?

Because all we've seen in the majors in a very small sample is struggles. But if you still trust him to get back on track, like maybe there is a slight buying window for Jonah Tong. I had honestly come down to the price. I'm kind of concerned about Jonathan Tong. I found him other than Andrew Painter to be the most difficult of these pitching prospects to rank because he was the most dominant pitchers. The most dominant pitcher in the minors last year, 143 R.A. 0.92 whip. 41% strikeout rate. Yeah, just a ridiculous strikeout rate.

He was, I want to say he and, I want to say Jonah Tong and Trey I Savage were one in, two, though I may be forgetting somebody. But just a next level batmisser in the minors was Jonah Tong, and then he got to the majors, and nothing close to that, nothing close to that. And his, unlike you Savage, who of course has that great splitter, Tong, the reason I'm comparing them to, not just the strikeout rate, but they have Tongs right there in terms of the very over-the-top delivery. but it was his success is more tied to the fastball, which gets incredible ride with that over-the-top delivery.

And in the majors, I got crushed. And so I'm a little worried it's a gimmick that isn't going to work at the highest level. It's too early to say that, of course, but initial returns were very disappointing. And I don't know. I could see being on the buying or selling end on Jonah Tong, just depending on what's being offered. But for now, I'm going to keep him seventh among pitching prospects.

He is free in drafts right now. He is one spot ahead of Seth Lugo and Yusay Kukuchi in terms of ADP in these early drafts behind Braxton Ashcraft and Sean Mania and Brady Singer, like some pretty uninteresting pitchers. And so I will just at the risk of oversimplifying, I do think this is like kind of just an arbitrage opportunity where if you draft Trey Savage with let's say your 10th round pick in a 12-team league, you're not leaving a ton of room for value there?

I mean, obviously he could be incredible and be worth it. But that's a high point for a guy as unproven as him. Sure. You know, instead, a reserve round pick on Jonah Tong for two guys who had very similar seasons up until about September 12th were viewed pretty similarly by a lot of prospect people and have similar approaches and stuff profiles. I kind of think I'm certainly more likely to take Jonah Tong at his price than Trey's Savage, I guess. I mean, part of the, and like this is, this is the nature of leaning too much on TG, not TGFBI, NFBC, ADP is that all of the particulars of that contest are built into the ADP. And, you know, some of those scrubby starting pitchers you listed off just, there's no reason to touch them in the typical fantasy league,

but you get in that deep league context where, especially true. Right now. Or a lot of times just compilers end up having more valuable, more value than they do to our listening audience. And so, yes, Jonah Tong, you know, the late rounds are the opportunity to take big swings on upside normally in conventional fantasy leagues. And Tong would fit that description. I think what makes it a little harder in his case is I don't expect him to make the Mets opening day roster. So it, it'll depend how your particular league setup, it's going to depend. how much you can withstand just planting a stash on the bench like that.

All right, let's move into Scott's number eight pitching prospect. That is Robbie Snelling of the Marlins. We mentioned his name earlier. He's turning 22 years old tomorrow. Happy birthday, Robbie. 39th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He was traded from the Padres in the Tanner Scott trade a few years back. Interesting minor league career.

He had to break out 2023, took a huge step back in 2024. and then rebounded in a big way this year. He also got 11 starts in at AAA. Chris, I know you mentioned Thomas White could make some headlines in spring saying that he's making it difficult for the Marlins to send him back to the miners. I see a similar thing with Robbie Snelling.

He looks ready to me. When I dove in here, I came away so impressed. All of a sudden, Robbie Snelling is like a redraft sleeper for me as soon as like next season. the question is just where? Like how does he fit in? I think the Marlins probably still wind up making a trade

that would help. But as of now, he might be on the outside looking in. Well, things happen. You know, guys get hurt, but you know. Yeah, like Edward Cabrera's never made it through a season healthy. Ryan Weathers has barely made it through an April healthy. Braxton Garrett is coming back from Tommy John surgery. There are a lot of questions.

And I've made this joke before, but as a Marlins fan, I've heard the Marlins have too much pitching an awful lot for how many starts I've seen from like Roderie Munoz over the years and guys like that. So I've learned to never say never when it comes to having an opening in the rotation. And Snellings made 12 starts to AAA in his career. He's been exceptional at that level. It's one where the stuff is not there for the results.

You know, you're getting elite results and maybe average-ish stuff. So you're hoping that it's more like Matthew Boyd in 2025 situation where just kind of by dint of being a lefty with good control, you can kind of overcome middling stuff. And he definitely did last year. But there are a lot of scouts who question whether Robbie Snelling really has much more than end of rotation upside. Really? I think it's changed over the. the last year, but I know like fan graphs was really low on him over the years. Well, he did. He did because he's had a roller coaster trajectory where when he was first drafted by the Padres, that first year,

he was so dominant. He was like the best left-handed pitching prospect in baseball. And then he fell off that second year so hard that he was kind of just a throw in in the Tanner Scott deal. And immediately after rejoined, after joining the Marlins, Robbie Snelling's velocity went back up. his control got a lot better. Like the Marlins fixed them, I feel like. And just to get, you mentioned the numbers were exceptional at AAA. 11 starts at AAA last year. Robbie Snelling had a 127 ERA.9-1.19-1.1.5K per 9.

And so, like, if you'll remember anyone who was listening to show at the end of last year, he was repeatedly mentioned as a prospect of stash because it seemed like he was on the verge of getting promoted. Then it didn't happen. But I want to surprise me at all if he made the team out of spur. training. Yeah, and what I love too, and you don't see this often from pitching prospects, he threw six plus innings in 14 of 25

starts. He was kind of used like a workhorse in the minors, which you just you don't really see that much from a pitching prospect. So it's interesting. He kind of has that workload built up. Maybe there are questions about the stuff, but I look to whiff rates on individual pitches, like the fastball had a 36%

whiff rate in the minors, the curve, 43%, the change up. 29% is not amazing, but I think it's kind of workable. So I am in. I was very impressed once I dug in there on Robbie Snelling. Scott, let me throw two names your way, both a little bit further away here. Number nine and ten, you have Seth Hernandez of the Pirates and Ryan Sloan of the Mariners.

Seth Hernandez, 19 years old, sixth overall pick in this year's draft. The old prep pitching prospect, it's probably the hardest evaluation of all prospects. He's just, he's so far away. it's so hard to project that far out. But, I mean, he has everything you can ask for in a pitching prospect. And then Ryan Sloan, another product here of the Mariners pitching factory. Maybe not. I mean, I'm probably selling him short there.

Like, he might have just been amazing already. But a big projectable body for Ryan Sloan. He's got a legit three pitch mix. Awesome season in the minors. The biggest thing, Scott, is that these two names are just really far away. Seth Hernandez and Ryan Sloan. Yeah. Hernandez, being that he was drafted,

out of high school and hasn't appeared in a minor league game yet. And just the number of fakeouts we've seen from that exact profile over the years. Like, oh, yeah, it was supposed to be the best pitcher in high school. Who is rostering Noble Meyer in the scout. Yeah, exactly. Noble Meyer is a perfect example. And he went to a organization that's good at developing pitchers. But there have been so many examples of this.

But Hernandez, I mean, he's touching triple digits as an 18-year-old. And his change-up is a 70 grade according to baseball America. It's all theoretical, but it's so enticing that I couldn't resist putting Seth Hernandez this high. Also, great control, like four pitches that all rate is plus, supposedly. Just seems so far beyond the typical high school pitcher in terms of skill and development that I'm excited about Seth Hernandez. It'll take a few years for him to reach the majors, though. Sloan, I mean, you can give the Mariners credit for identifying pitching talent, if nothing else. because he was another example drafted out of high school last year

and got some early praise, but, you know, would he really live up to it? He did. And his first real look in the minors, the strikeouts were more good than great, but that's really because he was so efficient, I think. Workhorse build, easy velocity, well-developed secondaries for somebody so young,

just as safe of a bet as it gets for a pitcher this far down the organizational ladder. I think Ryan Sloan is going to be one we mentioned as a top pitching prospect for the next couple years. Scott's number 11 pitching prospect is Peyton Toley of the Red Sox. Chris, you mentioned this earlier. Lance Brasowski, who is a pitching savant, has totally ranked as his number one pitching prospect. Like that was as of late September, perhaps this changed, but probably not. Peyton Toley, 23 years old, second round pick in 2024. The man who was born to pitch in Boston.

I mean, if there was ever a player that just looked like a Red Sock, it is Peyton Tolly. Huge fastball from the left hand side. Chris, is there enough else? Doesn't matter. I mean, maybe the fastball is just so good, it doesn't even matter. Well, what do you think about Peyton Tully? Yeah, I mean, the fastball has like legit. top five pitch in baseball kind of upside given the extension given the movement profile

99th percentile extension the problem is everything else even by like the stuff grades nothing else really rates as much more than a tick above average we saw him in the majors and it didn't go super great I like him a lot I think I like Connolly Early a little more just based on what he showed at the major league level, but I think Peyton Tolly probably has higher ceiling outcomes. It's just, can man live on fastballs alone? And if not, you know, we've seen like Bryce Miller and a couple other guys have to make that adjustment.

And in this modern era, guys add pit, I mean, Bryce Miller's a perfect example. He was throwing 75% fastballs his first like two months in the majors. Now he's like a six-pitched pitcher. The Red Sox have a smart organization that has developed pitchers really well, including Toley and Connolly Early and a couple others. So I think it's a decent bet to make. The problem is at least for 2026, is I don't know if the role is there for Payton Tolly, at least to start. But when that's the biggest question, like I said earlier, these things tend to figure themselves out.

he is currently being pushed out of the rotation by Cutter Crawford and Patrick Sandival. Yeah. Would not take much for either of those guys to lose a job. Tanner Hauk's also around. Obviously, Connolly Early is also around. Yeah, Connolly Early is going to add. Connolly Early is in that rotation. I think it's fair to assume, despite what roster resource shows.

So that's at least four you can slot in ahead of Patent Tolly. And they presumably still like Kyle. Harrison, you know, they have a couple guys that they might turn to before Payton Tully just for like option and roster reasons, but. And free agency isn't over yet. And he could wind up on a different team, right? Like, sure. They've been the team linked to Ketel Marte the most and the debacks need pitching.

So, I mean, that is a pretty clear match right there. But again, like, just for the sake of it, like, Payton Tully needs to remain a red stock. I can't reiterate that enough. Like he is the guy. He is a Red Sock player. So I hope he sees. I could see Peyton totally having with a fastball that good. You know, I said earlier with when I was talking about Bubba Chandler, like an elite fastball is is I think the best single indicator of upside.

And totally hasn't. I mean, that thing looks like it's launched off a ramp. The amount of wicked movement it gets. And so I could see him having this Garrett Crochet like explosion where he's not showing much of any. anything and then all of a sudden it clicks and he takes off and becomes an ace. It's just who are what other prospect are you willing to sacrifice to bet on that? And for me, totally comes out 11th among pitchers. All right.

Let's move on to two more names. Scott, I'm going to throw your way. 12 and 13. You have Liam Doyle of the Cardinals and Jamie Arnold of the Athletics. Two names that were both drafted in this year's draft. Doyle fifth overall, Jamie Arnold, 11th overall. Doyle lefty with a big fastball. that he uses a lot.

It's also an unorthodox delivery. So there's definitely some questions here, reliever risk, things like that with Liam Doyle. Jamie Arnold, mid-90s fastball. He's got a big old sweeper also from the left-hand side. The A's not exactly known for pitching development. So, Scott, what do you have on Liam Doyle and Jamie Arnold? Yeah, a couple of exciting lefties for the strikeout potential they offer.

Doyle, you know, it's funny. remember, I think it was just last year, Chris was pointed out how rare it is for a left-hander to feature a splitter and then more and more keep popping up now. Yeah, when Imanaga came over, he was kind of the first one. Doyle features a splitter prominently as a lefty and so that gives him a unique look. But also the fastball has 75 grade from MLB pipeline, a 70 grade from baseball America, just perfect, just the kind of shape it has is perfect for the modern game. And, you know, other than some questions the delivery raises,

I think there's every reason to think Doyle's on a starter trajectory and offers a lot of upside. Arnold earns Chris Sale comparisons, Jamie Arnold of the Athletics, he earns Chris Sale comparisons, which I think is true for any left-hander whose arm-dropped below his shoulder on his delivery. It's kind of an overused comp. But he also has a slider with ridiculous horizontal movement. So kind of that same pitch selection that Chris Sale offers. It's an uncomfortable look for hitters.

It's a lot of strikeout upside. Obviously, another example of a guy who was drafted last year and hasn't made his minor league debut yet. So we'll know a lot more about Jamie Arnold when that happens, but early reports are promising and speak especially to his strikeout potential. And the last two names we'll talk about here. Numbers 14 and 15. We have Noah Schultz of the White Sox and Harleen Susanna of the Nationals.

