Fantasy Baseball Today - Early-Season Trends, Statcast Standouts & Fantasy Feud! (4/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 3, 2026

Konnor Griffin is getting promoted on Friday (2:30)! ... Taj Bradley is doing some things (11:02). ... Reynaldo Lopez has had solid results but not much under the hood (16:19). ... Cole Ragans had a strong bounce-back start (20:20). ... News (24:14): Nick Lodolo's blister popped up again. ... Jordan Lawlar hit his first career homer (30:04). ... Ryne Nelson and David Peterson put up some stinkers (33:51). ... Who else stood out on Thursday (39:18)? ... Let's play FANTASY FEUD (47:05)! ... Any early-season trends and statcast data that stands out (1:04:44)? ... We wrap up with weekend pitching streamers (1:15:30). Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 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

Happy! ...in to fantasy baseball today on April 3rd. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, three games slate. So let's have some fun. I have Stackcast standouts, early season trends, and a game of fantasy feud. Let's go. They will be going head to head, Scott and Chris, for the first time this year.

But the big news of the day, we did an emergency podcast earlier on, The Pirates are promoting Connor Griffin here today on Friday. So make sure you check that out. But then shortly after we did that podcast, we found out that the two sides are working to finalize a nine-year, $140 million extension, which would, I guess, if it's not completed by tomorrow, I don't know how that'll work.

I guess it would be the longest extension for a player who hasn't debuted, but he's going to debut tomorrow. So I don't know. But I've also seen some speculation that they're going to delay the announcement of the contract until he makes his debut because for the prospect promotion incentive where teams get a first round pick if a guy, I think it's wins rookie the year or finish his top three in MVP in the first three seasons of their career, I think is the way it works. You get an extra first round pick if that happens, but you're not eligible for that if the player is signed for. an extension so like Jackson Cherio got his extension before he debuted so he wasn't eligible for that that's one that like that's not gonna work right like if the whole world is reporting that they've agreed to a contract but then they like wait two days to make it official so that he actually like

that can't you can't get away with that right it hasn't been reported that they've agreed to a contract just that they're working on one yeah i mean that that that that's That feels like some like some like spirit of the law versus letter of the law kind of stuff. Sure, sure. But people will exploit loopholes where they detect them. And that's probably why they've been insistent that the deal isn't done. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

I actually did not know. I've been saying ever since the last CBA that to get those draft pick incentives, the player has to be on the roster for his entire rookie season, like opening day to the end. I think it's, that's not true. I think it's you have to be up long enough to get the full year of service time. It's like,

100, 272 days or something like that. Out of 185, I think is what the full season is, something like that. Yeah. Yeah. So within the first like 13 days of the season or whatever, Scott,

any quick thoughts here on Connor Griffin? Where'd you move them up to in the rankings? I'm curious of what you guys said because like it happened. And it's like, well, he's rostered everywhere. Yeah. Um, we somehow managed to do it. Everybody knows he's awesome.

We did a 20 minute podcast, just talking, just raving about Connor Griffin for 20 minutes. I don't know. Let's see. I moved him up to 12th in Roto at shortstop, which is between Bo Bichette and Trevor story. Uh, I moved him up to 14th in head to head points where the steels won't be as valuable where the plate discipline is more important, which is plate discipline

might be fine, by the way. But it's not like that was a standout for him in the minors last year. It's 19 years old. So, like, he's still evolving in so many ways. But, and look, he didn't have a great spring. So he might come up and maybe he'll be overmatched. It's possible. But this is one of the most talented players we've seen in a long time.

I think in terms of pure the combination of physical ability and just like baseball instincts hitting especially. I think it's the best we've seen since Mike Trout. And that's why he's getting called up at age 19. So hopefully he's a hit right away. Obviously needs to be rostered everywhere. You ranked him even more aggressively than I did. Yeah.

I only got him to 16 in Roto. Yeah. That's where I had him. same. That's where I had him for most of draft season. Move him down when it was clear he, he wasn't getting called up. But yeah,

now that he is for sure on the roster, yeah. I guess we could pause, and maybe you guys got into this in your 20 minutes, we could talk about how if in redraft leagues, it might make sense to shop them. Yeah, we didn't mention that.

And I, you know, I, sent out a post earlier kind of ranking Connor Griffin outcomes by the likelihood and I came up with these four most likely he hits like

240 but he's a useful fantasy option because you get like 20 and 30 out of him right 20 homers 30 steals he kind of looks like willie adams last year maybe swapping power for speed right I think the second most likely outcome is like he's sent back to AAA before his 20th birthday He's just completely overwhelmed.

And then the third likeliest outcome is he's not that good, but he just sticks around the whole season because Pitt has nobody better. And then fourth is he's an absolute superstar. You think that's the fourth-likeliest of those outcomes? I think that's the third-likeliest outcome. And then the fourth is he's an absolute superstar immediately.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You think that's the fourth-likely... The fourth-likeliest of the outcomes is that he's just great. Yeah, I mean... That's probably why I rank him higher than you. How many... 19 year old rookies are superstars right away. Wadsoto was.

Bryce Harper was like an 810 OPS guy. Mani Machado wasn't quite 19 when he debuted, but it was his age 19 season. He was like a 750 OPS guy. It's hard to be even. Like Bobby Witt is an incredible player. He was a top prospect. He was a below average hitter, his rookie season.

As a major league hitter, he was just a top 30 fantasy hit. Like that's what I think the likeliest outcome in terms of performance is, is that he's not a great major league hitter right away, because almost no 19-year-olds are, but he's going to be great for fantasy either way, I think. I would be surprised if he only hit 240, first of all. Okay.

And, yeah, I don't know that I want to put a lot of specifics on it. Obviously, the upside's huge, and I'm willing to gamble on it in a mostly context over Trevor Story. But, you know, we'll see. Obviously, there is a possibility. He's just not ready. Hey. And if I was going to trade Connor Griffin,

even if I have Trevor Story ranked ahead of him, I would not trade Connor Griffin for Trevor Story. I would need to get a top. We said top 75 players. So like CJ Abrams, Mooky Betts, those kind of guys I would move Connor Griffin for it. But probably not. Willie Adamas, Jeremy Pena.

Yeah. Trevor's story, that kind of last tier of elite shortstop. Or like a top 20 starting pitcher. I know we don't often, you know, we usually compare in position, but that's what you, if you want to trade them, which, again, you don't have to. But there are a few people that hit me up earlier today saying, like, hey, I have Trey Turner and Connor Griffin. Like, what should I do? So, you know, shop Connor Griffin and see what you could get, but you don't have to trade him, you know. Yeah, it's a move to capitalize on the hype, which any scenario but the best scenario,

it's going to be hard to live up to the hype. So like, but if you're going to capitalize on the hype, capitalize on the hype. Oh, yeah. I found someone who'll take Connor Griffin. No, it shouldn't be like that. So the happiest of Kokomo Fridays to Pirates fans everywhere. Buster only added that there is an expectation among many industry sources that the aggressiveness of some teams to sign players will continue with the anticipation

that if there is a salary cap in the future, Any deal signed before December 1st might be grandfathered into the next system. So I think that's why we might be seeing some of these aggressive prospect extensions here so early on in the season. With that, let's get into our Players of the Night. Is this happening? It is. All right, Scott. Let's start with you. Three games. Lots to choose from.

Is this happening? Are we doing Players of the Night on a night on a night with three games? I guess so. It is. is our analysis of Thursday baseball. We talk about the three players. Okay, Taj Bradley is who I'm going with here because he threw six shutout innings at Kansas City

after also looking pretty good in his first start of the season. Only lasted four and a third innings in that first start, but had nine strikeouts, 17 whiffs, and then, you know, followed it up with these six shutout innings. So off to a good start, Taj Bradley, we could say. I wish he got a lot of wist. whiffs in this one too. I wish

that what we saw with the cutter in the first start had continued in the second start in that that first start it was like down two miles per hour

but it seemed to complement the rest of his arsenal better because he got a ton of wiffs on his fastball on that first start a ton of wiffs on his splitter. The characteristics

of those pitches didn't really change in this start and yet the whiffs went away. The cutter voles velocity came back up and the whiffs went away. Yeah, we're assessing two starts here, so it may be an oversimplification of what's happening with Taj Bradley, but given that he only had eight whiffs on 100 pitches, he only had three strikeouts and six innings, and the average exit velocity was 94.9 miles per hour,

I don't know that Taj Bradley really deserved to have a start this good. So I think skepticism is warranted. I'm not saying you can't roster him, but certainly I would rather be rostering some of the guys we've been talking about all week. Jose Soriano for sure. Jack Leiter, I'm sure he's rostered in leagues where you're even thinking about Taj Bradley.

Who else? I think Soriano and Bradley is the same exact thing. And it's just the stuff is great. and there's no sign of any consistency. And I think it's a coin flip. I think Bradley has a little more strikeout ability than Soriano. Well, I don't know. The addition of that four seamer, like that's a process change from Jose Soriano.

I always like process changes from pitchers who I feel like have been on the fringes of mattering in fantasy. And we're seeing a process change from Soriano that he maintained across two starts has yet to give up an earn run, right? I think it was back-to-back six shutout innings. So that's why I am more interested in Soriano. Bradley, you know, if that cutter was different like we saw on the first start, I could chalk that up as a process change, but it reverted in the second start. So I don't know.

I don't, I think he's going to, I think he remains on the fringes of mattering in fantasy, look Soriano isn't proving that either but I'm saying he's showing clearer signs of perhaps emerging as something more yeah I would take Soriano and Parker Messick over Taj Bradley for all the reasons for sure for me all the reasons you mentioned with Taj Bradley

just like giving up a lot of hard contact in this one I'm still intrigued he had the prospect pedigree apparently his stuff plus and his first start Taj Bradley was like 127 which was the best even in this one it was really high according to the pitcherless model and the you know, pitch profiler and a couple others. So like the stuff looks really good, but it's always like the thing with Taj Bradley is it's

never been a question of is the stuff good? And it's never been a question of can he have good starts? It's does he have the ability to do this consistently? There's been no sign of that. It's a lot like Gavin Williams that we were talking about last night. Yeah, I mean, Gavin Williams obviously had the sustained success in the second half last year, especially. But it's very similar in that a great start should not change your moment.

mind fundamentally about this guy unless there are. I mean, even if the stuff looks better than it has before, he wasn't at a deficit in stuff. So this is one where there are some players you can look at at one start and say, okay, there's something new here. I don't think you can ever do that with Todge Bradley just because he's been a different type of pitcher at several points in his career and it's never, nothing has ever stuck with him. Can I interest either of you in using Tosh Bradley next week to start week against the Tigers and the Blue Jays. He is among... You double check this, yeah.

He is among my 10 sleeper pitchers. Those matchups could be better, especially the Blue Jays one. So he's not high among my sleeper pitchers, my 10 sleeper pitchers, but he is on the list. Okay, that's fair. And while we're mentioning your sleeper hitters and sleeper pitchers, we're changing things up this year. We're not going to do that on the Friday podcast. That will be part of our FBT Express, which will come out every year.

Saturday. So be on the lookout for that. You can hear all about Scott's sleeper hitters, two star pitchers, all that fun stuff on that Saturday podcast. Yes. Yeah. A whole 10 minute podcast. It's just a separate little podcast. Okay. And it comes in the same feed, right? So you're not going to miss it. It's not going to miss it. It's also on the YouTube. So yeah, as long as you're subscribed, you won't miss it. Chris, let's go over to you for your player of the night. Do you have my drop ready? Yep, I got you. You can't keep getting away with it.

He can't keep getting away with it. He won't. He finally, I finished Breaking Bad. Yeah, let's go, Chris. I finished it. We're recording Thursday night. I finished Wednesday night. Good show.

Don't know if you guys have heard. That's the goat show. I think I like Better Call Saul better. Better Call Saul is really good, too. It's a close call. And obviously, Pluribus is not anywhere close to finish. but I really, I love the first season of that. I do want to watch it.

So I'm on board with this Vince Gilligan fella. He does good stuff. That is a quote from Breaking Bad, that drop, by the way. And it is referring to Raynaldo Lopez, who is partying like it's 2024 again, except somehow with even worse stuff. And he's just getting away with it anyway. Five innings, one run, run, three strikeouts, four hits, one walk, against a pretty good Diamondbacks team

after he, I believe in his first start also went five innings and gave up one earned run if I'm remembering correctly. It was six innings. Six innings of one earned run. He has six strikeouts and 11 innings in his first two starts. He has allowed two earned runs.

Pick your favorite stuff metric and look at it and Raynaldo Lopez does not look good. Pitcherless PLV gave it a an F for stuff in this one. A B plus for location, so the overall pitching score came out to a C or a C plus. So that's average, maybe slightly above.

And I can buy that Rinaldo Lopez can be an average or slightly better than average pitcher. I can buy, you know, if the average ERA is 404, I could see him being a 385 ERA pitcher. with a low strikeout rate and a ton of injury risk, and I just don't see much reason to be excited about Rinaldo Lopez. But I very famously thought there was very little exciting about him in 2024, and he finished the season with a sub two ERA.

So maybe he'll just keep doing it, and maybe he'll just keep making me look dumb. I don't know. I am willing to take that chance that Rinaldo Lopez will make me look dumb because I just, results aside, I don't think there's been very much impressive about these two starts. It's like it felt like it was just like 94 mile per hour fastball

down the middle and they just could not do anything with it over and over. And I just kind of how it felt in 2024, except it's two miles per hour last now is the thing. So there's already a lot of reasons for skepticism coming off that 2024 season. We didn't get to see how it played out in 2025. obviously, but now in 2026 here, he's lost velocity.

It's not as much as, it's not as big of a drop as we were seeing in spring training, but it was a bigger drop in this second start than the first start, and that brings it to about a two mile per hour drop. That is a big drop for anyone, but particularly somebody we weren't sure about in the first place. So I think that's totally fair. That said, Rinaldo Lopez is lined up to face the Angels next week. So he is a sleep.

pitcher for that. Yeah, I think that's perfectly reasonable to use him. Like I said, I can buy him as an average or slightly above average pitcher, and average or slightly above average pitcher should get a nice strikeout bump from the Angels at the very least. I just can't buy that he's like a

must roster pitcher or anything like that. Yeah, I think he's in that kind of streamer territory among starting pitchers, so at the Angels I think could work, but I think very clearly behind the names we just talked about, right? Like, obviously Even behind Bradley for me, yeah.

Yeah, I think behind Todge Bradley, too. I think there's more upside with Tosh Bradley right now as well. My player of the night here is going to be Cole Regens. Who bounced back but took a tough loss here against the twins. Six innings, one unearned run with eight strikeouts to one walk. 16 whiffs on 89 pitches. Really had everything working in this one. Had four plus whiffs on three different pitches here.

His curve was a little bit different to. The velocity was up two miles per hour. on that pitch. That pitch performed very well for him. He only allowed one hard hit in this game. So, you know, the first start was a rough one for Cole Regens. He struggled with control. I think he had four walks in that start and obviously bounce back here. So we weren't nervous about him, but obviously it was nice to see a bounce back here from Cole Reagan. Did you guys see anything that stood out to you in this start for him? I thought he looked great. I don't really have any if there were any concerns after the first start and there weren't,

I have none. 16 whiffs on 89 pitches. This is the kind of performance you needed to see from Cole Reagan's. Love to see it. The one thing is that the velocity remains down about a mile per hour on everything but that curve ball. So that's not nothing. If he's going to get this many strikeouts,

this many whiffs, I'm not too worried about it. This was against the twins, so, you know, it's not a final verdict or anything on Cole Reagan's for this year, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be sweating it. I wouldn't be sweating him if I drafted him as my ace, I think. He's still going to have a good season. All right, let's take our first break.

When we return, we'll get into the news and notes. My guy, Ladolo, man, this pesky blister will not go away. talk about it right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. Let's hit the news and notes. And as I reference, Nick Ladolo made a rehab start here on Thursday at Singale. He was cruising. Two and two thirds, perfect innings with four strikeouts, but left after just 40 pitches

when he was expected to throw 60 to 65. And it turns out he is still dealing with that blister on his left index finger. And it's incredibly frustrating, right? I mean, this is something that has hampered him for years. I really just wish that both he and the Reds would take the time to get this right. I don't know exactly if blisters just go away over time. Like, maybe it's just going to continue to be an issue, and that's why they just let him go out there and try and work through it.

But it, nonetheless, it is really, really frustrating. Yeah, I mean, he missed a couple of weeks last year with the blister in August, if I'm remembering correctly. He had the one in 2024. that, you know, the blister didn't directly derail his season. It was the after effects of it. It was that one was a middle finger blister. It messed up the feel for his curveball.

It led to a sprain when he had to change his grip. It does seem like they probably should have been a little more careful in holding Lidolo back. But I don't know. If he was past it, he was past it. And it's hard to say with any confidence. but it's it's frustrating and you know for those of you who are too young to remember this this is if you're a marlins fan especially of a certain age you remember josh becket early in his career would just miss months at a time with blisters and it was just like what's going on do we need like

some some hand lotion or the opposite of hand lotion maybe he needs to like just rub his hands with sandpaper or something but yeah it'd be nice if he could get past this and that was definitely a red flag when this came up right before opening day. You know, those last couple of drafts we did, I was definitely a little scared off of Nicodolo coming off the blister. So it's concerning. Man, the song, Money for Nothing, really downplayed the severity of getting a blister for somebody who's making millions of dollars.

That's going to be honest. That's one I don't. As Chris was our only hope for that song. And the chicks for free, but I don't remember. Yeah. Maybe get a blister on your little finger, maybe get a blister on your thumb,

acting like it's, you know, that's all you got to worry about. Turns out it's a lot to worry about, okay? It's a dire straits. It is dire straits. So we'll see what happens next four. Nick Ladolo, Spencer Shrider will throw a bullpen on Friday his first time throwing since suffering the oblique injury.

Mickey Moniac could be activated from the aisle when first eligible for Friday's home opener against the Phillies. Michael Waka has been scratched from his scheduled start Friday due to illness. Sean Murphy caught three innings of a simulated game with High A on Wednesday. He's working his way back from right hip surgery. J.P. Crawford was activated from the I.L. And should be in the lineup here on Friday for the Mariners. Jose Katana placed in the IL with a right hamstring strain, retroactive to Monday.

Valente Bayozo was recalled. from AAA. I think he's going to go into the rotation. Kind of feels like they should just give Chase Dolander a shot, but not sure that is going to be the case. Carter Jensen was scratching the line-up Thursday for oversleeping. Come on.

Yeah. Did you see like the long quote from Vinnie Pasquantino? No. I watched the video of him giving the quote, yes. It was surreal, like, I'm not mad, I'm disappointed. Like, he pointed out that like, Salvador Perez was supposed to get the day off to DH today. And an hour before the game, they can't find Carter Jensen.

They're like calling his family trying to find him. Everybody's worried about him. And Salvador Perez had to switch to catching at the last minute. It's can't do that. No. And, you know, it's a, I also did see a video that the Royals social media did earlier in spring training, asking everyone how many alarms they set when they wake up in the morning. And I believe Cardinals was like, one.

And I hit snooze a couple times. Like, oh, buddy, come on. I don't even set just one alarm. I mean, I set them and then turn them off. Oh, I just, I snooze like two to three times. Eventually I'll get up, but it. I'll do that snoozy thing. Takes a while.

I just don't. I still have, okay? Let's luxuriate with all the time we have here. I still have. It's going to be our longest podcast of the year. The general electric. 30 minutes in. The GE alarm clock.

Yeah, the brown like wood grain. Yeah, the one that everybody's parents had in the 90s. That plugs into the wall. It was the alarm clock I got for kindergarten, for kindergarten. So I could learn to wake up to go to school that goes, boop, bo, bo, bo, that one. Man, if I heard that alarm,

it would like immediately take me back to like, 1997. I still wake up to that alarm every day, unless the power goes out because it plugs into the wall. And so I have to set my phone too because I got to get up and do things. Yeah, you don't want to pull a Carter Jensen's guy. You can't just rely on the old alarm clock there. Last news item here, Mason Wynn was involved in a car accident on Wednesday but did not suffer any serious injuries. So bad situation, but, you know, good news that it sounds like he is all right there. Three, waiver wire hitters from Thursday, mostly deep league names. Jordan Lawler is kind of like a mid-tier name here.

But he hit his first career home run. 105.5. Exit velocity, 424 feet here for Lawler. He did get hit by a pitch later on in the game on his wrist, and he wound up leaving, but I just saw that x-rays were negative. So that's the good news for Lawler. He has started six of seven games. so far, 52% rostered on CBS has third base and outfield eligibility. How would you guys rank Owen Casey, Jordan Lawler, Cam Smith, three young outfielders with,

I would say a decent amount of upside. I have them, I have them rank Smith, Casey Lawler. Chris is a big Smith guy. Yep. I go Casey Lawler-Smith if that wasn't clear. Yeah. I think I would go that way too. but Smith is intriguing, man.

I mean, his bad speed was already really good, and it's up again this year, and he's running a little bit too. He's got two steals already, so it's... I looked up earlier today, just for the Connor Griffin article I wrote, the players who have, like, 90th percentile, max exit velocity and 90 percentile sprint speed,

just because I feel like that's a pretty good comp for the power speed potential, and it's mostly really interesting players, and Cam Smith is just, like almost there. It was Bobby Witt, Byron, Bion Bucson, Corbyn Carroll, O'Neillio Rodriguez, Jaron, Jaron, L.A. Dela Cruz, Luis Robert. Cam Smith was not far. I think he didn't get there with the

max EV, but his bat speed was borderline elite last year. So, and yet, and yet, the physical tools are very impressive. He has to figure out how to put them into action. He has, that's the thing. I mean, like, bat speed is, is an increasing bat speed. Yes, it's, it's a good thing.

ultimately it's a good thing because it often leads to better exit velocities and I'm not I'm not we haven't seen evidence of that of it actually impacting camsmith's exit velocities yet this year in fact is already not very good at average exit velocity from last year is even worse so far tiny sample it could change I would I would rather I would rather gamble on Casey for sure and I think even Lawler yeah Matt Walner hit another home run here his second of the season 106.8 exit velocity 405 feet. He has started all six games for the twins and has

hit fourth or fifth in each of them so far. And he's 39% rostered. I think that number is probably right. If he needs power, he's the name he could target. Seven games next week for the twins, but a pretty tough schedule. They have Scoobel and they have

Framber Valdez on there, so wouldn't be so eager to use Matt Wallner next week. Deep League corner infielder's Josh Bell just kind of doing his boring corner infield thing. One for three with another home run, back-to-back days with a homer for him. And he'll probably wind up with like his,

you know, 250, 20-ish home runs and he'll get traded somewhere. He'll be traded somewhere mid-season and, you know, maybe we'll talk ourselves into Josh Bell, but it's, you know, he's Josh Bell. And Dom Smith hit his second home run of the season. 109.1 exit velocity, 430 feet. This was a bomb.

The problem is he is not going to play against lefties. The Braves face three of them, next week. Yep. He has, you know, former top prospect in the Mets organization had a really good year, I think, in 2020, right? It was 2020, yeah. Yeah, and it looked like he was breaking out. It's been bouncing around kind of a quadruple-A type since then. Not totally disinterested, but I just don't think he's going to play enough to matter. Yeah. What happened with these two pitchers and what do we do with them? Ryan Nelson, outing here against the Braves.

Four and two-thirds innings, seven runs. Only three of those were earned, but three walks, three strikeouts here. Struggled to- Messed up, Frank. What I do? Not you, Ryan Nelson. He messed up. What did I say every time Ryan Nelson started last year?

60% plus fastballs. 60% fastballs, it's going to be a great start. If you throw any less, it's going to be bad. And he threw it only like 45% of the time. He mixed in his good. Goofy cutter. It's a chicken or egg thing though. You know.

Plan, man. It's chicken or egg thing. Was he not throwing the fastball because it wasn't working or did he go in not expecting to throw the fastball? That's the question. It looks like the first time through the order, he threw the fastball 60% of the time. And it was going fine. It was going fine.

It all blew up on. The fastball got crushed. It all blew. Well, I don't know what happened in the next few innings when they didn't score any runs, but. I don't know. Yeah. But it was seven hard hit balls, 101.5 average exit velocity, only a 17% CSW.

You're complicating things, Chris. It's remarkably consistent when he throws his fastball 60% of the time, good things happen. Or more. It can be more. It just can't be less. The thing I've always struggled with Ryan Nelson is like, yes, he had that good ERA for a long time. It was kind of similar to David Peterson had something. Yeah, it was like a year, year and a half.

And even like even more impressive, the ERA has been the whip during. that year the peripherals have never really supported it like even last year a 339 ERA 393 XERA and you would think like okay yeah he doesn't get a lot of strikeouts but he's got good command maybe he limits hard content it doesn't really stand out so I this is one I in a head-to-head points like I'm hanging on to him in a roto league if you wanted to drop Brian Nelson I'm open to it I want to do it I want to do with that whip he's a he's a great whip specialist he was maybe he was last year, but it was a $1.25.

Look at the second half of the year before, too. It's, it's, people forget about that because the start of 20204 didn't go well for Ryan Nelson. But once he figured it out, he's, let me, let me actually get in the number. Yeah, it was 103 in the second half of 24. Yeah. Yeah. That's great. Full season statistics are more. That's what they say. But even more than both of those is a season and a half worth of statistics. So, Scott, you wouldn't even drop, you wouldn't drop Ryan Nelson for all these names we keep talking about, like Parker Messick and Soriano or any of those guys? No, because...

Oh, in a Rotter League, I definitely have to rather have Magic. Whip is the hardest category to backfill, you know? Like, that is, you got to have your whip plan coming out of the draft. And I think if you drafted Ryan Nelson, he was a huge part of that plan. So don't let, I mean, he was fine in his first start, right? Don't let this one bad start scare you away. It's a long season. Yeah, I mean, his first start was not great.

Ryan Nelson, four and two thirds innings, four runs, three walks, two homers allowed. It was at the Dodgers. I guess it wasn't good in that start, and he did throw his fastball 60% of the time. Still, two bad starts. Don't let it scare you away from the plan. I do agree with holding on two minute points league. in categories league, I might be looking to chase someone with who I think has more upside than Ryan. It's hard to have more upside than a 105 whip.

I do want to point out, like, the fact that this is a dominant fastball guy and a fastball dominant guy who is now experimenting with a cutter, it's a little scary. It's a little scary. Sometimes it does mess up the movement. Yeah, I can mess up your, yeah, like I remember Carlos Rodon a couple years ago. Carlos Rodon's always been a super fastball dependent guy. He started working on a cutter when he lost his fastball. after the shoulder injury his first year at the Yankees. And it just kind of fell apart on him.

And he started to figure out in the second half of 2024 when he ditched the cutter. And that helped the fastball and slider. So I just, I have, I just kind of believe in Ryan Nelson less than Scott does. So I'm more willing to believe that it's not real either. Yeah, I always think back to like Chris Paddock with that same exact thing, right? Like his four-scene fastball change-up was awesome, his rookie year, and then tried to use a cutter, and it just completely jacked up his fastball, too. David Peterson also had a rough one here at the Giants.

Four in a third inning, nine hits, six runs, five of those earned. I don't think we had many expectations for David Peterson, but I looked at his roster rate 65% on CBS. That seems kind of crazy to me. I feel like he was really good for Points League last year. He does go deep into his starts, and he's, like, kind of boring in that way, but yeah he went six innings routinely for about it was a pretty long while because it was like most of 2024 when he was healthy and then a good stretch in 2025 and then I think things fell

apart in the second half um that was another one that I just never really believed in anyway the peripherals didn't support his success um so I I think you can pretty easily drop uh David Peterson yeah I I I would agree with that. Some other leftovers here. Luke Keishel, two for four in this game. Zero stolen base attempts. I know it's early on in the season, but he has had,

looks like, four singles and a couple of walks so far. So he's, it's like bit on first base six times and has an attempt to steal. Is that where you guys at all? Sprint speeds looked fine. Yeah.

His bat speed is up too. I mean, for someone like Keishel, like, we do need a little bit more oomph in the power department, so I kind of like that, although we haven't seen it translate yet. But any concern about no stolen base attempts so far? I guess just because he's hitting third.

So maybe they just don't want him running as much in that lineup spot. But I don't really, stolen bases tend to come in bunches. So I don't really have too much concern about that. Two slugging first baseman big old games here. Matt Olson beat up on the debacks and beat up on poor James McCann. He was in there late than came as a position player. Three for five with two. doubles, his first home run, three RBI here for Matt Olson, narrowly missed the second home run

off of McCann. It was like 418 feet. You could tell he was gunning for it too. It would have been nice there for Matt Olson. Raphael Devers, two for five with his first home run, 105.5. Exit Velocity, 404 feet to left center field off of a lefty. So pretty impressive shot there for Devers. And his teammate, Robbie Ray, solid here against the Mets, five in a third innings, two runs, seven strikeouts, three walks, always something to pay attention to with Robbie Ray. But 19 whiffs on 96 pitches. You'll love to see that for him. You know, struggle to throw strikes a little bit, but everything looked pretty good, you know, stuff-wise here for Robbie Ray getting a bunch of whiffs.

So I thought it was, I thought it's been like two pretty encouraging starts so far for Robbie Ray. Yeah. It obviously, he's, he's, showing that he's capable of being a contributor to your team. I had him as a bus pick coming into the year. I think if you've drafted him, you're in it now, and so there's no sense worrying about the downside, and he's showing he still is capable of missing a lot of bats, if nothing else.

So I would, you know, I'd be fine running him out there. And I do want to just stay in that game for a second. The reliever who came in right after Robbie Ray, Ryan Walker entered in the sixth inning of a game with a. a four-run lead, and his first two appearances were scoreless. Then he had that save situation on Monday night, where he allowed a two-run Homer with a three-run lead. So he made it close, but wound up converting that save.

And then his next time out, he's used in the sixth inning here. What do we make of the Giants' bullpen right now? You know, I presume, because you texted us all this when it was happening, You've been keeping us abreast of bullpen decisions as games are going on. And I just kind of assumed from that that, oh, somebody must have been in a jam. So they brought in Ryan Walker in this high leverage situation. But no, the bases were empty. And they probably ended up.

It's the bottom of the lineup, I think, too, right? Yeah. I don't know if it's like a, it was a confidence building situation. I mean, at the time, they were up, what, five to two? I don't know. It doesn't seem like that situation either. Who else would they have clothes if not him? This was something I was a little worried about,

is that we might get some like Galaxy Brain. Oh, God, who is the Gabe Kapler? We might get some Gabe Kapler type stuff out of Tony Vitello. Here's from Alex Pavlovich who covers the Giants for NBC Sports Bay Area. Tony Vitello said the staff talked before the game about using Walker right after Ray since they're pretty much the exact opposite looks, left slash right, and very different arm angles. Didn't want the Mets to feel comfortable after getting Robbie Ray out of the game. Sure.

That doesn't sound like a closer to me, though. Well, I just like, I don't know if, like, I don't know if, like, I don't know if, in maxing that kind of stuff in a six-run game, which is what it was at the time, or four-run game at the time. Like, that, that feels like you're getting too cute about it, you know? Like, sure, I understand the thought process there, but then there's other guys are going to have to come in after Ryan Walker.

So, like, what kind of edge are you actually gaining from that thought process? I don't think it means Ryan Walker isn't the closer, but it's the kind of like stupid like a fox move that makes me worry just about how they're going to use Ryan Walker moving forward. Right. Like he's probably the top choice for saves,

but how many saves is this kind of decision making going to cost them? Yeah. I will say, Kinwin has looked very good in very small sample sizes for them. He's got that awesome splitter. He was a starter.

We had some interest in. a couple of years ago before a bunch of injuries, I believe. So that's a name to keep in mind as a Ryan Walker alternative, but I wouldn't read too much into this besides that it just might be frustrating at times. Yeah, Keaton Wynn pitched the eighth inning in that save on Monday. He struck out the side. He has made three appearances so far, and it's been three no-hit innings, six strikeouts to one walk. And he's only 2% rostered.

So if you play in deeper leagues where you are just, you know, bottom of the, the barrel for saves and you need to speculate or even if you have Ryan Walker in a deeply context like that so and all only leagues 15 team roto i might just throw a you know very small bid on keaton win this weekend and see what happens there let's take our final break winner return head to head scott versus chris fantasy feud right after this welcome back in fantasy baseball today and it's time for the feud it's like family feud for the those who have watched Family Feud. We'll have three different categories here.

I'll ask the question. These guys buzz in. Whoever gets to higher ranked answer, chooses if they pass or play the category. Are you guys ready? Yeah, I'm just pulling up a list of team names. That's all. I don't think that's true.

It does help. I just want to look at names of baseball. I don't know if I trust that. Take it. Take the comments off. Put the view. private chat. That's right. I've taken the comments off as well. Yeah, that's right. Honestly, the chat is really good at this game too. You really put out a bunch of good answers.

So let's get easier when it's not when you're not the one on the clock. Okay. Yeah, that is sure. Let's keep it simple this early in the season. We're not going to get too crazy. I'm not going to throw you like, you know, swinging strike rates, stack has stuff, ex-wo, all this crazy stuff. We're just going to go hits, strikeouts for pitchers and RBI so far. Let's jump into the feud. I got some music here. I don't know if that's too loud, too low, but whatever. We're going to play it. All right, here we go.

First question, eight hitters have 10 plus hits so far this season. Just say your name, Chris. Yes, Chris. Oh, crap. 10 plus hits. Okay, all right. I'm struggling to think of one too. This is Justin Crawford.

That was a dumb guess. Justin Crawford. Yeah, that sounds right. That sounds right. Oh, man. Now Scott just needs to get one. We are off to a resounding start. I don't know why T.J. Rumfield is coming to mind.

That's, I used that a little bit of games. Okay, we just keep going back and forth until one of us gets it. All right, Chris. Name a hitter who gets a lot of hits. Like, there's got to be some obvious ones, but the name that came to mind was O'Neill Cruz. I know he's got five against lefties. He's got to have five against righties. We're joking.

No, he doesn't. T.J. Rompfield has nine hits, by the way. Oh, that was a good guess then. O'Neill Cruz has, I don't know, seven. All right, so I got to name somebody now. Eight hitters have 10 plus hits this season. Maybe after today, but this was before today's actions.

He doesn't count. All right. So it's on me. Brendan Donovan. Brendan Donovan is correct. Chris, would you like to pass? Pass or play? That's a good call.

Passing is a good call. Brendan Donovan has exactly 10 hits this season. Yeah, I noticed, I saw someone the other day note that he's been really good so far and has, like, scored one run or something because he's batting at the bottom and lineup and the guy's at the top of lineup. I think is the way it's been working.

Randon Donovan has 10 hits, four runs scored so far. Okay, four runs, that's fine. And he has a steal, and he has two home runs. He's been really good. Look at that. Well, then he's only scored two runs, not of his own volition. Mm-hmm. All right.

So, I got a name some players here. Boy, let's go, I don't know, let's go with Corbyn Carroll. Corbyn Carroll is incorrect. That's a good guess, though. Think of some guys who have had, like, big games. I am. I am, Frank. I'm thinking of guys who have had multi-hit games.

Which Justin Crawford has, too. I know Chris guessed him. Corby and Carroll has seven hits so far. Okay. All right. It's also got to be guys hitting at the top of the lineup. Yeah. Let's say.

Oh, oh, South Stewart. Oh, that was. gonna be my steal. Sal Stewart is. Now I gotta look because it feels like he should be on this list. Yeah, he definitely should be, right? But he has nine hits. Wow. Okay, I was never gonna steal it then. Thank you, Scott. All right, that is Scott's second strike. Chris, be ready to steal. Oh, yeah, he's still got a steal. I could win this without getting anything right. I think I would have played this one, Chris. That is like... danger in passing.

Uh, boy. Um, come on. How about, uh, oh, oh, oh, another brewer. Uh, Bryce Terang. Bryce Terang is. He has nine hits. There are a lot of players. I got a lot of nine hitters.

You got a lot of nine hitters. All right, Chris, we need an answer to steal. I just worry he's been a, oh, oh, Chandler Simpson. Chandler Simpson for the steel is correct. I watched a highlight video of all of his hits earlier today and it felt like 10. Here are the eight hitters with 10 plus hits. It was not a particularly impressive highlight reel. I actually, I was thinking about him, but then you mentioned he's got a bat high in the lineup and I was like, that's true.

And Chandler ends. Good job. Here are the eight with 10 hits so far. Yandy Diaz has 12. Dalyle has 11. And then we have a bunch with 10. Williara-Abreu with 10. Yordaun Alvarez.

Come on, Chris. That's your guy. Brendan Donovan with 10. Chandler Simpson with 10. John Carlos Dany has two hits in every game. I was thinking jazz chisholm, but I wasn't sure. And Joey Weimer. Joe Weimer with 10 hits.

How about that? So Shailang Lierf was not on that list? No. No. Okay, because I was about to. I was about to say that one. Because he has five just at the home runs. I should have thought of Dale and Lyle.

The two names that I just quickly wanted to highlight here, Dail and Lyle has started all six games for the Nationals. He has hit cleanup in each one. He's got the 10 hits. He's got 11 hits, excuse me, three doubles, six runs scored, 14% strikeout rate. He's looked good so far. And Chandler Simpson, he did not start against the lefty on opening day,

but has started all five games since, including one lefty. He has multiple hits in four of four. five starts and also has two steals. So nice start to the season here for Chandler Simpson. All right, here we go. There's another sound drop we could have used here. Well, I got the game show music.

I can only, unless you wanted to say it out loud, Chris. I mean, it's a Thursday, Thursday tradition. Oh, what? Scottie doesn't know. We'll see how it goes. We'll see how it goes. I thought about doing Scott. He doesn't know today.

I forgot about that one. It's coming soon. Don't worry. All right, eight pitchers have 15 plus strikeouts. so far this season. Eight pitchers. Chris. 15.

Chris, you're up. Kevin Gosman. Kevin Gosman, the number one answer. 21 strikeouts, pass or play. How many pitchers? Eight. 15 strikeouts. And I got to get seven of them.

Before I get... Three strikes. I mean, I got a pass, right? I would play. I mean, like... I don't know, no, no, I'll play. Do whatever you want. I'll play.

It's a little game theory, but I don't know, like, Scott looks a little cold right now. So I was like, you know, he would have to steal it and get a right to win. He just has to get one. Yeah. Which you did. Okay. I'm playing. All right, let's go.

Kevin Gosman, number one answer. 21 strikeouts. Cameron Schlittler. Cam Schlittler is correct. He has 15 strikeouts. He is eighth on the list. Well, tie for seven. Hmm.

I don't think that guy's made a second start. That's what I'm thinking about who's made two starts. Oh, Jacob Mizirowski is the number two answer on the board. 18 strikeouts so far. No, because he had a bad second start in terms of strikeouts at least. Boy, this should be easier. Matthew Boyd. Matthew.

He's just writing his name. Matthew Boyd is tied for third on the list. 17 strikeouts. Okay. All right. We're making some progress. I need four more answers with three strikes. He's only made one start.

Yeah, it's Logan Gilbert. Logan Gilbert. No. Eh. Mm-hmm. Ooh, I think this guy has. Logan Gilbert has, let's see how many. He has 13, 13 strikeouts.

Yeah. Is this including tonight? What's up? This is not included tonight. Not including tonight. Ooh. No, it's just who's made a second start? A lot of people have. Right, but like Chris Sale's second start was only like three strikeouts.

Terrick Scoubles' second start was only like three strikeouts. So don't guess them. I'm not. I'm going to need some answers here, Chris. Yeah, we're going to need some answers. Demanding answers. Drew Rasmussen. Drew Rasmussen is incorrect.

Yeah, I didn't think that. Your second strike. I should have passed is what I should have done. Too late now. Drew Raspisian has 10 strikers. I shouldn't have let you guys bully me into taking it.

I didn't say a thing. I mean, it was just me. All right, Chris, final answer. Boy. Boy. Yeah, now I've got to get 80% no, I got to get 100% right. I can't get one wrong.

It's ridiculous. And I don't know. Scott has a sly look on his face. I think I have an answer. Max Fried. Max Fried is incorrect. Scott, you are up for the steel. All right.

I wrote down two names, but the one I am more confident in. Max Fried only has 10 strikeouts, is Hunter Brown. Hunter Brown for the steel. It's correct. 17 strikeouts for Hunter Brown. Next up on the list.

Well, in order. Kevin Gosman, Miziarowski, Boyd, Brown. Christopher Sanchez. That was the other name I wrote. Gavin Williams? Come on, Chris. Just yesterday, Chris. I kept looking at the Phillies, and I was like,

well, it's not Zach Wheeler, and I just could not get to it. It's just like. And then Garrick Crochet has 15 as well. Really? Yeah. So, yeah, that was. Yeah, because like Chris Sails,

Terrick Scouble, their second starts were both not great strikeout starts. Yeah. So in this category, Scott, I did want to get your quick thought on Gavin Williams, excuse me, what you thought about him on Wednesday. I mean, one of the best starts of his career.

Yeah, I liked him bringing that sweeper back in because he didn't really throw it in his first starts when very cutter-heavy in that first start. Actually, the pitch selection in the second start was very similar to last year. He took off in the second half last year, especially making a leap with the controls. So very encouraged by it.

All right. It's not it. Let's wrap up here. The rubber. match, the rubber category. Are you guys ready? Here we go. Yes.

Nine hitters have seven plus RBI so far. I knew you were going to get this. Liam Hicks. Liam Hicks is number one with 12 RBI. Well, Chris, pass or play? Pass. Okay. All right, Scott.

Good luck getting 11. You got to get eight other hitters here with seven plus RBI. All right. Let's go with another catcher, Drake Baldwin. Drake Baldwin is correct. Now I'm in trouble. He had, uh, he had seven entering today, but got another one.

He's up to eight. So he's tied for second. Okay. Someone had a six RBI game the other day. I cannot think of who it was. Yeah. It was like someone not that good too. Yeah, right.

I know, I know there have been some bad players with some big RBI games so far. But I have to actually remember them. And that is the trick. Okay, let's say that somebody else with that many RBI is Sal Stewart. Sal Stewart, is it correct? Okay, okay. Oh, Shea Langalears, that's neat. Shea Langalears is correct.

Is it all catchers? He has eight RBI so far. I cannot answer that question. Sal Stewart How about Sal Stewart with two home runs And a whopping three RBI so far this year Wow not not clutch I might be thrown away a guess with this one

Or not Let's say Let's Hmm Let's Sounds like Mario Kart Yeah a little bit Yordon Alvarez

Yordaun Alvarez Is it Correct. Oh. He has six RBI. Okay. But eight run scored. That was your second strikes, Scott.

That was my second strike. I don't get any more strikes. All right. What do we got? I got to make a count. Let's go. Oh, um, let's guess, let's guess John Carlos Stanton.

Big G to keep Scott alive is incorrect. All right, Chris. All right, Chris, we need an answer for the steel and the job. What do you got? The good news is Marlins mentioned again. Owen Casey. Owen Casey for the steel and the win for Chris. It's correct.

It's correct. Eight RBI for Owen K. Your top two RBI leaders, Liam Hicks and Owen Casey. I believe Yon Diaz is also up there. Let's go fish. Yeah, so in order, Liam Hicks, Owen Casey, