Fantasy Baseball Today - Deep Sleepers & Spencer Strider's Spring Debut! (3/18 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 18, 2025

Before we get into deep sleepers, Scott addresses players who are on the rise (2:55). ... Cam Smith has maybe been the biggest riser this spring (5:10). ... Not enough people are talking about Kris Bubic (9:42). ... Hayden Birdsong and Griffin Canning have had strong springs (11:34). ... Spencer Strider's spring debut was amazing (17:55). ... News (26:44): Royce Lewis has a moderate hamstring strain. ... Let's recap Monday's standouts, starting with Victor Scott (33:52). ... Let's get back into more deep sleepers, starting with Jack Leiter (44:17). ... Cade Povich and Zac Veen are two names to target in deeper leagues (49:33). ... Spencer Torkelson still has 30-homer upside (55:42). ... We wrap up with the rest of our deep sleepers (1:01:11). 🏀 Join our Fantasy Baseball Today Bracket Game: https://shorturl.at/zezZC Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  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/ 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. 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 Tuesday, March 18th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Today on the show, oh my. Spencer Strider, we will talk about it, and a bunch of deep sleepers. That is where we start. But before we get into it, just a reminder here, that we used different ADP thresholds for this exercise. Some might be deep sleepers in shallower leagues. Some might just be late round targets. You'll hear a lot of names that we have talked about this spring, because frankly, a lot of these names were not even on our radar,

but they're having big springs and they've worked themselves into expected roles on opening day. Basically, this is just an opportunity for us to talk about some more players that we're really excited about and they need to be on your radar. And Scott, I know you have a few players that you just want to mention up top. These are names that continue to rise and maybe they have just risen past the deep sleeper threshold. Right. Like if you, I kind of used top 300 as my cutoff for deep sleepers when I wrote my 40 deep sleepers article. and if you look on some sites, if you look at overall ADP,

there are a lot of guys outside the top 300 that no longer are, if you look on the NFBC site, you just look at the last few days, for instance, Grant Holmes being one of them. Of course, you've heard us talk about him a lot on the podcast, I think as it's become clear, he'll be a part of the Braves rotation,

and as he looks pretty good this spring, he's climbed into the top 250 or nearly into, the top 50, which means it's very unlikely even in a shallower league. Grant Holmes is going to go on drafted. So I think it's harder to call him a deep sleeper. So I wanted to mention him right off the top. I also wanted to mention Christian Campbell, who I think even recently is still going outside at the top 300.

But some people might kind of scoff at calling him a deep sleeper because he's a top prospect because he's gotten so much attention on podcasts like this one throughout spring training. I think he's a long shot to make the Red Sox. opening day roster at this point after a rough spring, but I think he'll be up sooner than later, and he's among the top prospects to stash. So if your draft does go deep enough

that you can get into that range of ADP outside the top 300, I think Christian Campbell, somebody you still want to consider taking, and still a deep sleeper in that context. And in the same vein, Roman Anthony, the other big Red Sox prospect,

who's actually looked pretty good this spring. he is just an outfielder, so he doesn't have Christian Campbell's versatility, but he's a well-known player in baseball circles. I would say his ADP still meets the threshold of being a deep sleeper, but again, some people scoff at the idea of calling Roman Anthony a deep sleeper. So let's just push that aside right off the top. We're acknowledging that they're exciting players that may be worth drafting and stashing at their ADP, but we're going to leave them out of the deep sleeper discussion.

And that is a good transition to a player that Chris wants to talk about. And a player we have talked about a lot this spring, someone that continues to rise. And the latest reports that we're getting looks like he will be on the Astros opening day roster. Chris, that is Cam Smith. Yeah, Cam Smith, who I think probably has to be considered the biggest riser of the spring because he has gone from someone that, frankly, I don't think any of us were thinking about for early 2025 value.

and now I think he's someone who absolutely needs to be drafted in every league. And one thing that's fun about a prospect going from, hey, just keep an eye on him to, oh, we have to draft him is we don't really ever get into the particulars of Cam Smith's profile while we're doing that, because ultimately the kind of player Cam Smith might become matters a lot less than just the fact that if he's a reserve round pick, you should just draft him. It doesn't really matter. Well, now we expect him to make the roster or it's looking like he will at least. And now we got to start to talk about what our expectations for Cam Smith are beyond just talented young player, get them on your team. Now it's a question of, well, should you push him? Like, I, in my Tow Wars draft

on Sunday, I was trying to figure out if I wanted to use my corner infield spot. and the last bit of my budget on Cam Smith to make sure I got him or push it to the reserve round and take that chance. I ended up doing the latter. I drafted a Johanio Suarez and took Cam Smith with a reserve round pick because I would rather have a Eugenio Swares than Cam Smith. As much as I like Cam Smith and as exciting as the prospect of him making the team is, a Eugenio Swares is a very good hitter in his own right.

So I do want to like get into the details of what kind of hitter, Camp Smith is because now he's more than just a nebulous late-round target. Now he's someone that we actually have to start thinking about. And so it's a good contact profile. It's a lot of raw power, perhaps not quite tuned to tapping into that power yet. His career high in college of Florida State, 16 homers makes a lot of contact at seven homers and 32 games last year. But it does sound like there might be a little bit of Alec Bowman.

in this profile where he's going to make a lot of contact, he's going to make some pretty loud contact, but might not be an immediate source of plus power. He hits the ball to all fields. He doesn't really hit the ball in the air as much as you'd like. But all in all, if you could get Alec Bohm with your last pick, I think we'd all be that result.

See, I understand what you're saying. I just think it's hard with prospects in general. but particularly one who's played, what did you say, 32 games as a professional, yeah. Yep. It's hard to put specific expectations on them. And I had this issue when I was writing about Cam Smith among prospects in the offseason. I just didn't have that many details to offer in my ride.

He struck out a lot early in college. He made a swing adjustment that ratcheted down that strikeout rate. He's good at driving the ball to. the opposite field, which if you hit the ball hard enough, is a good quality. It can be negative for some players, but I think it's, it'll help with Cam Smith's batting average base. I think there's a ton of upside. Obviously, you take Eugenio Swaras over him, because there's a ton of upside there too, and

it's more likely to hit than the, the, the player who maybe will make the opening day roster after 32 games in the minors. But I have Cam Smith just a tier below, E. Johani Oswaras, and to a certain extent, it depends on the depth of your league, how much you want to shoot for the high ceiling play, understanding that it may be a total waste of pick. Yeah, and the most likely outcome here is that it doesn't work for Cam Smith for the reasons you guys mentioned. It's 32 games in the minors. He's 22 years old. He's only played five games at AA, and this has just been a meteoric rides. He was a first round pick by the Cubs last season, 14th overall, and was the headline piece in the Kyle Tucker trade for the. Astros this off season. He does have third base eligibility on CBS and it sounds like he's

going to play the outfield early on in the season, assuming he makes the roster. So that will give him dual position eligibility, but there's a lot of excitement. We've talked about Cam Smith, definitely worthy of using one of your last round picks on him. Scott, over to you for another player we've talked a lot about a spark. Chris Bubich. Yeah, Chris Bubich is probably my favorite deep sleeper and he's remained pretty deep throughout. There hasn't been a lot of hype building up on him. I got him in the reserve rounds of a 15 team league this weekend in Towers. Yeah, I get him very late.

Sometimes the draft ends and I haven't even had a chance to go for Boobitch. But I try to get him late every time because I think the upside's considerable. He started at the beginning of 2023. He came in. He had a new arm slot. He had a harder change up. He had a new slider and he was getting a ton of whiffs. And then he had, he tore the elbow ligament, needed Tommy.

John's surgery came back last year in relief. All those arsenal changes were still intact. And he put dominant numbers in the bullpen, whether you're talking about bat missing or strike throwing. He was good in terms of control and missing bats. And now he's getting a chance to start again. And because those arsenal tweaks remained intact after the surgery, I think it's going to go well.

It's not an unfamiliar role to boo bitch, obviously. And my interest in him goes double. in points leagues where you can take advantage of that relief pitcher eligibility. Yeah, he also has sustained a lot of the velocity gains from pitching out of the bullpen so far this spring, which is another thing that's not always guaranteed and is a really good sign because like you said, 32% strikeout rate last year. He was dominant out of the bullpen often while pitching multiple innings too. So yeah, I think Chris Boovic has shown a lot of reason to get excited this spring.

The NFBC ADP over the past week is 328. And again, he is a player that should be drafted in CBS head-to-head points leagues with that RP eligibility. Name for me here is going to be Hayden Birdsong. And this is more of a recent riser. He got called up last season after just two starts at AAA, flash some upside with the Giants. He had two double-digit strikeout starts, had three pitches with a whiff rate over 32%, including his slider, which had a 49% whiff rate last season. but his control was just a massive problem. 5.4 walks per 9.

So far this spring, zero. Zero walks for Hayden Birdsong. That's compared to 18 strikeouts. He's only allowed one run, six hits over 12 innings, and as a result of looking that good, it seems like he will be the Giants SP5

to open the season here. So there's talent, there's an opportunity. Again, he's on the younger side, so it's not a guarantee to work out with a lot of these names that we're going to talk about. But, you know, given that opportunity in a good ballpark to pitch in, the NFBC ADP over the past week is 4-74. So, I mean, this is even deeper,

but he's a name that I do think will continue to rise here as we get closer to the start of the season. Recent drafts, I've seen Hayden Bird song go ahead of pitchers like Chris Bassett, more in that range, among people who are really plugged in. It's crazy. Like, every day there's a new pitcher to get excited about today. it's Griffin Canning. Let's get excited about Griffin Canning, everybody. Yep.

Yeah. The Mets pitching lab. They're at it again. Yeah. I used, Griffin Canning, remember, he was one of my top sleepers heading into the, I think it was heading into the 2020 season that never really started correctly. And it was because of that slider. He threw that slider over 50% of the time here in Monday's game got nine strikeouts. He had another big strikeout game. prior to that. And that seems to be the primary thing that the pitching lab did was just throw your best pitch more, which sometimes the Mets have done lots of things with pitch movement and arm slot.

And they have a good reputation now. It's happened pretty fast. But it's well earned, I think. But in a lot of cases, sometimes the recommendation is just as simple as, optimize your pitch choices in a way that the angels seemingly never do. That's what I was calling for when he got called up. And I was seeing that 45% whiff rate on the slider. I think the slider lost some of its effectiveness in the years that followed.

I was trying to track its pitch shape from year to year. And it seemed like it changed a lot. So the Mets may have helped Griffin Canning sharpen it up again. I like Hidden Birdsong more. Don't get me wrong. But my point, getting back to my original point, is that regardless of how deep your league is, I feel like pitching is something that you can look at as a strength,

starting pitching, because there are just too many interesting ones to fit on a single roster. There are going to be interesting pitchers undrafted in every single league. What I'm learning throughout the draft process, and even we did it last week in our NFBC online championship, is just loading up my bench with starting pitchers and just seeing what happens early in the season. And all right, if those guys are just crap,

the first turn through the rotation, first couple turns through, then drop them for the next exciting pitcher and let's see what happens there. But I've just been loading up my bench with starting pitchers and let's see what happens. Before we hit our first break, big thanks to everyone watching us live.

Make sure to hit that like button, subscribe to the channel if you haven't already. YouTube.com slash fantasy baseball today. We crossed 30,000 subscribers. last week during our mock draft megastream. Let's try for 31K by opening day. 31K by opening day. Let's get it done.

And a reminder to get those listener league submissions in by this Wednesday. I will announce the winners on Thursday nights live stream slash Friday morning's podcast. And here are the details. Send in something fun, creative, or just tell us why you deserve to be in one of the two listener leagues email submissions

to Fantasy Baseball. at CBSI.com. That's the letter I. Make sure to put FBT Listener League in the email subject and let us know which league you would like to be in. 12 team head to head points

on Tuesday, March 25th, and 16 team heads head categories for the People League the next night on Wednesday, March 26th. Both drafts will be done in the evening. I will announce the winners on Friday, March 21st.

Once again, make sure that you can be there for whichever draft you would like to participate in. Good luck to everybody. Let's take a break. We'll be back. right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball's Day News and Notes.

All aboard. All aboard the Spencer Strider hype train. It's kind of a weak train noise. It's more of a whistle, I guess, than anything else. It's like a toy train. Yeah, right? The best you could do. That's the best I could do.

Honestly, I didn't have time to look up anything else, and that's all I had on the computer. So that's what we're going with. Spencer Strider made his spring debut, and you really could not ask for any, more. Two and two-thirds, perfect innings with six strikeouts. Did it against the Red Sox backups. I will point that out. There's some prospects in that lineup, but this was not the Red Sox main starting lineup. It was still fantastic regardless. No stack cast for this game, but Chris, I know that

you were tracking the velocity while watching this start. Yeah, I went back and watched every pitch. And unfortunately, they didn't have the radar gun turned on for the first three pitches. So we don't know every pitch, and obviously we don't have the granularity or frankly the specifics. I have no idea if they're using stat cast and it just doesn't get fed or if it's just one radar gun, which always has issues. But all that being said, we have some velocity data and he averaged 95.2 with, we didn't get like he average, this one was 95.8. This one was 96.2. his average was 95.2 based on the whole number that was broadcast, which is two miles per hour down from 2023, three miles per hour down from 2022, and about one and a half mile per hour down from the two starts he made last year.

But it's his first start back. I think it's fair to, I don't, I actually don't know. Because you see it both ways, right? You see the like, oh, he was amped up for his first start back. and then the velocity goes down. Here's what he actually had to say about the velocity. Strider said velocity is kind of the last piece for me. That's something I'd like to have a slow build with, but it still felt like the ball was getting on guys. And it sure looks like the ball was getting on guys.

It's spring training, but that was definitely a good one. So I don't want to, like, I don't want to diminish this. Like this was, this was, everybody was going nuts. You couldn't have asked for me. Yeah. And so positives, he struck out everybody almost. He struck out five in a row. He threw a lot of breaking balls and it looked really sharp.

He seemed to really emphasize that even over the fastball. Mix the changeup and cutter in a couple times too. He threw just four balls in his two and two-thirds innings. The rest were strikes. Yeah, I don't think he was supposed to pitch a third inning. I don't think so either. I think he was just so efficient. was so efficient exactly um and like he he he just apart from the pure velocity readings

which yeah it was i was noticing man there's a lot more mid 90s pitches here than high 90s pitches and i think at the third inning it was i saw like a 93 on the fastball yeah if you wanted to say anything negative about it it's that like we we want to see more velocity from strider in the long run but it was his first start uh nobody involved with the team seems concern about it. Chris Sale after the start said, yeah, Strider's still our best pitcher. Chris Sale reigning in El Sae Young winner. Yeah, I think this is as much as you could.

Like, I had the thought as he was going to in two-thirds innings on March 17th. Well, why not just make Strider the fifth starter? Even if you can only give you four innings at that point in time, it seems worth it. But it sounds like I didn't put the exact quote. but it sounds like Strider shot that down. He said, you know, I want to take my time with this. I want the buildup to be right. I'm paraphrasing, but it was something like that.

So I don't know that we're going to see the timetable move up from late April, but you feel pretty confident after watching this start that it's going to be late April and that you're basically going to get Spencer Strider. And so the question is, how much should he move up draft boards? I don't think it's zero, but I think you could potentially go overboard with it. Yeah, can I tell you my overriding thought while watching this start? Sure. There's no way I'm drafting Spencer Strider.

It's just it's he's my immediate thought was, oh, he's going to be a top 75 pick. And that might be the floor moving forward. And wouldn't you know it? There were four drafts completed on Monday on NFBC. It's the only platform we have that data for. And his ADP was 79. So. Yeah.

Spencer Strider, we're going to see him picked in the top 50. I think in the final week, I think that 75 is the floor for the ADP. And I just, there's no way I'm going to do it. Like, there. That would seem to go against, if that's NFBC, that would, and we're still thinking he's going to miss most of April. Normally, they're so cautious about injuries on NFPC. Yeah, sometimes.

A lot of people shoot for upside too, though. Yeah. Well, there's the overall component. And I think there's also just like, yes, I think on the whole, players tend to get discounted quite a bit for injuries. But there are certain exciting players that this group doesn't really, and we don't need to do the meta discussion about NFBC. We've had that discussion all offseason.

It's just to say that NFBC, CBS, ESPN, a circle K, whatever, wherever you're drafting, Spencer Strider is going to be a top 80 pick. I think that is the floor moving forward. And pitching is way too easy to find to justify that. Unless while he is going to start in a delay in April, because it wasn't a reconstruction for his elbow, maybe his innings just won't be as limited as we think.

And once he's ready to go in April, he'll just be able to go the rest of the way. And he can get to 150 or 160 innings, whatever it ends up being. And in which case, a top 80 pick is amazing because I do think he's going to be very good. But my expectation is still like 140 innings is the absolute ceiling for Spencer Strider. And it's probably more realistically going to be something like 130. And I know we have concerns about like, like, Max Fried, right? I can't draft Spencer Strider coming off an elbow surgery,

30, 40 picks ahead of Max Fried, which is where that price is going to end up. I just can't do it. Yeah, it's, it's, I hear you. Especially, in a shallower league, I could probably think about it. But I, and I also want to point out, especially on a Braves team that this is speculation, but I have to imagine they're going to give him the Rinaldo Lopez Chris Sale treatment. So they've already talked about with Lopez and Sale that they're going to try to

avoid having them start on four days rest as often as possible. Sale only did 17 times and 29 starts last season. I don't think anybody's complaining about what Chris Sale and Rinaldo Lopez gave in last year. Yeah. And on that note, you're, they weren't, they're putting up 80 picks. No, but sale would have been. We knew what his numbers would look like.

Spencer Strider, if you're, if you're putting 140 innings, you're saying 140 and 131 and two-thirds innings innings in 22, Strider got 202 strikeouts. Yep. So. So you could talk yourself into the upside as a top 80 pin. Yeah, he had a 267. ERA. He went 11 and 5. 130 innings.

Like that's what I mean, though, is 130 innings is probably the realistic ceiling. Unless, again, unless I'm misreading it, but that's the way I'm treating it. I think the idea is they want to give him his, they want to manage his innings in April, kind of starting him late like this. And then just, you know, they may build an extra rest like most teams do for most pitchers these days,

but I don't think they're planning on like hitting the breaks much during the season, unless he just isn't healthy. Yeah, we do have to move on. Scott just give me a yes or no. If the ADP is top 80, do you pay the price on Strider? Probably not, but in shallow leagues, I'd think about it. Royce Lewis has been diagnosed with a moderate left hamstring strain. We haven't been given a firm timeline for his return, but obviously he will miss some time here.

Brooks Lee started at third base on Monday. The illness that Mookie Betz was dealing with caused him to lose around 15 pounds, and he's not going to play in the Tokyo series. It would not be surprising if Betz got off to a slow start this season. 15 pounds is quite a bit, obviously. Any concern here at all for Mookie Bets? obviously he's when he's right he's a first round talent but the timing of this happening right before the start of the season it scares me a little bit what do you what do you guys think players get sick

all the time i've i'm i've never heard of it tanking a player's season i got sick and lost x number of pounds and therefore i wasn't good but 15 pounds is a lot it's going to take him time to regain that it's not like it's unheard of and he'll have what he'll have he'll have he'll 10 days before the sea. I just, I don't think it's a big deal. All right. Spencer Steer will begin a throwing program Tuesday. He's been dealing with right shoulder inflammation this spring and remains unlikely for opening day.

Rinaldo Lopez has been clear to make his next start Saturday. His last official spring start came back on March 7th and his velocity was way down in that one. He did make a start in between on the backfields. I didn't see any details about that start, but presumably it was okay because he's returning to action now. He's going to start again on Saturday, but if we have Stackass data for that game, it'll be one to pay attention to for Renato Lopez.

Max Scherzer said his right thumb still hurts, and he implied that the thumb has been a problem for him since 2023. Scherzer has impressed this spring. Strikeouts are still there, but this is the main problem with him at this point for fantasy. It's not really surprising, given he's 40 years old, but if this is something that's going to continue to linger, it's a problem. That's exactly it.

This was the concern more than effectiveness for Max Scherzer. It's just he just seems to be a slow healer at his age. And it doesn't take much to sideline him for lengthy stretches. And maybe something as simple as a not necessarily strained, but sore thumb could be the thing this time. It's frustrating because you know the talent is. still there, but this is why what is his ADP lately? Could we get away

with calling Max Scherzer a deep sleeper? Let's see. 51.7. There are plenty of pitchers going behind him. I'd rather have at this point, just given the injury and the quote about it. Yeah, so he should not go, he should remain a late round pick. The MRI on Bryce Serang's right shoulder did not reveal

any structural damage. He'll be shut down for a couple days. Jung Hu Lee underwent in the MRI on his back on Monday. I did not see the results. Have you I don't think they're out yet now? Nope. All right. Tobias Myers will begin the season on the IL with a left oblique strain. Logan Henderson and Tyler Alexander are candidates to take that spot in the rotation early on. The Cardinals have discussed using a six-man rotation, which would include Michael McGreevy, 24 years old, former first round pick back in 2021. Last year at AAA, the numbers were not great. 402 ERA 131.131, which would include. Whip around 8K per 9.

Lots of ground balls. I think that's one of the main skills here for Michael McGruevy. If we're talking deep sleepers, is there any interest in a Michael McReevey? I could see him being streamable in the same way Tobias Myers was to since that name's top of mind. Like I could see how the ERA remains respectable, the whip remains respectable. But there's just not a lot of sizzle there, not a lot of upside. and that's presuming everything goes right. With Jeff McNeil's sideline to begin the season,

it sounds like Brett Beatty may form a platoon with Luis Anhele Acuna at second base. Any interest in either of those in deeper leagues? Brett Beatty and Luis Angel Acuna. I still think there's untapped potential here with Beatty, and I actually have him in my 40 deep sleepers here with the possibility that he gets the majority of the bat's the second base to start out.

And they've tried him at other positions before. It's capable of playing both corners on the infield, capable of playing left field. If he hits like he was this spring, and we know he's a AAA stud, that's never been an issue there. I could see Brett Beatty finding his way into a more prominent role. Just like at this time last year,

nobody was really looking at Mark Vientos to be an impact player. in fantasy. Well, it happens gradually and then suddenly. And it may happen suddenly for Biddy this year. I will admit, I'm less excited about either of these guys than I was for a healthy Jeff McNeil. All right.

McNeil? I'm bummed about Jeff McNeil's injury. I think he was pretty interesting. And that's because he increases bat speed. He increased his bat speed and had a really good second half last year. Yeah, but I don't even know what that means. Is that something that just sustains?

Yeah, I understand. And he has the ball well. But has, we don't have past data to know if that's something he's done before or not. No, but he's been a useful, like, it's not like you have to go a decade back to find Jeff McNeil

being a useful player. Useful. Brett Beattie is, he seems like a quad A player to me. I just, it's, like you said, look,

he's possible. He's still 25. I just, I'm not betting on it. And it would only be an NL only play for me. The Royals reassigned prospect Jack Caglione to minor league camp. It was expected, but Cags, it looked awesome this spring, and he is a name to watch at some point this season.

Yankees pitching news, Clark Schmidt said he felt great during a 24 pitch bullpen on Monday and expects to make his season debut April 3rd against the debacks. Carlos Carrasco is likely to open the season in the Yankees rotation. That means Will Warren would likely start in the, the minors. Carasco is now 37 years old, has looked pretty good this spring, but has not been helpful for fantasy since 20. 22. Do not ask it. I will not ask it. Monday stand-ups. Please miss bats at an impressive rate. Do not. We're not, let's not do this guys. I. There are way,

there are, there are 150 something pitchers in MLB rotations. And Carlos Carrasco in 2025 in 2025 is about the 171st most interesting. I wouldn't go that far. I don't think he's draftable outside of AOL only, but it wouldn't surprise me if he became somebody we care about again at some point. There are multiple White Sox pitchers I am trying to add to my AL only team, and Carlos Carrasco is not a player I'm trying to add. Monday standouts, Victor Scott continued his strong spring, two for four with his fourth

second home run. I don't think it was his fourth. Fourth would be a lot. That sounds like a lot. I'm pretty sure it was his second home run. That sounds like the career total for Victor Scott. 13 for 35 this spring, 371. Yeah, with two home runs. There you go. Five steals and 1133 OPS. Michael Siani was also scratched with an illness on Monday. Those two are currently battling for center field for the Cardinals. Ben Rice stayed hot. Two of four with another home run. 105.8 exit velocity, 415 feet. He also had another batted ball, 111 miles. hours off of Kevin Gosman. Joey Ortiz is a name we have not talked about at all this spring, and he has been crushing it, two for three, with two doubles, a walk, and his fourth seal. He's 12 for 32 with two homers, four doubles, two triples, and a 13-13 OPS. Let's stop there.

I think all three could be on the radar as like deep sleepers since we're doing this podcast. What do you guys think? Dr. Scott, Ben Rice, Joey Ortiz. Yeah, if I was writing the article today, I'd probably have to consider. It's like a dozen players. I managed to narrow the list down to 40 when I wrote this article last Thursday.

And now there's like a dozen players I've wanted to add since then. Well, Victor Scott, to be fair, was already on it. But Ben Rice and who was the other one? Joey Ortiz. Joey Ortiz. Yeah, like Joey Ortiz was a deep sleeper for me last year. And I got the feeling today, man, maybe I was just a year early on him because the exit velocities and the miners were good. He made a lot of contact.

The fact he's stealing bases this spring, I think, is the most encouraging thing up to four now, like you said, Frank. And he had the capacity to do that. He had the speed to do that. Yeah, he's a percentile last year. He just didn't show much inclination to run. But that appears to be changing. He's obviously going to play a prominent role for the brewers with Willie Adom has gone. You know, it's, it's, if everybody's a sleeper, nobody's a sleeper.

And I feel like if we're putting Joey Ortiz in that group now or Joseph 14, as he's known on CBS. If we're putting him in that group now, we run the verge of having too many sleepers, but there is upside here and there is a role. So you have to take that seriously. And he's a lot of a defensive player. Yep.

Chris brought up Ben Rice a few days ago as the potential starter at DH with Stanton out. And I think that that wasn't something I'd even noticed, but it appears to be so. And he would also probably get backup catcher at bats. So if Ben Rice regains eligibility at that position, that'd be neat. He goes, he becomes even more of a sleeper. He becomes kind of a must in two catcher leagues, probably.

I saw Jared Seidler from Baseball Perspectus tweeted earlier today. Ben Rice has now hit literally all five of the hardest hit balls of his professional career in the last four weeks of spring training. That's especially interesting because his quality of content, data last year was actually pretty good. He had a 340 expected Wobah. Obviously, very pull heavy. There were some contact issues, but I,

yeah, I think he might be a really useful fantasy option this year. I should hope a Leigh, at Yankee Stadium is pole heavy. They should all be pull heavy. Imagine if Juan Soto was pull heavy, the year he would have had there. He was more pull heavy last year,

and he was amazing. but not as pull heavy as other sluggers in the game. Some pitching standouts, we talked about Griffin Canning, but the line there, four and two thirds, one run, nine strikeouts, 13 whiffs on 71 pitches. Ryan Weathers, four innings, one hit, one unearned run, only one strikeout, but the fastball velocity remained up 1.4 miles per hour. He averaged 97.3.

I was looking back through my notes, and this spring, as impressive as the velocity's been for Weathers and the secondary characteristics on that fastball. It doesn't look like the numbers are a lot of whiffs. 11 strikeouts, eight walks in like an 11 and 1 third innings. The case here is still just that the changeup and sweeper were elite swing and miss pitches last season for him. And so if the fastball plays up at all, you know, there's plenty of room to grow. But for as good as the change up and sweeper were last year at getting whiffs,

there was a little bit of that Reese Solson where he just didn't get as many strike cuts as you'd think, as well. So I don't know. Weather's, I worry what happens with players like this is they go from hey, it's your last pick. There's upside here. And then once they start to get more

expensive, then it's start, you actually have to do like I said with Camp Smith. You have to start actually talking about it beyond just hey, it's your last pick. Who cares to like, oh, well, would you actually rather draft him or Merrill Kelly or Tomo Yuki Sagano?

who are boring, but are likelyer to make an impact, I think. That's where Weathers has now gotten pushed up into. And I don't hear people talking enough about, I feel comfortable talking about him a little more here because he would be among the deep sleepers we bring up. So we're just getting Weathers out of the way here too. I don't hear people talking enough about how he pitches for the Marlins. Well, yeah.

Him and Max Meyer and any other Marlins pitcher that you might call a deep sleeper, they just have so little chance of winning a meaningful number of games that if they're not a total world beater at everything else, they're going to be pretty fringy. Yeah. And the ADP of the past week for Weathers is up to 278.7. So he's another name that has been on the rise. Just want to bring up some veterans here. Justin Verlander five shutout innings with six strikeouts. His fastball velocity was up almost one mile per hour.

Only had three whiffs on 78 pitches there. So the six strikeouts, a bit of a mirage. some big name starting pitchers with velocity down. Joe Ryan, his velocity way down across the board. 2.6 to 3.4 miles per hour on all of his pitches. Remember, he ended his season with a shoulder injury last year. Aaron Nola, his velocity was down over 2 miles per hour on each of the fastball, curveball change up cutter.

Kevin Gosman, fastball after being up this spring, was down 2.5 miles per hour, and the splitter was down 3 miles per hour. Any concern with any of those three? Joe Ryan, Aaronnola, Kevin Gosman. No, with Nola, just I think he's so steady that I expect the velocity to be there, even if it's not. I expect him to figure out a way to be effective. But that's no guarantee, obviously. Joe Ryan, you know, I've moved Bailey Ober down a little bit in my rankings this spring because his velocity has been down and he just doesn't have a lot to go.

I don't even know what the term I'm looking for. He doesn't have a lot to spare is the way to put it. Good thing speaking is my job. So if I'm going to be consistent, I should also be a little bit concerned about Joe Ryan's velocity being down, especially given that he's coming back from the shoulder injuries. So that's a little bit concerning. And then it's been a roller coaster ride for me with Kevin Gosman.

I was out and I was in. I think I'm out again. I think just the just when I think I'm in. Yeah. He pulls me back out. I'm converting to quote. But the splitter movement profile has been all weird, all offseason or all spring. He's getting much less drop than he has in the past.

And now the velocity is not even up on the fastball. I, yeah, I don't watch Kevin Gosman. I'll know with Ryan, he had a big velocity increase last year. Most of his career, majors, minors included. He's pitched more at the velocity he did this spring. and he was pretty successful like that. So I'm, I also don't know with experience pictures like this

when you see the velocity drop, whether it's Ryan or Nola or over, how much of that is just adrenaline, how much of that is, it's spring training. I'm not going to give it my all. Obviously, they already have the job. So I'm reluctant to react to it much at all,

unless I see that the team is expressing, the team or the pitcher himself is expressing concern over it, then that raises a red flag to me more than the number itself. For me with Gosman specifically, it's in addition to the splitter where... Yeah, Gosman's a different story. He has a lot to prove after last year. All right, let's take our final break when we return. We'll talk about Deep Sleeper is finally right after this.

Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Thank you Spencer Strider for taking up so much time of today's podcast. But obviously we have to talk about him. He's a big name player. Deep sleepers. Let's talk about, we got to keep this moving. It's got to be rapid fire like we did last year. I'm talking 30 seconds per player and just pick up where someone leaves off and just keep things moving. And Chris, we'll start with you. Well, start with me. Okay, Jack Leiter, who is a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, looks like he's got a rotation spot locked up and a lot of ways it can go wrong.

The command is very, very shaky. We've seen some signs of that this spring. but when he's right, the stuff can be overpowering. He's throwing a change up in a sinker as well this offseason. I am a little bit more excited about him than Kumar Rocker right now. Jack Leiter's ADP over the past week, 3.91.2. Scott, over to you. Tomo Yuki Sagano, who you mentioned earlier, I think just the success he brings with him from Japan.

A lot is made of the velocity. A lot was made of the velocity for Shona Imanag. last year coming over. And I'm not saying Sugano is going to be that good, but I think he's going to be a masterful strike thrower who knows how to get out on the ground.

And I think he'll have a better strikeout rate. I think it'll exceed eight per nine. Good team with the Orioles. Nobody seems to want him. I do. Tomoyuki Sugano. ADP the past week for Sugano is 309.5. Next up for me, Scott, I'm stealing one from you. Jonathan and Ronda.

That one. That's the one you're stealing? I just started at the top of the list and I just went by ADP. So this was the first one that called my eye. Jonathan Aranda just hoping the race finally give him that chance. It looks like they will.

Rasta Resource has Aranda as the Strongside Platoon at D.H. He is a career 302 hitter in the minors with an 870 OPS and he should make a lot of contact, strong exit velocities. And he's a lefty in, as Scott would like to call it, Swamp Brenner Field this year. Yeah, baby.

Which should play very well, for left-handed power. The ADP over the past week is 382. I wish he wasn't striking out so much this spring, but it's probably nothing. All right. Go ahead, Chris. Chris.

You know who isn't striking out much this spring? Curtis Mead. That's right. Of the Tampa Bay raise, who has a 7.7% strikeout rate. He's hitting a cool 576 in spring train. He went three for five the other day, and his batting average dropped.

That is how good Curtis Mead has been. There's a little bit of prospect fatigue with Curtis Mead because he made it to AAA back in 2021 and hasn't established himself as a major league contributor. But his minor league numbers still very, very good. He put on 15 pounds of muscle this spring at the team's request. And if you're going to take a late round flyer on a ray, I think Curtis Mead's. As good a choice as Jonathan oronda. They might be platoon partners, which would hold back both. Another guy who hasn't been striking out this spring is Alan Rodin of the Blue Jays.

This is a new addition. He wasn't in my column. But I believe he struck out twice versus six walks. He's continued to show the premium exit velocities, meaning max ex of velocities that he showed in the minors. Average was a little lower in the miners. but clearly the power ceiling is there for Roden, and he's already good at elevating to his pole side. He has tremendous plate discipline.

It seems like the Blue Jays really want to find a role for him. They talked about it before spring training even began, and then he's had this amazing spring. Meanwhile, Dalton Varsha was hurt. Roden just got to start in center field the other day. It could happen. If it doesn't happen opening day, I think it'll happen soon afterward.

And I don't know exactly what kind of production I'm looking for from him. Maybe a typical Brandon Nimmo season is kind of what I'm thinking, meaning better than Nimmo was last season. But something like that. Maybe there's more power upside. Maybe there's more batting average upside. But that's kind of the starting point, I think, for an Allen Roden comp.

We spoke about Victor Scott earlier, but I just wanted to reiterate the skill set. He had 94 seals in the minors back in 2023. He's having this huge spring. He could be a cheap source of 30 plus steals in deeper category leagues. His ADP over the past week is 3991. We spoke about Cam Smith. I'll keep going down the list.

Michael Soroka is the name we've talked about a lot. It's been a roller coaster of a career. He's still only 27 years old. Looked like a stud back in the day with the Braves. Two Achilles tears. Signed with the White Sox last year. Didn't look very good early on. Change his pitch mix in the bullpen and just took off 275 ERA,

122 whip, 60 strikeouts over his final 36 innings last year. He signed with the Nationals. He's in their rotation. He looked good in his first two spring starts. His last time out, he got roughed up, six earned runs and six walks. But there's some upside. There's an opportunity. And he has a spark on CBS for those who play in points leagues.

The ADP is still outside the top 400 in the past week. Chris, over to you. Kade Povich, Baltimore Orioles pitcher who looks like he's got a path to a rotation spot, potentially with Grayson Rodriguez out to start the season, showed a lot of short. Strikeout upside at AAA last season. Didn't show much at the major league level, but he's having a decent little spring here. The changeup looks good.

And he is someone that I'm interested in deeper leagues. Do you think he will be in the rotation to start giving all their injuries? I think there's a path. I don't know if it's confirmed. Well, it's definitely not confirmed yet. But I think at this point, it's probably more likely than not that Kate Povich is in. All right, Scott, over to you.

Zach Veen, who every other day has been the star of the Rockies this spring and they have an opening in the outfield. He's healthy now. It seems like they'd want to take advantage of that because that's been rare. He's been doing everything right this spring Vien making quality contact, piling up extra base heads, very aggressive on the base paths. I think there's power here. People will sell Zach Veen short because they look at the minor league numbers and it's pretty ugly. But like I said, a lot of injuries along the way, a lot of playing through injuries. I could walk you through the whole thing, but we don't really have time for that on this episode. I think the skills that originally made Zach Vena high draft

picking an elite prospect are still there and the opportunity may just be there for him too. Yeah, and he's on the Rockies 40-man roster. So I do like that call quite a bit. I've been drafting him late in a lot of my deep leagues. I love the Alan Roden call too. So I think two names and 15 team leagues with five outfielders definitely would be looking for those guys on the bench. I just took Alan Rodin in round 28 of TGFBI. So that is what, like 425 or something like that? Yeah, I co-sign the Alan Rodin and Zach Veen for sure. Next up for me is Kyle Manzardo, who is a former top prospect with the raise.

He was traded to the Guardians in the Aronsivali trade a couple of years back. He has mashed in the minors. He got called up last year. It was not good in his first stint in the majors. Called back up in September looked much better. hit 270 with five home runs and 873 OPS, 11% barrel rate, lots of fly balls, lots of pulled fly balls as well. And if he does that in progressive field and their ballpark continues to play well for left-handed power, I think that is a recipe for success.

And he slated to bat second against right-handed pitching. I think the role could grow too. I think he can turn into an everyday player as the season goes on. Util only to start the season, don't love that. but I do think Kyle Manzardo can gain first base eligibility. His ADP over the past week is 447. Chris, back over to you. That was the one I was going to say.

So now I'm scrambling to find it. And I will go with Jacob Wilson, who has. Chris. We're talking late round sleepers. He's the one going Jacob Wilson. Yeah, we're going Jacob Wilson, who has struck out twice in 41 plate appearances. So far this spring. he has as many home runs as strikeouts.

Let's put it that way. Actually, he might have more. He has four home runs now. He just Homer twice here on Thursday. Four home runs probably has about, I don't know, 1,200 feet worth of home runs. I don't know if the math works out on that. He does not hit the ball very hard,

and it's really hard to make this profile work. And that's why Scott is surprised because there was a point last summer where Jacob Wilson was starting to get a lot of hype. And it's a profile that... He had like 430 in the minors. Yeah. Even if it works out, it's really hard.

for this profile to be an impact for fantasy. But if we're talking about one of the last picks in a 15 team league, then I don't really care because I feel very confident that what I'm going to get from Jacob Wilson is batting average. I'm sorry, that's the athletic starting shortstop. People in the chat were asking. He was the sixth pick in the draft a couple years ago. Yeah, he's going to be the starting shortstop for the athletics.

He's going to be playing every day. The batting average, he hit 250 last year, but the expected batting average, I think was closer to like 270 or 280. I'm pretty much expecting 275 as the floor for him. And the question is, is it five home runs? Can he get to like 15 home runs

and maybe double digit stolen bases? That's probably the ceiling. But if he gets there, I think you're talking about a must-start player. So it's within the realm of possibility. You're looking at Jacob Wilson, hopefully threading the Luis Arise needle. There's only one Luisarise in the player pool

for good reason, but that's the kind of upside, if you want to call it that that we're talking about for Jacob Wilson. Most of these guys, this profile, go the way of Nick Madrigal. But Jacob Wilson should have better quality of contact than Nick Madrigal, so I'm hopeful. Okay. I got another one for you here. This is a brand new one.

David Hamilton, I think we've been talking about Christian Campbell. we've been talking about Vaughn Grissom as the potential starting second basement for the Red Sox. I think it's going to be David Hamilton, guys. And I found this article from March 5th. You got to hear these comments

from Alex Cora, the Red Sox manager on David Hamilton. He's stronger. There's conviction behind the swing. He did a good job last year when he found it. He understood he needed to be more direct to the baseball and hit line drives all over the place. He was saying,

when Hamilton missed some time with a fractured finger. We missed him. We had a stretch when we had one of the best offenses in baseball, and he was right in the middle of it. He's an important player. Our lineup was different when he was playing. You could see that. David Hamilton had 33 stolen bases for the Red Sox last year,

while playing in just 98 games. So we're talking massive steel upside for a guy who's second and shortstop eligible, also capable of playing the outfield. So he could pick that up at some point. I see Jose Cabierro. I see Jose Cabiero

going ahead of David Hamilton in deeper drafts. And that just doesn't make sense to me. I think Hamilton has a lot more upside. All right. Next up for me is going to be Spencer Torkelson. And it feels like everybody has been burned by Torkelson at some point in the past couple of years.

Former first overall pick back in 2020. He's still just 25 years old. And he hit 31 home runs in 2023. Last year he fell flat. Obviously, he's looked good this spring. 286, 4 home runs. Just a 24% strikeout rate. I think that's a big key for Torkelson.

And it looks like he has an opportunity early on in the season as the Tigers starting DH because of all the injuries that they've suffered so far. This is a player who does have 30 home run upside and he's going outside of the top 450 in the past week of ADP. Chris, back over to you. Richard Fitz. I was queuing him up. Yeah, Richard Fitz, the likely number four start.

for the Red Sox at this point, given all their injuries. And he has good minor league numbers, pitched well at the end of last season, but got no strikeouts. And he was aware that that wasn't going to work. And he made a point of emphasis to try to improve his strike throwing ability, try to improve his ability to generate chases. And so far this spring, we're seeing about a mile and a half to two mile per hour jump in fastball velocity for Richard Fitz.

and I think there is some pretty good upside here. I agree. I just put a truckload of Fab on them in my AL-only league the other day. We did that draft in late February before anybody was thinking about Richard Fitz. In addition to the velocity increase this year, so even before you factor that in, his final six minor league starts last year. He had a 70% strike rate and a 15% swinging strike rate,

both of which are elite marks. So there is definitely good stuff there for fits. I am going to go with Andy Pahez of the Dodgers, who I'm surprised has remained solo in ADP, since it seemed like he always had a good chance of being the starting center fielder, and it became more conclusive once Hysunk Kim got sent down, putting Tommy Edmund at second base for the Dodgers.

So Pahaz has been playing center field in the exhibition games in Japan. He has good power potential that he didn't fully realize as a rookie, but that's kind of the norm these days. A lot of times we see these players surge in their second season. If he's an everyday player in the Dodgers lineup with 25 plus Homer Huffside, that's going to be a valuable player in fantasy. Andy Pahas, I'm getting as a bench option in these 15-team Roto leagues. Yep, another name I agree with completely in those deeper five outfielder leagues.

I just searched up the Dodgers lineup on Twitter to see if it's out yet, because we are six hours away from baseball, actually. So not out yet, but I'm sure Andy Pahas will be in the lineup. Next up for me is going to be Otto Lopez of the Marlins. He was a top five prospect for the Blue Jays entering 2022. Always had good bats of all skills in the minors. He hit for good batting average. Just didn't really provide much else.

Last season got the chance to play with the Marlins, and he looked pretty good. Hit 270 with six home runs, 20 steals, 274XBA that was 86th percentile. And he's also a really good defender. He was 86th percentile in outs above average as well playing second base. So I think he's going to be in the lineup. I think we can get 260 to 270 here.

There's not much power at all. We're talking 10 home runs, but 20 to 30 steals playing every day. So for those in deeper leagues that need a middle infield spot and you need a little bit of speed, some batting average help, I do like Otto Lopez outside of the top 450. Chris, over to you. Otto Lopez better than he gets credit for. I say this knowing I'm the Marlins fan on the show and people are going to think that's a Homer thing

but I think my bona fides on not liking the Marlins are well established here everybody's going to call you a Homer rest of your life I have an NL labor Chris so I'm in he is he's a solid middle infield option this season now for my pick it is have we mentioned Spencer Torkelson yes

Yes. Then I won't go with Spencer Torkelson. I'll go with the Spencer Torkelson of the slightly further South Midwest. Real quick. You said Torkelson, they're trying him in right field now. Did you mention that detail? I did not mention that, but he did play there on Monday. Yeah.

So sort of like Cam Smith with the Astros, that the Tigers recognizing that Torkelson looks better this spring and having a need in the outfield have been trying him in right field. Of course, it seems like they have a need at third base, too, after sending Jay's Young down. And Torkelson has even more experience there. but what do I know? Yeah.

Anyway, a Torkelson of the South, Chris. Nolan Gorman is like the left-handed Torkelson of the South has rare power. Well, the slightly further south vert part of the Midwest. Okay. It's south of Detroit. For sure. Yeah, that's what I meant. Nolan Gorman, who, I mean, just a year ago was being drafted as a potential impact power source at the second base position.

It was a disastrous season for him, 38% strikeout rate. He struck out almost as often in the minors as well, but the impact power potential is still there. The Cardinals have to get Nolan Aronado out of here that's going to make things difficult for Nolan Gorman early in the season to find consistent playing time. But life finds a way and there are, I don't know, maybe three second baseman who could hit 30 home runs this season.

And I think Nolan is one of them. Pavan Smith of the. of the Diamondbacks their leading option at DH. He is somebody who started impacting the ball harder last year and it didn't undermine his plate

discipline, which has always been excellent. Good walk rate, good strikeout rate. Great numbers of AAA with this increased impact. And once he reached the majors Paven Smith at 270 with an 896 OPS, I think he's part of the reason the diamond backs were willing to part with

Jock Peterson is because they seem really excited about Pave and Smith. Might be a platoon player to start out, but there's definitely upside with that bat. I think there is a non-zero chance that he provides what Jock Peterson just did for the D-backs last year, something like a two 60, 270 plus home runs. I think there's a chance there on Pave and Smith as well. Let's stick in the outfield in deeper leagues. I'm going to go with Austin Hayes.

This is a name we've heard for years, mostly unexciting. But he is a player who could provide 20 homers playing in Great American Ballpark with a batting average, that doesn't kill you. He routinely hits between, you know, 250, 275 in that range. Plus, there was a report this past weekend that Terry Francona is planning to bat Austin Hayes clean up in the Reds lineup, which sounds crazy, but they have been batting him there in spring. That would be right behind Friedel. Matt McLean, Ellie Daler Cruz, sign me up for those deeper leagues, playing time, good ballpark, right in the middle of the lineup. A couple other notes on Austin Hayes, because he was another right-handed hitter for the Orioles who

suffered after they pushed the left field fence back. And he went to Philadelphia last year at the deadline. It was like, oh, problem solved. Apparently, the kidney infection that whole time. He was playing with the Phillies, which just totally sapped him and made him ineffective. Now he's at an even smaller park in Cincinnati, as you point out, is look good this spring. So, yeah, I'm on board with Austin Hayes as a deep sleeper. Chris, let's go with Chase Medroff.

Maydorf. I'm not sure how you actually pronounce his. name, but my draft seems like, boy, there were three options and I picked the two that weren't right. That's, that's classic me. Chase Midroth seems likely to be the starting shortstop for the White Sox at this point. It hasn't been confirmed, but that's the way I'm leaning. It's a, I could also go with Caleb Durbin here. They're kind of very similar players, make a lot of contact, a very good plate discipline. Not a lot of power, but the question is whether the plate discipline can hold up and they can hit for a good batting average while not hitting for power.

It's an iffy profile again like Jacob Wilson. Neither of those guys have the contact skills Jacob Wilson does, by the way, but similar profile. Those types tend to get the bat knocked out of their hands when they get to the majors. So I'm not overly excited, but my draft's got the playing time. There's some stolen base potential. There's some batting average potential. and frankly, it's not out of the question hits towards the top of the White Sox lineup

for whatever that's worth. Scott? Really, really deep sleeper here. I'm not sure I've seen him drafted in a single league. Gavin Sheets. I saw you pick him up in the Dynasty League. Yeah, he's changed his stance this season. He's standing taller, says he's seeing the ball better.

He's hit six home runs this spring. He is, I think, pretty clearly won his way into the Padres lineup because they have a couple of black hole type openings in it. Gavin Sheets in that lineup. If this change to his stance really does open up something for him offensively, you could see him being a sneaky producer eligible at both first base in the outfield. So we know power is harder to find later on in drafts. This might be a name.

Gerard Encarnacion of the Giants. He was a prospect. I almost put him on mine. He was a prospect with the Marlins a few years back. It never really worked out for him. He got a chance to play with the Giants. last season. And in a small sample, he impressed. Hit 248, five home runs. Ridiculous quality of contact. 95 mile per hour, average exit velocity, 15% barrel rate. He's hitting 333 this spring with just an

18% strikeout rate. So that is huge for him. And he could be in line for G.H. duties with the Giants. And we know that they're a lineup that is always devoid of power here. So they can use someone like Encarnacion. His ADP over the past week is 544. back to you. I'm going to go with a couple of set up men to just remember because these were actually pretty hyped players a year ago and then they had very tough seasons. But Abner Uribe and Camillo Doval are two deep sleepers to keep an eye on just in case the guys ahead of them struggle. That would be Ryan Walker and Camillo DeVall's case and Trevor McGill in Abner Uribe's case. Uribe is getting a lot of praise this spring in camp for the the growth he's shown after struggling last season.

They seem to still really like him. The stuff is still obviously incredible as we saw and fits and starts in 2020, and 2024. So just keep those names in mind if Camilla Doval or if Ryan Walker and Trevor McGill get off to tough starts. Okay. I'll pair a couple of set up men who are. who are better known, but, but yeah, meet the criteria for this exercise. One is Griffin Jacks of the twins who had a 203 ERA.87 whip 12K per 9,

18.4% swinging strike rate and 72 appearances last year. All numbers that Yohan Duran has never met in his career. I think Jacks might actually be the best reliever in that bullpen. And Duran looked pretty shaky at times. So I could see him threatening that role more. Rocco Bell Deli already likes to distribute save chances a little more than most managers. So something to watch out there for Jacks. He could gain a lot of,

it could be useful in the meantime and gain a lot of value over the season. Same with Edwin Useta of the Rays, who in 30 appearances last year, 151 ERA, 0.82 whip 12.3K per 9, clearly closer caliber stuff. And the guy ahead of him, Pete Fairbanks, never stays healthy for long. All right, we are at that point where we just got to start rattling off multiple names at a time if we can. And I'm just going to choose all the White Sox. So Mike Clevenger looks like the leader for the White Sox for saves this season. And his velocity is up.

He has looked great in a small sample size this spring. They're not going to win a lot of games. But when they do, I do think that they will be close games. Sean Burke is the opening day starter for the White Sox. I know some smart people I've talked about him a lot this all season. Enos Cyrus from the Athletic, James Anderson from RodeWire. Big strikeout numbers in the miners. Also, lots of walks.

He got called up late last season, posted a 12.9% swinging strike rate, a 44% whiff rate on his slider. He has an opportunity. Let's see what he can do with it. Miguel Vargas, the ultimate post-hype deep sleeper. He was traded to the White Sox last year in the Michael Copac trade.

Apparently added 20 pounds of muscle this offseason. He's locked into playing time with the White Sox. He's been hitting well this spring. He's 11 for 31. That's a 355 batting out. average and he has third base and outfield eligibility, which could be even more useful in deeper leagues. And I'm probably stealing this one from you, Chris, but Shane Smith. I was going to, I was going to make sure we mentioned Shane Smith. So Shane Smith was the number one overall pick

in the Rule 5 draft, which means he has to be on the White Stocks roster or else he's returned to the Brewers. And he's looked good this spring. There was an outing where he struck out Otani, Freeman, and Will Smith in a row. And he's obviously looking at. looked impressive, the velocity has been up, and he hasn't been named to their rotation yet, but I think he's battling Bryce Wilson or something. So I think he's going to be in the White Sox rotation, a real, real deep league name there,

but the White Sox have actually done some interesting things with their pitching development, so I am interested to see if Shane Smith could just be the next part of that bunch for the White Sox. Chris, back to you. If you want to rattle off a few names, feel free. Yeah, I'll do Brooks Lee, who could have some playing time opportunities with Royce Lewis's injury.

Gavin Lux is a guy we haven't talked about much, but very good ballpark. I expect him to play more or less every day in Cincinnati, and he was a big second half riser last year, big swing speed changer last year as well. And is this the last round? I'll just close it out with some catchers who probably aren't going to be everyday players at first,

but could be impact players at some point this season. Kyle Teal, Edgar Quiro, both for the White Sox, right? That's the White Sox Quora. The Brewers also have one, but he's much less likely to matter this year. That's Jefferson. Yeah, Jefferson, Quiro. Augustine Ramirez, catcher for the Marlins, who, you sold 20 bases last year while hitting 22 steals, 25 homers last year.

He'll be up before the summer, I think. And then Adrian Del Castillo, there's a chance he is the backup catcher for the diamondbacks and get some DH opportunities alongside Paven Smith. So Pavin Smith. So those are some catchers to know. You missed my favorite catcher stash if you're in a league where you can afford to do that. And that's Dalton rushing of the Dodgers. With additional time off expected for Will Smith this year.

Like rushing's bat is clearly Major League ready. It's just a matter of finding a place for it in that lineup. They've tried him and left field some. I could see him coming up early on and playing a hybrid backup catcher, part-time outfield role. A couple other catchers worth mentioning because they meet the criteria, the Braves tandem of Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy. They're both going very late.

Baldwin's going to be the starter at the beginning. If you look at his numbers at AAA, whether it's the top line numbers or the exit velocity, nearly 93 mile per hour, average exit velocity for Drake Baldwin at AAA last year. So he looks impressive. Sean Murphy has, his, he's just, he's been rock-throddled in ADP since having this injury. Well outside the top 300, I see him going in two-catcher leagues. He might only miss two weeks. And maybe he'll be messed up from that point forward.

But as late as he's going in a two-catcher league, you got to draft Sean Murphy. Max Kepler of the Phillies, who was kind of messed up all last year with a knee injury. He's also worked with famed hitting coach Kevin Long on cleaning up his swing and having a more direct path to the ball, pulling the ball more to maximize his power. And he's look great this spring has Kepler. And he could be a productive player in a deep Phillies lineup. Did we talk about Mike Soroka, by the way?

Yeah. Yeah, Frank did. Okay. All right. Heston Kirstad, if he can find his way into regular bats for the Orioles, it seemed like they announced pretty early that they wanted him to be on the roster. And he wondered, how are they going to make it work with Ryan O'Hern there? You know, the Orioles know what they're doing with hitting.

And if they think Kirstad is that close to being ready, it wouldn't surprise me if he found his way into a more prominent role. Caleb Durbin, favorite of Doc Eisenhower. in 24 Arizona Fall League games he had 17 walks and 29 stolen bases again in 24 games he set the record the AFL record for most steals

and that's kind of his whole minor league career walks and steals with more doubles pop it's kind of a short guy I don't know if it's really going to work in the majors but the brewers he's 5-7 yeah he's pretty short yeah he's shorter than all of us on this podcast So yeah, that's short for a professional athlete.

I don't know if it's really going to work, but the Brewers obviously made a point to get him in the Devin Williams trade and seem like they're going to give him reps at third base. And if this terrain injury is serious, there could be an opportunity there. Jose Soriano throws very hard, gets a ton of ground balls. He's lead at both. He's got a new slider as well.

Dustin May's got the fifth starter job for the Dodgers. I don't think he'll hold up for long because he never has. but he has a great sinker should be a good source of ERA for as long as he lasts. Casey Mize, Splitter's been up three miles per hour this spring, former number one overall pick, maybe finally breaking through. Nick Martinez, elite whip guy, I love getting him outside of Pick 300. The Reds obviously felt he was valuable enough to extend him a qualifying this offer this offseason,

which he accepted, so he's making $21 million. they clearly believe in him. Kyle Hart, really deep one here. May not be the Padres fifth starter right away, but he was the Sy Young winner in Korea last year, and their version of the Cyang anyway, 269, ERA 103 width 10.4K per 9. Low arm angle he developed over there,

added a new sweeper. He could be a surprise once he gets built up for the Padres. And I still think Zebby Matthews is worst stashing. We've talked about him before. I'm just going to rattle off a few relievers here for deeper leagues. It is gross. I get that. Someone has to get saved for the Rockies. I think that someone is going to be Tyler Kinley to start the season

because he has been their best reliever so far. And he had 12 saves at the end of last year. He ended the season as their closer. And again, the spring six shutout innings, one hit, two walks, nine strikeouts. There's Victor Vondick there. Some people have talked up Seth Halverson, but both of those guys have struggled to this point in the spring.

Taylor Rogers and Scott Barlow, both in the Reds bullpen. With what's going on with Alexis Diaz right now, apparently he's going to work in the backfields on Tuesday when this podcast comes out. And the quotes that have come out from Terry Francona, he's got to figure this thing out. Taylor Rogers and Scott Barlow both have closing experience, so I could see it being either one of those guys.

I think it would probably be Rogers up first and then Scott Barlow, but Barlow's looked really good this spring too. And Emiliano Tejoto of the Texas, Rangers, who is a pitching prospect in their organization. He's a flamethrower. He picked up a couple saves this spring. He's got a wipeout slider as well. Sounds like the Rangers still want to try him as a starter in the minor.

So that's, I think, what he's going to start to do. But if they have a need in the bullpen, no one steps up. If Chris Martin doesn't look right as the closer, I think we could see Teoto up at some point the season and perhaps taking hold of that Rangers closer gig. So I'm not giving up. I'm still in it. I just want to say they haven't named Chris Martin the closer.

And Mark Church has been mentioned as a potential closer option for them by manager Bruce Bochy. So that's a name to know for this exercise. So is Robert Garcia. And I think I'd prefer Garcia to church. But it's probably going to be neither. I would say Chris Martin. Yeah. I got one more.

We haven't mentioned his name on the podcast once, but he's having a huge spring and has a good track record. And this Brandon Drury, who's with the White Sox now, two years ago he hit 262 with 266 homers, 83 RBI. Three years ago, 263 with 28 homers, 87 RBI. I don't know that he's capable of getting 80 plus RBI in the White Sox lineup, but I do think he hit 260 with 25 plus homers with the way he's looking this spring. I don't know what went wrong for him last year.

He was terrible, but he looks like, Brandon Drury is bouncing back. All right. We went a little bit long here, but obviously lots to talk about. A lot of fun, deep sleepers and just wanted to get all those off our chest. And hopefully they can help you this upcoming season. We're going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank.

Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.