Fantasy Baseball Today - All-Star Game Thoughts; First Half All-Breakout Team (7/14 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: July 14, 2021

Scott White is back! How was the All-Star game (3:45)? Why is Scott worried about Corbin Burnes heading into the second half? ... News and notes (8:27)! Corey Kluber won't be back until September, Cole Hamels is holding a showcase Friday and we have prospect updates. ... Is there actually a breakout catcher (14:50)? ... Your first half breakout is Vladimir Guerrero (19:05). ... Second base was hard to find a breakout (22:15)! ... Third base was tough, too, but Scott and Frank had the same pick (28:06). ... A 34-year old breakout at shortstop (31:40)? ... Lots o Reds in that outfield (34:42). ... Kevin Gausman and then who as the breakout starting pitchers (40:23)? ... Is Alex Reyes a slam dunk pick (44:31)? ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  To nominate Fantasy Baseball Today for The People’s Choice podcast awards, go to podcastawards.com/app/signup/ and then toggle down the "Sports" category. Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." 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. I drive. Centerfield. What is magnificent? Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality.

Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam. What's going on? Everybody, welcome in to Fantasy Baseball today, presented by Express. Express Confidence, Express is all new and all about. you with a fresh mix of casual, versatile, and super comfortable styles. More on their great selection later on in the podcast. But if you're wondering where I got this amazing polo shirt with all these awesome flowers on it, it was Express.

Frank Stamphill joined by The Returning. Scotty, Dubs, Scott, White. Now, I know you don't like when I do this, Scott. But I genuinely am interested how your vacation was. It was fine. It was fine. I wish I had slept more. Sleeping is not fun.

And so I tend to put it off. You know, I usually don't have a lot of opportunity to do it in the first place. Well, you know, you think vacation I'm going to rest up. You have big plans to do that. And then you don't because it's like, I don't want to go to bed yet. And, yeah, that's where I am. I wish I had slept more. I wish I had spent more of my life sleeping, Frank.

That's what everybody says on their deathbed, right? Do they? I don't know. Probably not. This is a very morbid start in the podcast, but I guess if you weren't sleeping, that means you were partying, right? You had to be doing something, Scott. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I tweeted out earlier today. I played five, I played five rounds of the Sega Genesis version of Clue on my vacation. I think, I think all five were me putting off sleep. So that's what I was doing. that was worth it

interesting so you played clue for Sega Genesis I grew up playing it on the Super Nintendo they're almost identical almost it was super fun growing up I love the game yeah it was I had fond memories of it and so I went to play it again

and I kept playing it because it was pretty fun yeah have you ever seen the movie not just me not just me it wasn't okay so two of the games were solo two of the five games were solo But the other three, I played with other people, believe it or not. Oh, people in your house? I'm like, wait, there's no way you can connect a Sega Genesis online and play with people. Now.

Have you ever seen the movie with Tim Curry? Yeah, I have. I just actually a few months ago, I saw it. Awesome. Look at that. A movie. I don't love up to my expectations. Well, what expectations did I have?

It wasn't great. Right. It was okay. It was fun. It was a fun movie. Yeah. Look at that. A movie that we.

both scenes, Scott. It doesn't happen very often here on the podcast. Did you watch any of the All-Star game? Yeah, sure. But you didn't watch any of the Home Run Derby, not for you? I watched a little bit of both. Honestly, I like the Home Run Derby more than the All-Star

game. My favorite part of the All-Star game, for some reason, is the player introductions. It's always been this way. This is the part I don't want to miss. I don't know why. I don't know what is appealing to me about have a player hearing his name called and then waving at the camera like what what's the big deal but for some

reason for some reason i get a thrill out of that so that's my favorite part and the game itself is always like whatever well the american league takes it down they win five to two and i'm 100% gonna steal this stat from you scott because we were talking beforehand eighth win in a row for the american league they've won 20 of the past 24 all-star games so take that scott my yankees beating up on your braves. Well, yeah, I looked it up because I was like, the AL always wins. And you said, is that true? And I was like, I don't know.

It sure feels like it. And sure enough, 20 of the past 24. NL dominated in the 70s, FWIW. But that was before my time. Well, there's not really much that we could take away from the All-Star game anyway. But we will give you some of the biggest highlights, Vlad Jr. Vladito, you might hear his name a little bit later on in the podcast. Because by the way, we're doing our first half all-star.

breakout team. We'll talk about some of those players, how sustainable we think that breakout might be in the second half. We've got some of your questions coming up later on as well. Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com is the email for that. And Vladito just crushes a moon rocket off of Corby Burns. Look like one of the home runs I saw in the home run derby yesterday and he just actually did it off of a major league pitcher. So I thought that was interesting. And by the way, something else I thought was interesting. We have a our panel roundtable article that comes out normally every week on a Monday. I think it's coming out tomorrow. Dan Schneier puts it together for us. We were all asked, who is the player that we're worried most about in the second half of the season?

And a little sneak peek. Scott, I saw that yours is Corbyn. Mr. Burns. Yes, I am. Yes, indeed. What were his spin rates in the All-Star game? Somebody look into that for me, because they've been down. They've been down since the start of June. Really, second start of June, obviously since they started the crackdown on the foreign substances his spin rates have been noticeably down but unlike some pitchers who spin rates have been down the results have been down as well his swinging strike rate going from 19%

in his first 10 starts to 12% in his last 5 big difference K per 9 going from like 14 to 10 and the walk rate's risen too so and on top of it he hasn't really taking on a starting pitcher's workload since 2017 because he's been used so much in relief since then and obviously last year was what it was. So,

a lot of reasons to worry about Corbyn Burns, me thinks. By the way, baseball Savant actually does track spin rates during the All-Star game and surprisingly, there were no issues with Corbyn Burns in this one. So interestingly enough. Maybe I didn't think the umpires were going to check. They probably, I wasn't watched. They probably won it, right?

I wasn't watching the game all that closely, but you're right. Maybe they weren't checking that. That would put a damper on what's supposed to be a celebration of baseball. So I think there may have been some calculations taking place there. I don't know. Imagine being the starting pitcher that gets suspended for 10 games because you got caught with foreign substances in an all-star game. That would be pretty embarrassing.

By the way, Corbyn Burns' teammate, Freddie Parolta, looked awesome. He struck out the side. That included Adoles Garcia. JD Martinez and Matt Olson, Adoles Garcia. I don't have enough time to watch every Rangers game very in-depth, but he turned a single into a double, and he is just a physical freak, so I thought I would point that out.

And then J.T. Real Mutu also hit a home run, so we can use some of that power in the second half for Rio Muto, who only has eight home runs at the break, which is kind of surprising. We want to welcome a new podcast to the CBS Sports family, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics. Attacking Third will cover the U.S. women's national team as they aim to capture gold as well as the NWSL at least three times a week,

making it the most comprehensive podcast in the space. Join hosts Sandra Herrera and Lisa Roman as they bring you match previews, exclusive player interviews, and more. Download and follow Attacking Third wherever you listen to this podcast. And as always, just a reminder that you can watch all of our fantasy baseball podcast on our YouTube channel. YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. That includes every podcast that we do in season is also a live stream.

If you ever want to come out and hang out and watch us live, interact with some of the people in the chat, feel free to do so. But all of our fantasy baseball today in five podcasts also go onto the YouTube channel. So make sure to subscribe, hit that big old red button, which is like, I don't know, somewhere down there. Down over there.

I think where I'm pointing. Hit that subscribe button, tap the little notification bell. You will get notified. every time we go live or drop another video. News and notes mentioned not really much going on, but the Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, said he doesn't expect Cory Kluber to return from his shoulder injury until September.

Pretty obvious there. Brian Anderson's injured shoulder, injured left shoulder, has responded well to baseball activities, but the Marlins have yet to set a date for him to begin a rehab assignment. According to John Heyman, the Mets and the Phillies, will be in attendance at Cole Hamels' his free agent showcase on Friday.

Other reports indicate that the Yankees and Red Sox will be there as well. Scott, in the deepest of leagues, are you monitoring Cole Hamels at all? Well, the deepest of leagues? I mean, how deep you want to go. We play in a 24-team Dynasty League together.

I guess I should go check and see if he's available right now. Maybe. I mean, I don't know how quickly they could actually get him on a mound even if they signed him. And of course, I don't expect them to be good enough for like a standard 12 team league. Sure. Regardless.

But I don't know. How early do you think they could get them in there, mid-August or something? Yeah, that could, that seems all right. That seems plausible. I mean, look, he made one start in 2020, Cole Hamils did, and obviously he was shut down after that. He's dealt with some injuries the past couple of years. But back in 2019, 3.81 ERA. more strikeouts than innings pitch,

so I don't think he's going to be great or anything, but in the deepest of leagues, Cole Hamils, he's having a showcase. Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters that the runner-on-second extra-ennings rule and seven-enning double-headers are, quote, much less likely to be a part of our permanent landscape.

Of course, there is a new CBA that needs to be discussed and decided on this upcoming off-season, which should make for a ton of fun, fun reporting and things to talk about. between the MLB and the MLBPA so that'll be interesting what do you think I like this is kind of a take I guess but I don't really mind I don't really mind the the runner-on second extra inning rule seven-ending double-headers like I'm sure you know baseball purists are probably yelling at me right now throwing their phone

across the room but I don't like anything to speed up the game I don't I don't have an issue with it yeah I mean I don't I don't mind either My preference is not to have them to go back to the way things were, but it's not, I don't have a lot of emotion to expend on either outcome, to be honest. Extra-ending baseball, see, you know, this is my theory is, you know, you hear Beat Rider types like complain about extra-ending baseball, complain about double-headers. I think it's just because they want to go home. You know, they don't want to be work all day, and who can blame them? No, who can blame them. But extra inning baseball is obviously the best baseball, obviously.

It's free. It's free baseball. No, it's free and it's as close as you get to sudden death in baseball over and over again, every inning. I mean, especially in the postseason. Not that they were ever going to do the runaround second rule in the postseason, but especially. So I don't know why you would want to dampen that. And then obviously, you know, we saw with Madison Bumgarner, earlier this year.

If seven innings of no-hit baseball and a double-heder isn't a no-hitter, then why is it an official game? There's kind of a failure of logic there. So, you know, and it's not literally league. It should be nine innings. So, yeah, I prefer going back to the way things were, but at the same time, I wasn't somebody who was really getting worked up about, oh, my goodness.

Oh, my goodness, they're tainting the game or whatever. Oh my goodness gracious. Exactly. I haven't played it in a while, so I needed any reason to play it, obviously. We do have some prospect updates. Marlon's starting pitcher prospect, Edward Cabrera was promoted to AAA in seven starts between A ball and double A this season. He had a 2.25 ERA, 0.91 whip, 44 strikeouts to just six walks over 32 innings pitched. Edward Cabrera is 11% rostered.

I think he's a name to watch at least for now, Scott. Throw him on the scout team. And honestly, if you play in NL only, he's someone I might just add now and see where it goes. Yeah, I think he'll be up. I mean, obviously, he's saved a lot of innings already, missing time with injury, and he's just mowing minor league hitters down. Is Edward Cabrera in the Marlins, they already have a place they could slot him. And I imagine, I'm kind of worried about like Trevor Rogers in the second half

because he hasn't missed a turn in the rotation yet. They haven't really been preserving his innings along the way. so I don't know why the Marlins being an out-of-contention club when it just shut him down at some point. And, you know, that could happen with other pitchers that are currently in the rotation as well. So I think there's a good chance we see Edward Cabrera this year. And he could be an asset to your fantasy team.

After just seven games, the Yankees promoted Jason Dominguez from the Florida Complex League to low A Tampa on Tuesday. Seemed a little bit aggressive to me. He'll be one of the league's youngest players there. I actually hit up Chris Welsh, aka the Welsh, our buddy, and I asked him what he thought about it. And he said it's slightly aggressive, but makes sense with all of the MLB draftees coming in.

They want to get those guys into the Florida Complex League, so on and so forth. So Jason Dominguez getting promoted. And Scott, your boy, Anthony Volpe, Yankee Shortstop Prospect, was promoted to high A, still only 20 years old, and he was crushing it at low A ball. So anything you'd like to add, Jason Dominguez and Volpe? Yeah.

Dominguez got 20 at bats. At the rookie level got four hits, all of them singles. I don't know if you said that. I did not. But, you know, it's not like he was, that was the first we've seen of him in minor league baseball, even though I feel like he's been in the Yankee system for five years. So we didn't really do anything to justify the promotion.

But, you know, obviously, obviously it's still a huge dynasty asset, especially if they're going to move them quickly, potentially. All right, let's get into the All-Breakout team in the first half. We're basically just going to run through each position. I guess for outfield and starting pitcher, we'll give you more than one. But like we did yesterday with the All-Bust team, we will start off with Catcher.

Where would you like to start, Scott? Yeah, so there are some positions on this All-Breakout team where you've got way too many candidates and some where you have basically none. And Catcher is one of those where you really have to stretch to find somebody who qualifies as a breakout. I decided for my L breakout team and you know this isn't necessarily the best player I could have gone with but I thought the one who is good and best meets the definition of a breakout

I went with Max Dassey which was kind of a recent development obviously he's spent a lot of time on the IEL this year with a couple of different injuries but since coming back has emerged as a must-star catcher in fantasy and really picked up where he left off last year. He had an 886 OPS last year, but it was only in 31 of the 60 games played by the Angels. This year, it's 38. He's batting 296 with an 873 OPS. And the expected

stats look, you know, they're not, they're not far below that. He's, he is producing like he should be for the quality of contact he's been making so far. And that dates back to last year as well. So I considered Tyler Stevenson of the Reds, especially like his on-base skills, but not as useful in fantasy because his playing time is kind of sporadic. So Max Stassie's my choice here. Tyler Stevenson, by the way,

if you ever hold up a picture side by side of him and Aaron Judge, they look very, very similar. But I do think that, I don't know if they're ever going to get rid of Tucker Barnhart because they like him in that organization, but if they ever did, Tyler Stevenson could be a legitimate breakout candidate in the next couple of seasons.

So Scottie's going with Max Dassey, who I love, by the way, you brought up the underlying numbers. They look great across the board. He is crushing the ball this season. 54.5% hard hit rate, according to Stackass, is actually up 13 percentage points from last year. And I agree this is not a great position, but somebody that I did not know their name coming into the season was Eric Haas, who actually has performed pretty well for the Detroit Tigers. and he actually helps you out a little bit more because he gets some games in the outfield as well.

I think he's played like 12 or 13 games in the outfield this year. So he adds to his plate appearance total, his volume by getting those games in the outfield. He's batting 24, 34, 13 home runs and 44 games. His 8.30 OPS ranks sixth among catchers with at least 38 games played. His plate discipline is quite bad, but he is hitting the ball very hard this season.

He's 52% rostered, maxed Datsy 48% rostered. If you need a catcher, if you lost Yalsmani Grandal, or you've been without Buster Posey recently because he went on the aisle, I do still prefer Max Sassie over Eric Haas. Yeah, me too. Part of my thinking with this all-breakouts team was, do I buy the breakout as legitimate?

And in Haas's case, you know, a 28-year-old who's basically spent his whole career on the minor leagues, hit a lot of home runs there. And I don't mind playing him at a position as weak as catcher when he is delivering. but I think he could be just a flash in the pan, and I feel better about Stasi maintaining. For sure, I'm with you on that one. I will just point out for Eric Haas.

He's got a 492 X-slug this year, so it is lower than where his slugging percentage is right now, but that's actually a pretty good mark, especially for a catcher there. Doesn't need to be rostered in one catcher leagues, Eric Haas, but if you picked him up in any two catcher leagues, he's been pretty formidable. And I just wanted to give a shout out to Salvador Perez.

I mean, he kind of broke out last year, but he is the number one catcher in both formats, and it's not particularly close. 126 games since the start of 2020 for Salvador Perez, 293 batting average, 32 homers, 85 RBI, in 857 OPS. So, Salvador Perez has been amazing. First base got.

Who you got? So this was an easy one. In fact, a little too easy. Too easy. Too easy. Vladdy-dadi. Actually, Vladdy Jr., Vlad Guerrero, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. Yeah, I don't even know what else I need to say.

There's not much. He was a top five pig now. We all hoped he could get to that point at some point in his career, and it turned out that 2021 was that point. And in fact, he is having the best year of anyone named Vladimir Guerrero, right? which is really saying something because his dad is in the Hall of Fame, won a league MVP.

Yeah. And pretty much was a ridiculous header from the day he set foot in the big league hitting well over 300 with over 30 home runs every year. But, you know, Vladimir Gereau Jr. might top that this year.

He hit that home run off of Corbyn Burns, 110 miles per hour off the bat, 468 feet in the game. the All-Star game. There is nothing, by the way, in the underlying numbers that say Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is going to slow down in the second half.

So he's batting 332, 28 homers, 1089 OPS. He's the number one first baseman in both formats, the third overall player in Roto despite just two stolen bases this season. And what we needed to see was the launch angle climb.

And while it's still lower than other power hitters, it is much higher than where it's been at in years past. So I looked into his, monthly batted ball data, his ground ball rate has been 42% or lower in three of four months.

So that's been a huge driving force for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s breakout. And I also wanted to give a shout out to Jared Walsh, who had an ADP around 220 coming into the season, and he's currently a top five first baseman in both formats, the 27th overall player in Roto, 278 batting average, 22 homers, 65 RBI. And I've mentioned recently that I think Jared Walsh

is a sell-high candidate because when you look since May, he has a 30% strikeout rate, 53% ground ball rate. Those are not great numbers, obviously, for a power hitter. But he still has an 872 OPS during that stretch. So maybe it's just whenever he puts the ball in the air, he absolutely crushes it, and he's going to be able to kind of maintain hitting it

for as much power with this high of a ground ball rate. I would take the under on that, but worth mentioning for sure. Yeah, and I have questions about the sustainability with Walsh, but his strikeout rate is back down in July, so that's encouraging. Also, honorable mention to Matt Olson, who's cut his strikeout rate in half from a year ago. Not that it was so bad in previous years,

but now it's a great strikeout rate, and yet the power hasn't suffered. So Matt Olson looks like a stud now. Yeah, and he's crushing lefties, too, which is something he's never done before on the season. he has a 977 OPS against lefties, Matt Olson does, 912 against varieties.

So he's just been amazing. It's a small sample. I hope you could keep it up. But yes, shout out to Matt Olson. Let's move on to second base. Scott, who are you going with here?

So, this is a tough one. This is a tough one. It was. There are several candidates that you could make a case for. None of them I love. You know,

I thought about Marcus Simeon, but, you know, it was third place, A L MVP voting two years ago. So that's, you know, that doesn't, that doesn't seem like a true breakout. I kind of want to go with Jazz Chisholm here, but he's really slowed down since April,

and the strikeout rate is awful. You know, the expected stats, they don't look so hot either. You know, power speed combo at either second base or shortstop. He's eligible at both. And, you know, 23 years old, just starting his major league career, it was, it's, it's been, you know, regardless of what happens from

day forward. It's been a big step forward in his career. You know, I feel a lot more confident in Jazz Chisholm now as like a dynasty pick than I did coming into the year. But yeah, I don't, you know, it's another weak point on the all breakouts team for me. He has bounced back a little bit in the month of July, 263 batting average, two homers, 747 OPS, strikeout rate is still 34%. It's only been 10 games, but nice to see him get back on track a little bit because you're right. Since May, that calendar flipped, I do wonder if maybe the injury that he was dealing with has kind of hampered him because he was in the IL with a hamstring strain and came back around mid-May. And I think perhaps that's something that has affected him. But he was playing out of his mind in April. Again,

that is Jazz Chisholm. And I was going to go with Marcus Semyon, but for the reasons that you mentioned, he basically broke out back in 2019. He's been awesome. There's no doubt about it. Number one, second basement in both formats is Marcus Semyon. I'm going to go with Jake Cronoward, who his ADP coming into the season was 190.4. He's currently a top 10 second basement in both formats. And if you drafted him, you got him at a value because we didn't know, A, if last year was legit, and B, what the playing time would look like. There was this huge discussion coming into the season.

They signed Hassan Kim. We didn't know if he was going to take away playing time from Jake Cronoward. They had a few other players up to middle. Jerks and Pro Far, who they can move around a little bit. So we just didn't know. And if you took a chance, he's paid off. 276 batting average, 12 homers, four steals, 63 run scored for Jake Cronoward. And now he's consistently batting third for the Padres.

So I think we're going to see that RBI number continue to climb since May 1st for Coronaworth, 2.82 batting average in 831 OPS. Are you buying it, Scott? Yeah, I'm buying it. It's not the splashiest numbers. which is why I didn't feel like he was a must for this team. It's a whole is greater than the sum of the parts kind of player, which I think generally pays off more in a points league than Roto.

The other guys I considered Adam Frazier, so, you know, if he maintains a 30% line drive rate, a 10% strikeout rate, you know, probably going to hit 300. Of course, he's hitting 331 right now. So, you know, still room to decline even if he does, maintain those the great line drive and strikeout rate. Also Ryan McMahon was somebody I considered he had a brutal June right it had a brutal June he has kept the strikeout rate well actually the strike out rate exploded in June but still overall lower strike out rate this year much lower ground

ball rate than in past year so you can understand why the production has improved but this form of Ryan McMahon I still think is kind of fringy in fantasy certainly in like 12 team league. So I wasn't that thrilled about putting him on this list either. Last point on Marcus Semyon. He's batting 277, 22 homers, 10 steals. Stackast doesn't really trust what he's doing, Scott. Is this one of those situations where you just kind of look the other way when you pull up Marcus Semyon's Stackcast page? Or would you try and sell high? Yes.

It depends how high I could sell, obviously. Marcus Simeon has basically produced like a sales. second rounder so far. So if I could get another second round caliber player and return for him, I would. But if not, I don't know. The stack has numbers have been way down all year and there hasn't been much slowdown in him. So it might be one of those situations where you're better looking, better off looking the other way. I'd rather not risk underselling him, I guess is my point. Yeah, because I don't think you're going to be able to get second round value in return for him. And if that's the case, just hold on to him. I think Marcus Temyon's lineup context alone,

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This was kind of a tough one for me. Where are you going? It was kind of a tough one. Actually, in a way, it was kind of an easy one because I felt like there was really only one choice. Interesting. And it's not, you know, a Vladimir Guerrero level choice, but, you know, it's pretty good. Austin Riley. Austin Riley is my pick.

We got the same one. Yeah, and breakout third baseman. And not, it's not looking like as big of a breakout as it did in May. Remember, we had a huge month of May. And, you know, it's been modest production since then. But overall, the strikeout rate 25%. That's solid. He can live with that.

The expected stats basically match up with the actual stats. And the production has been solid. Solid power hitter, who doesn't hurt you in batting average. You know, still early in his career. still a chance he gets better from here but I think he's taken enough of a step forward this year that he'll probably be drafted as a starter at the position next year.

I think that's fair. He's currently a top 12 third baseman in both formats. Austin Riley is he was drafted as the 31st third baseman off the board according to Fantasy Pro's ADP and I actually wrote him up as a breakout coming into the season. I didn't draft enough of him because I don't know why. I wish I did but he's been great. 276 batting average, 14 home runs,

and 826 OPS for Austin Riley. You bring up that May that he had, which was amazing. June, not so much. But if you look at his OPS by month, it's really just been June. 850 back in April, OPS over 1,000 in May, 6.43 in June.

Now 10 games into July, in 844 OPS again for Austin Riley. So has bounced back. And I like to see that from a young player. The fact that he dealt with some adversity in May and still found, away to bounce. And I was a little worried about the climbing strikeout rate in May as productive as he was, but that came back down again in June. So I think there's some positives among the negatives for that

month there. And I like that you mentioned. I think we both had Austin Riley as a breakout coming into the year. So so far, that's the first breakout I've called here on my all breakout team. So another reason why. I'm going to leave Austin Riley off. Very nice there. Yeah, I love of the walk rate, by the way, too, in July. 16% overall the walk rate has been up this year. For Austin Riley, we're going to take a quick break, but when we return, we're going to hit the shortstop position on our all breakout team next on Fantasy Baseball today.

So at shortstop, Scotty, where you go? This is another hard one. I'm picking a 34-year-old. I'm picking Brandon Crawford. Let's go! Yeah, you got them too? Yeah. Yeah, I've been waiting for him.

to drop off and it just, it's not happening. In fact, I was amazed to see how much as batting averages climbed. It's up over 290 now. And yeah, he continues to produce. Like, you don't see many short stops, like perennial All-Star shortstop sustained into their 30s. So to see one put up a career season at 34, I mean, just by that measure alone, you think it's illegitimate, but he's elevating the ball a lot better.

than he ever has before this year. And I actually read a piece from Inocerolis and Britt Giroli of the athletic. They talked to some of the All-Stars about kind of the defining moment in the career that got them to this point, with the adjustment they made that allowed them to take the leap into becoming an All-Star. And Brandon Crawford talked about how this year, you know, he worked with a new hitting coach that got him to put the ball in the air more. And obviously we're seeing the results and it's not just happenstance. I don't know if he can

sustain quite this level of production all year. It's actually a 289 batting. It's not quite over 290. With 18 home runs here at the halfway point, I think his career high in home runs is 23, I believe. 21. 21. Okay, so definitely going to have a career high this year for Brandon Crawford.

Is he going to reach 30? I don't know. But at this point, if he's my starter at shortstop, I'm not, I'm not looking too hard to replace him. It's insane what he's done. He's the six best shortstop in Roto this year. He has seven steals too. Like, where has this come from?

289, 18 homers, seven steals. He's the 26th overall player in Roto leagues this year. So shout out to the Giants, man. They currently have the best record in baseball, reclamation projects all over the place. Kevin Gossman, a name that you're going to hear a little bit later on as well, I'm sure. And Brandon Crawford, two of the big,

breakout players this season in fantasy baseball. And you're right, Scott, lifting the ball more this year. 45% fly ball rate represents a career high. He is 90 second percentile or better in barrel rate and expected slugging percentage. So it's just been a phenomenal season for Brandon Crawford. If there is an honorable mention at this position, it could have been in several different positions. It's Chris Taylor, who kind of like Jake Croninworth, as a hole is greeted in some of the

parts guy. So yeah, just wanted to give a shout out to Chris Taylor, an All-Star, for what it's worth. I want to give a shout out to Boba Chet, too, just because he's broken out before. Sure, like, we thought he was going to be awesome, but he's currently the eighth best player in Roto, and the number three shortstop in both formats. So he has been ridiculous. All right, Scott, the outfield, no shortage here. You can throw as many players my way as you possibly want.

So I intentionally, are we doing DH? Are we filling a DH spot? I didn't plan on it, but... Because I intentionally left a certain outfield eligible player out. We could just say who it is. So I could fit in another outfielder. It's Joe Houghtani. Like, he's the breakout for both of our utility only spots, whatever it is, but...

Yeah, obviously. Obviously. And what I called for what it's worth. I moved him up to my number one outfielder in both formats, Scott, with Ronald de Kuna going down. Yeah, understandable. I think I think I'd keep one. Soto ahead, especially in points leagues

with the great plate discipline. But understandable, Otani's probably two if he's not one for me. Yeah, it's just amazing to think he was going outside of the top 1 30, even late in draft prep season. And it was really just, I mean, once I heard Joe Madden say,

you know, we're going to do away with the past rules, O'Tani might be in the line of the day before he pitches, the day after he pitches, maybe even the day he pitches. And I said, okay, well, if you're taking off those restrictions, to whatever extent you are, this could be pretty amazing,

especially the kind of spring he was having, remember? So I'm glad I invested in him. And it turns out, Otani's played even more than I thought he was going to. My outfield, though, guys who are eligible in outfield, everywhere, all leagues,

all fantasy baseball services. Nick Castellanos, another one on my preseason breakout list. Me too. Jesse Winker, who I have, loved in the past, but can't take credit for it this year. And Cedric Mullins.

Those are the three. The three big ones who can't be left out. All three started the All-Star game, right? Mullins ended up starting? Yes, in center field. Yeah. Yeah. So Castianos, Winker, Mullins.

Those are the guys. Any concern? Because I know Winker has slowed down. So I'm pulling up his, actually, he still hit 283 in June. I thought he was, I thought it was much lower than that. With a 9-18. OPS. All right, well, I guess it's just been a bad, however many games he's played in July, which is obviously a super small sample size. So it's 10 games. 10 games in July for Jesse Winker.

He's batting 143 with a 401 OPS, but it's not enough games to actually be worried about anything there. So, yeah, Jesse Winker, I believe two, three homer games this season, right, Scott? Which is an amazing accomplishment to do it once in your career, let alone twice in the same season. Yeah. Yeah. And let me check. check the splits too, because I, it was amazing to me how he, okay, so yeah, I mean, July, he's off to a rough start in July, but that April, May, and June was so steady, the production. And that was an issue for him in the past. Like, he'd have individual months as good as his April and May. And then it would just be a disaster the following month. And it's like, all right, who is this guy really? He was so two-faced and he'd get hurt a lot. And he'd sit against a lot of left-handers. You know, like, is this guy really worth the trouble? His splits against left-enders, by the way, are still pretty awful. 175 with a 515 OPS. But nonetheless, he is producing.

He's in my top 10 outfielder's rest of season. And Cedric Mullins is kind of like Marcus Simeon, where he continues to outperform the expected stats by a considerable margin. But at this point, with no slowdown in his production, I'm inclined to believe he's closer to face value than to what those expected stats say. And Cedric Mullins got moved away from switch hitting this offseason, now lefty only,

and he's actually performing very well against lefties as a left-handed batter, 298 batting average, 846 OPS. So I agree with you, holdheartedly, on comparing Cedric Mullins to Marcus Semyon, where maybe he's going to regress just because it's like natural regression. I wouldn't expect him to hit 315 for the entirety of the season,

but hits in a great ballpark at the top of the lineup, so there's volume. He's going to give you counting stats there. Goes to other great ballparks to hit in the American League East. There's a lot to like with Cedric Mullins. He's just making a lot more solid contact than ever before.

His infield fly ball rate coming into this season was over 20% for his career, and this year it's right around 5%. So he's just squaring the ball up much better than ever, before. And those were the three that I had too, Scott. I did want to give a shout out to Brian Reynolds, who one half of the bad bit bandits out there in Pittsburgh, who had an awful, awful season last year, 189 batting average, 632 OPS. But every level he's been at before last season, the dude just rakes.

He rakes. Hit over 300 at every single level. He did so as a rookie back in 2019. Brian Reynolds is batting 302 this season, seeing an increase in power this year as well, 16 homers. Maybe that takes a little bit of a step back, but Guy is ridiculous. So Brian Reynolds. He is. And good for the Pirates, two All-Stars. They would have imagined coming into the year. Two All-Stars, and neither of them was Brian Hayes.

Two All-Star starters. They started the game. Both of them. True, true. And Reynolds, I wanted to put Reynolds in. It's just the other three were too obvious to really even consider somebody else. If there was room to consider even another option, I think Adolice Garcia deserves an honorable mention here.

100%. All right, starting pitcher, which is a lot like outfield, Scott. You could throw three my way, five my way, however many you want to talk to. Well, I picked five because I tried to fill out a typical head to headline up here. I picked five really hurt to leave off three others. So starting pitcher, there's never a shortage. your breakouts because it's a position with a lot of turnover. So the five I went with were Kevin Gossman,

number one pitcher in points leagues this year. Zach Wheeler, who of course we valued plenty coming into the year and it's looked like a pretty stable option, but clearly has taken another step forward this year, kind of mid-career, late career, potentially breakout. Carlos Rodon, of course, of course. Corbin Burns, you know, I expressed my concerns about Corbin Burns is sustainability at the top of the show,

yet it's worth pointing out even during the five-star stretch where the swinging strike rate is weighed down, and the strikeout rate is down from 14K per 9 to 10K per 9. Okay, 10K per 9 is still really good, and he has an ERA just over 3 during that stretch. So, you know, Corvin Burns deserves to be on here. And his teammate Freddie Peralta, who I thought about sneaking in at relief pitcher,

just to give me another starting pitcher here. but I wanted to leave relief pitcher for true relievers. So Freddie Peralta rounds out the five. Gosman, Wheeler, Rodon, Burns, and Peralta. Of course, there is a glaring omission. Trevor Rogers, who, I mean, Rogers and Rodon, they feel like we need a nickname for that duo, because those were the guys, like, the first run of waivers in every league.

I tried to pick them up and picked up both in a couple leagues. And as you can imagine, those teams are doing pretty well. Oh, Rodin and Rogers. Yeah. And then Robbie Ray. For sure. Yeah, Robbie Ray was the one for me. I was like, I got to have Robbie Ray on here because what he's done. Okay, so I originally, I had Gosman, Wheeler. I actually wanted to get Chris Bassett into this list as well.

So he's been amazing. I had Corbyniz. And then I had Robbie Ray. So my omissions would have been Trevor Rogers and Freddie Peralta, but it's just so hard, right? I mean, limiting it to just five. Those guys 100% deserve to be on this. list as well. And then the one name we haven't mentioned yet, you say Kikuchi. For sure. Yeah, he's climbed, I believe, inside of my top 30 starting pitchers, I've been pretty aggressive with

moving him up. Now, I will point out, his last start against the Yankees' velocity was down, I believe, across the board, and significantly, it was like one to two miles per hour on all of his pitches. So definitely something I want to pay attention to early on in the second half of the season. I know he went on the COVID-I-L. I don't know if that had any effect on him. Maybe it was something, but yes, I have moved Cacucci up to SP30. Yeah, right there. Pretty aggressive with him. Robbie Ray, just, I can't say it enough.

What he's done, just throwing strikes at an all-time rate, something we've never seen from him, really trusting his stuff, pumping that fastball, mid-90s, velocity is up for him, wipeout slider. Dude has been awesome. He wears super tight pants, so shout-outs to Robbie Ray.

And some people out there may be wondering why we don't have Kyle Gibson, Anthony Descliffeani, maybe Taiwan Walker. Remember, I said sustainability was a key factor for me here. And those three, I have doubts about their ability to sustain what they've done so far. Not to say they're going to become irrelevant in fantasy, but I think they're all going to take a step back in the second half. Yeah, I would agree with that as well.

But they were names that I saw as high as they ranked. And I was like, they probably should be on this list. Last thing to promote here, we are finalists for the sports category of the people's Choice Podcast Awards. We appreciate all you guys do for us and hope you enjoy our show enough to nominate us to advance to the final round to nominate fantasy baseball today.

Go to podcastawards.com slash app slash sign up and then toggle down the sports category we've included the link at the top of the episode description as well. All right, Scott, relief pitcher. You mentioned you wanted to get some legitimate closers here. By the way, if you're playing a points league,

Freddie Peralta, who qualifies as a relief pitcher, is No, No, Uno, the best relief pitcher in fantasy baseball. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. But I'm going with Matt Barnes, and I'm going with Ryan Presley. Oh, come on, Scott. No, Alex, no Alex Reyes?

No. 20 for 20? 20 for 20. 20 and stolen in save opportunities? The whip is so high. The walk rate is so high. He's scared. me. It kind of scares me.

All right. It's gone better than I thought it would so far, but no. I mean, Matt Barnes and Ryan Presley have just been, they have been insane in every way a relief pitcher can be insane. And I've got to tell you, didn't see it coming for either, especially not Barnes. I mean, Ryan Presley, as a middle reliever, has put up numbers like this before. But he's had some health issues the past couple years, and, of course, was pretty shaky as the closer last year.

Kind of got on a roll late in this season, but the overall number is 343 ERA, 133 whip last year for the Astros. Yeah, I didn't know that he could really stick in that role, but this year, 142 ERA, 0.79 whip, 11.4K per 9. And Matt Barnes, 261, ERA, 0.9 whip, 14.9K per 9, both were all-stars. Yeah, I think they're the big breakouts.

I mean, how many true closers have held that job from the beginning of season to this point? And they haven't shared it. They've been solitary closers from opening day. These two guys who you could have gotten pretty late, very late in Barnes's case,

because I remember there were some concern like the last week or two. I forget what it was. Maybe he got put on the COVID-I-L, I want to say. Yeah. There was that. They were kind of hinting he'd be the closer, but then that happened. And so everybody kind of backed off of Barnes and we're going after like Adam Ottavino.

Remember that? Oh, yeah, for sure. I think the Adapino trade kind of put a little bit of doubt in some people's minds. And then you're right. I think it was COVID-I-L, maybe as soon as the season started, something like that. It was, it was early on, for sure. But, yeah. But, yeah, Matt Barnes is one of my breakouts here as well.

He's got 19 saves on the season. And something that I think is interesting is people have kind of rumored the Red Sox being interested in Craig Kimberl at the trade deadline. So what we're going to do on tomorrow's podcast is we'll look a little bit into these trade deadline rumors and talk about who could potentially be moved and how it would affect fantasy. But that's definitely one that can happen. So we'll talk about that a little bit more tomorrow. But Alex Reyes was the other breakout for me. Not going to argue with Ryan Presley. He's great. But Alex Reyes for me, 20 for 20 in save opportunities. The whip is high for sure. 1.3.3. He has 32 walks in 41 in the third innings pitch, but also has 54 strikeouts. So he is electric. We've been waiting a while to get anything out of Alex Reyes, and he's been amazing. Two honorable mentions for me. Jake McGee, who has reclaimed the role for the Giants after having some struggles late in April, turning that roll over to Tyler Rogers for a while, but overall numbers look great.

And then the reliever that I, the guy I think is going to be the breakout reliever of second half. Now that he's finally secured the role for the Blue Jays is Jordan Romano. I like it. I like it. Yeah. He's got the stuff and he's kind of crazy on the mound too. If you just watch him pitch, he's like talking to himself. He's got like the big burly beard and everything going on there. The one I thought you were going to say there was Ranger Suarez because he's taking over the closer's role or at least we think for the Philadelphia Phillies. So I guess they could go out and trade for someone, but he's looked really good for them. So, hey, while we're on the subject, sneaky sleeper for saves in the second half,

Zach Britton. Zach, ooh. Zach Britton. All right. Yeah, I mean, the Yankees are trying to find any kind of stability in the back end of their bullpen. We saw what happened. The final day of the first half, Chad Green came in.

He gave up like six runs, three-run walkoff Homer to Jose Al-Tuvae. He's been mostly good this year, but he definitely did not look good in that appearance. And I roll this Chapman, we've talked about a ton. So, all right, Zach Britton. and some deeper leagues. He's expected back from the IL. And what made me think of it, actually, was Ranger Suarez.

Kind of looks like Zach Britton and like in the weight and what makes him good. Okay. You know, the extreme ground ball rate. So yeah, made me think of Zach Britton. We're going to wrap it,

wrap up with some emails here, send some in. If you want us to answer on tomorrow's podcast, we'll do a little bit of a mailbag as well with some of those trade deadline rumors. Again, fantasy baseball at cbsi.com. And this one is from,

Nathan, grade the trade. Traded away Ozzie Albies and Jeff McNeil for Mookie Betts and Michael Brantley. It is a 12 categories head-to-head categories league. I approve. I give it a... I think it went both halves of that deal, so I give it a...

A minus. Yeah, I was thinking B-plus, but I think it's a very strong, very strong move, and especially if mooky bets gets back to being mooky bets. This could just be a monster slam dunk win for you there, Nathan. This one's from John. Could you guys do a deep dive into Cotel Marte for the second half of the year?

Everything I see is that he is an elite bat, yet I have no clue why he only hit two home runs in 45 games last year, despite retaining his elite batted ball data. Was his 2019 a byproduct of the juice ball, or is he a legitimate slugger now? Also, how worried should we be about his recurring, So, Catelle Marte is on the IL with a hamstring injury, and I believe it's the other hamstring that he injured earlier on in the season.

So he's been on the IL with both hamstrings to this point. Yeah, I think that's right. I don't know that I agree with him having elite batter ball data data last year. I mean, his ex-slug was only 375. He was playing through a wrist injury. I think, I solely believe that was the issue for Catelle Marte. I was wrong about him coming into the year. You know, I basically thought that, you know, maybe 2019 was only due to that juice ball,

but you look at his stack-cast data this year, and he is just crushing the ball. 3.41 XBA, 515 expected slugging percentage. Plate discipline looks good for Cotel-Martet, 51% hard contact rate. That is 11 percentage points higher than what he did back in 2019. So a little bit worried about the injuries, the fact that he's, he has hurt both hamstrings at this point. So maybe we don't see him run as much when he gets back. He only has one steal on the season.

But in terms of batting average with a little bit of pop, I expect that from Kutelmarte. Yeah, how much pop I think is still in question. Because even this year, four home runs in 148 plate appearances. You mentioned the X-Lug versus the X batting average. That would make the X-ISO if there is such a thing only about 170, which isn't bad, but certainly not near what he did in 2019. So, yeah, I don't, he's definitely better than 2020.

He's probably worse than 2019, though. Yes, I would agree with that wholeheartedly. Because, look, he had 32 home runs in 2019. Let's just say, if I was projecting his second half pace over the course of a full season, I would expect something like 22 to 25 home runs from Catele. Now, that's not all the second half, but if we were just projecting it.

So I don't know. The ground ball rate is way up this year, too, which is part of the reason why that home run rate is so low and the fly ball rate the lowest of his career, only 21.7. That's according to fan graphs. Yeah, something I've noticed as well. So that could hamper his power production,

but if nothing else, I expect a really good batting average from Cotel Marte. And speaking of trade deadline, maybe he's someone who's on the move as well. We shall see. This one's from Cole to Ken, Edgar, and Jay. Sounds like the middle of the Mariners lineup. That's right.

I actually own a Ken Griffith. Junior Jersey. One of my favorites growing up. Him and Vlad Sr. Those were my guys. Which is kind of weird because Yankee fan supposed to love Derek Jeter. I like Derek Jeter, but he was never my favorite. I actually preferred Mariano Rivera over Derek Jeter. But Okay.

Conversation for another day, I guess. When we have our Yankee CVS podcast, Scott, you and me. I don't know that that's ever going to happen. I hope not. I'm in a deep hitting league. It's a 12-team, 8x8 head-to-head category keeper league. I got an offer to trade away my Lance Lynn for George Springer, a 25th round pick for next season, and $40 of fab money. I currently only have $10 left. We started out with $100, so this would get him back to $50, which is quite a bit at this point in the season.

I have pretty solid pitching with Jacob de Grom and Garrick Cole. I also have John Means and Chris Sale to come off the aisle pretty soon. I guess the main thing I need to know is do you all think George Springer is likely to bounce back in the second half of the season. Lin for Springer, 25th round pick, $40 of FAB. I think he is likely to bounce back. I still don't know if I want to do it. Head-to-head categories, by the way. I know. I wish I knew what the outfielders were. And he does mention there are zero-dollar bids in his league. So, you know, having only $10 left isn't as big of a deal. I kind of wonder if it's weekly fab run or daily. That makes a different story.

too. Weekly, you're obviously having to compete for players harder, and you need more dollars for that. If it's daily waiver run, daily fab run with zero dollar bids allowed, you know, having $10 left at this point in the season doesn't really seem like a big deal. I'd still rather have Lynn, but it's a fair trade. That's where I stand, though. Yeah, I think I'm with you. It's a fair deal.

George Springer, I haven't really looked into him. I don't have him on any of my teams, but 216XBA, 451 X-Lug, just came back from the injury recently, so probably still getting his legs underneath him. And you know,

as much as you can know these things, you know Lynn's going to be a rock and what could be a rocky second half for pitching as the, as maybe the, you know, the effect of the crackdown on the foreign subs. Maybe it amplifies, but really more than anything,

just you've got to wonder about the workloads for most every pitcher. Lynn wouldn't be one of them. Lynn might be Exhibit A for the pitcher you don't worry about workload. I think, unless you're super desperate for outfield help, I don't think I would do it. So I think we're on the same page there, Scott. Yep. All right, the all breakout team for the first half.

Hopefully those guys can keep it up here in the second half of the season for Scott. I am Frank. Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today. We'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.