Schultz, 22 years old, first round pick back in 2022. He is a huge lefty, 6 foot 10. He's got a strong sinker, a disgusting slider, lots of walks in the minors. And for Susanna, he's 21 years old, came over from the, Padres in the Juan Soto trade way back in 2020. He is armed with a big fastball, maybe the best slider in the miners, has huge strikeout upside, had a 13 strikeout outing at AA this year, but also big questions about his control as well.

So Chris. I like that detail about Harlan Susanna coming over in the Juan Soto trade, as if that hasn't already paid off enough for the nationals. You know, I say that, but they haven't been good sense. You know, they get James Wood and C.J. Abrams and McKenzie Gore. Yeah. And now, hardly. Now they might be selling Abrams and McKenzie Gore.

They might. Yeah. They're like kind of starting over again with a whole new regime there. But Chris, I guess two very different pictures in terms of like one lefty, one righty. They're both big dudes. But when you look at it, like lots of strikeouts, but also lots of walks between these two. Any thoughts on Noah Schultz and Harleen, Susanna? Yeah.

Well, they both missed time last year. So you're not going to get a ton of innings out of them. Schultz was 73 innings last year. Susanna 56. Susanna's interest injury, the more concerning of the two. He missed, I think, two months with the UCL sprain in his elbow. Yeah, May through July with a grade one sprain in his UCL. I mean.

Came back better than ever from that injury. Like he was, he was getting double-digit strikeouts. left and right, but then he tore a lap muscle to end here, which is also a pretty significant injury. Gigantic, gigantic strikeout stuff, 39%. He regularly sits around 100 miles an hour. Sat 99.6 miles an hour last season. The slider is a great pitch.

He took a big step forward in 2024 with his control and then took a big step backwards in 2025, got back to 14% walk rate in 2025. So I think Harley and Susanna is among the most high variance pitching prospects in the world. You can easily see some ace level outcomes. I think he might be the pitcher on this list least likely to have a major league career of any worth. Just because the two red flags on him are gigantic. The ability to stay healthy and the ability to stay healthy and the ability to

the throw strike. Shultz also has those concerns, but his issue this year was a knee injury. And that is a little less concerning in the long run. He's got a, like you said, he's six foot 10. He primarily, I think there was a sinker and just kind of, from what I understand, just kind of aims for the middle of the zone. And that didn't work out so well last season, 14% walk rate for him as well. But he got up to AAA. And I do think there's a better chance we see him in 2026 than Harley and Susanna, although neither seems like a great bet to make a major league impact this year. And then Susanna, I mean, you know, you say, you want to say, oh, well, he's so far away. But with this type of talent, if something clicks, it's also the kind of thing where if the national C5 good starts from him at AA and they move him up to AAA, there might just be a world.

where they call him up because he's just don't waste the bullets in the mind. Yeah, too dominant. Why not see what he can do against major leaguers while he's healthy? That's within the realm of possibility. So these guys are super super high upside but a lot, a lot of ways

that things can go wrong for Noah Schultz and Harleen, Susanna. All right, and some names that just missed Cam Caminiti of the Braves, Travis Socorah of the Nationals, Kisen Witherspoon of the Red Sox, Elmer Rodriguez, Cruz of the Yankees and Connolly Early of the Red Sox, Scott, why do you hate Connolly early? All the way down at 20. He's my 20th.

All the way down at 20. He's my 20th best pitching prospect. That's great. I think that's going to be higher than the consensus, frankly. Yeah. Maybe I just don't have a feel for other outlets, but it just feel like he, when he got called up, he looked so good. I just.

It did look great. And that to me matters more than, oh, this pitch has this. velocity and is this shape and this pitch has this like you know i i like to see a little proof of concept uh as somebody who analyzes this mostly for fantasy and so that's why i'm i think i'm relatively high on connolly early because it just worked that six picks pitch combination he had even if maybe none of them are exceptional on their own um he gets the six pitches good command of them and the whole was greater than the sum of the parts we saw it during connolly early's time in the major. So he's 20th. I'll also point out some other pictures we already know in fantasy who are a little

further down the list. Logan Henderson comes in 27th, Brandon Sprote 28th, Parker Messick 29th. So I got the whole top 30 up on the site. You need to check that out. And then if I could, you know, pivot to something else real quick. I think we're owed a wistful moment here, Frank, because I'm not sure if you're aware. If you think about it, if you think about it, you'll know where I'm going with this. The most infamous living room and fantasy sports podcasting behind me. Often, it's often been derided as my grandmother's basement, which it's not. It's my own living room. This is grandmother's living room.

No, it's my own living room. I've been paying a mortgage here. I purchased the couch and the love seat and the coffee table and all, you know, my living room. You don't like it. I'm sorry, but the good news is it's going away. You're not going to see it again. Scott is moving out of his grandma's house.

Oh my gosh. I'm moving out of my grandma's house. You know, it is a bad job by me. We've gone all month, and I didn't point out one time that your Christmas tree was not up behind you. And that's usually like the highlight of our December. The keen observer will notice that all the pictures disappeared off the wall. And then the, you know, the giant.

credenza with the hutch that I think most people is the reason most people identified it as a grandmother's living room because it's just not a kind of it's not a piece of furniture people use so much we're still here scott i just wanted to put you full screen so everyone could see our rip credenza yeah well you know we've been clearing out we've been clearing out everything must go including us and i'm not going to be moved into the new house right away next time you see me i'm going to be Airbnb for a while, but eventually I'll have a nice setup that hopefully you like a lot more because I ain't moving again. It's not happening again.

Maybe not till the day I die. I don't know. This has been a miserable experience in many ways. Does anybody who's ever done this knows? Yeah. But yeah, it's this is this is our fond farewell to this living room. Yes, bittersweet. That Cal Ripkin Jr. has seen before.

That's always been its claim to fame. He's seen my living room. Bittersweet goodbye to Scott's living room, but, you know, greener pastures here on the horizon for Scotty. So we are wishing you well. We're not going to see you until the new year, Scott. So Merry Christmas. Happy New Year to you. And yeah, we'll talk to you in 2026.

What do you got for the, Scott? I was going to say like, oh, what are you doing for the holidays, right? Like, what movies are you watching? But, yeah, you're just moving. I know. It's, you know, because I have kids 11, 8, and you know, Christmas. your whole year revolves around Christmas as a kid and we got like nothing up. And it's so it's so sad for them.

But yeah. Was there, were you going anywhere with that? Were you asking me a question? I was going to ask for like your favorite holiday movie if you've got one. Oh, I do. I definitely do.

What do we got? I think home alone is definitively the best Christmas movie. Definitively. It's funny. Of course it's funny. but like it, you know, I think it often gets lumped in with Christmas vacation, also a funny Christmas movie, but like... Oh, Home Alone's way better. It has an actual Christmas message, Home Alone does.

Like, Christmas Vacation is kind of a depressing message, right? When there's actual growth in learning to appreciate the importance of what you have and the importance of family and home alone. Like it's actually kind of a moving movie in that way. And it has, I think, probably the best child actor performance of all time in it. Like, can you think of another kid who has carried a movie the way McCauley Colkin did with that one? Like, it's honestly a mind-blowing performance. Yeah. And enjoy it every time I watch.

It's great movie. You know, I watched, my nieces were in town. We did a little surprise trip for Christmas to, New York for the girls and we watched the Jim Carrey Grinch. Did not enjoy that. Really? That was a bad experience. I was, he is doing too much.

It's too, it's too like wink wink adult. Didn't enjoy that. I did not, not a fan of that cinematic experience. I saw it a few years ago and I still liked it. The animated movie that came out, in 2018 just called The Grinch. I think that's pretty good. Might have been better.

I think it's pretty good. I got to check that one. I have like a rotation. Like the three I have to watch every year holiday season, Just Friends, which again, it's like the top. Good one. It's so good.

Just Friends, die hard, and A Crazy Nights, which is... A Crazy Nights is great. It's just so... I mean, die hard. Obviously, Adam Sandler. You know I've got to go Adam Sandler, but...

Nightmare Before Christmas. I love. incredible music. I also watch all the office Christmas episodes. I've already done that. That was like night one of my wisdom teeth being out. I watched all the office Christmas episodes. My actual Christmas traditions are Charlie Brown Christmas.

Love it. Love peanuts. Love that sad little bald kid. And two, all the community Christmas episodes are phenomenal. But especially Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas. One of my favorites. Love it. Great message, which is that if you lose your mind and imagine the world to be a stop motion animated movie,

you just need the power of friendship to help you. It's a great message. Shout out to the Brooklyn Nine Nine, Yippy Kayak episode as well. That is a great holiday classic as well. All right, Scottie. So we'll see you in 2026. Good luck, my friend. Merry Christmas.

Happy New Year to you. And to all listening, Chris and I will still be back for the next couple of weeks doing podcasts in the meantime. Obviously, like, not on Christmas or anything, but yeah, you'll still have a bunch of content in your FBT feed. We're going to wrap there for Scott, Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again next week.

Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.