Fantasy Baseball Today - Big Risers In Our First 2026 H2H Points Mock Draft! (12/23 Fantasy Baseball podcast)
Episode Date: December 23, 2025How early did the 2026 risers go in our first H2H points mock draft? Big Dumper at 15 overall? What about Pete Crow-Armstrong and Roman Antony in the fourth round? How high did Geraldo Perdomo get dra...fted? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
How early did the 2026 risers go in our recent mock draft?
Find out next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express.
Welcome into FBT Express on Tuesday, December 23rd.
I am Frank Stentful joined by Chris Towers.
Where did these players get drafted in our first head-to-head points mock draft?
And up first, we have the big dumper.
Cow Raleigh went at pick 15.
Chris, are you in or out at pick 15?
So I think there are two schools.
of thought when it comes to how to approach catcher in a points league because you only need to start one and so some people will say especially in a year like this where the position is so deep why spend an early pick at all when you can get someone good with your very last pick of course the difference is in this format last season cow rally outscored the number two catcher by almost 200 points he basically had william contraris production plus 50 percent so I don't
don't think rally will be quite that good, but he was a huge difference maker and will continue to
be. So I think it's justifiable. You know, you only start, what, 10 players, 10 hitter spots in this
format? You got to get impacted every single one of them. There might not be a bigger impact player
in 2026. There certainly wasn't in 2025 than Cow Rally. So I think it's fine. It just probably
won't be me at 15. Next step, we had Nick Kurtz at pick 16. One pick ahead of
of Vlad Jr. in or out on Nick Kurtz, pick 16.
Probably out.
I, if you look at, and I've talked about this on the full episode,
but if you look at guys who had a thousand OPS as a rookie,
Ted Williams is the only one to repeat a thousand OPS.
Nick Kurtz probably isn't Ted Williams.
He's probably not even Aaron Judge,
who remember hit 57 home runs, I think, as a rookie,
dealt with some injuries, didn't get anywhere close to that same production
his second year. It's just really hard to be as good as Nick Kurtz was
every single year. If he is, he's one of the two or three best
hitters in baseball. I'm not ready to say that yet. He should get a little
downgrade in this format for how much he strikes out as well. So I think
16's probably too early for Nick Kurtz. What about Junior Camerro?
Caminero. Caminero at pick 24 in
or out. That's probably also fine. This is not a guy who walks a ton. It was only 6.3% last year.
He's a very aggressive hitter. He swings a lot. I don't think we should expect Junior Cameraro to be
a great source of on-base percentage throughout his career. But he makes a lot of contact. He hits
the ball very hard. It's weird to say about a 21-year-old, I think, who just hit 45 homers,
but he's not at all a finished product as a hitter.
His swing is not finely tuned for production yet,
even as hard as he hits the ball.
It's a lot of stuff to the power alleys.
So I think there's some room for Junior Caminero to regress from last season,
but I also think there's room for fewer home runs,
but a higher batting average and the overall production stays pretty similar.
So I think, again, this one is probably fine.
24th overall, that's okay.
for junior commoner. Next up we have
Pete Crow Armstrong. He went at pick
40 in or
out in a head to head points league. I think it's
too early. In a league where you only need three outfielders
where you need impact production
from every spot. Pete Crow Armstrong was a top 10 outfielder in this
format last season. To be fair.
But I think we all mostly expect him to be
I don't know.
I guess that's a question for you.
Do you expect Peacrow Armstrong to be
worse overall in 2026 than he was in 2025. I think I do. Yeah, I don't think he's a 31 homer guy.
Yeah, I agree. I would expect PCA to take a little bit of a step back. And again, his plate
discipline not good in a points league as well. So not a big margin for error in this format. As we
saw in the second half, he was just flat out not worth rostering in the second half of the season
in this format. So I think 40 probably too early for Pete Armstrong. All right.
Let's take a quick break.
We'll be back right after this.
Welcome back in FBT Express.
We're looking at Big Risers from last season.
Where did they go in our recent mock draft?
Roman Anthony is next up.
He went to pick 45, in or out for the guy who actually drafted Roman.
Yeah, I think we kind of got the answer there.
I was the one who took Roman Anthony at 45.
So in, I think that's fair to say.
I think Roman Anthony has top five hitter in baseball.
upside. I think he is so talented. He hits the ball so hard. He's got such a great swing. He's a patient,
selective hitter who knows what he's trying to do up there. There was some swing and miss in his game
last season, but if he tightens that up at all, there's big breakout potential. If he starts
elevating the ball with how hard he hits it, there's huge breakout potential here. I would be a little
disappointed if Roman Anthony isn't a top 25 hitter in this format next season, assuming health.
All right. Next up, we have Geraldo Perdomo at pick 48 in or out on Perdomo.
So here's, this is the thing that's going to be really, really hard about talking about
Haroldo Pardomo in mock drafts that the three of us are participating in. And especially Scott and I.
I don't know if you're as in on Heraldo Pardoma, Scott and I are, but Scott, I think, has him as a top 50 player in,
in roto and head to head.
And I'm not far off on Perdomo being that high.
Maybe if it's a three-person league, Scott and I can, you know, play chicken on who's
going to draft Herald or Pardomo.
But he's going to go later than this in most drafts.
So by that standpoint, 48th, probably too early.
I think in most drafts you will not have to take Herald or Pardomo that early.
In leagues where Scott and I are in, did Scott take him in this draft?
No, it was someone, but it was also the first overall picks.
So if you want Pardomo there, he probably isn't making it back to 72.
No, I definitely not in leagues where Scott and I are drafting.
And people who listen to this podcast are probably going to be higher on Pardomo than the consensus as well.
So in that context, it's too early.
I think it's justifiable for the type of player her older Pordomo looked like in 2025.
Five. Phenomenal, like some of the best plate discipline in baseball, 13% walk rate, 11.5% strikeout rate.
The raw power is not great, but he elevates the ball to the pull side really well.
He's going to be in a good lineup. I think there's a lot to like about Herald or Pardomo,
even if 48 is probably earlier than you have to take him.
I agree. I expect the power and speed to both come back this year for Pardomo, but just from a
points league perspective, his plate discipline is really, really good. So I think he's going to continue
to be very good in this format, but overall, I do expect Prodomo to take a pretty big step back in 2026.
Next up, we have Michael Garcia at Pick 50, who had a breakout season as well.
This is pretty early for him, in or out on Michael Garcia.
I think it's a little early.
I think Michael Garcia is very, very good, but one, he's better in a roto context than a points league,
although he has really good play discipline of his own.
It's not quite as good as Prudonos.
He doesn't walk quite as much.
Last year was a career high.
It was 9.3%.
strikeout rate's excellent he has decent power decent speed it's just not a great lineup and i don't
think it will be um and so i think there's just a little bit holding michael garcia back as a top 50
pick and last two i'll give you a a double dose here byron bxton and george springer they went
back to back boston at pick 61 springer at pick 62 in or out on those two i think springer's
very similar to predomo where in most leagues i think his adp in early row
proto drafts on NFBC is
104
and Springer or
Buxton's like 76 so big gap
there I know
for the most part we're all bought in
on George Springer right you
you would have taken him here if you
if you hadn't taken or no you did take him
I did take him here I kind of felt
a little force into it just because
outfield was drying up very quickly I think
in most drafts I probably
will not be the one to take George Springer but I do
think he'll be pretty good still in a point
league format.
So I,
very good for this format.
Even if you don't think he's going to be
as good as he was last year
when he was a top 10 player.
Yeah.
In Roto and points,
I believe.
I think he's a more
defensible pick here than Byron Buxton.
Byron Bucson's skill set is much more tuned for Roto.
He is a very,
very good base stealer,
a good source of power,
but the plate discipline's not good for him.
George Springer's plate discipline much better.
I would rather have Springer than Buxton.
I think both were probably reaches at this spot, though.
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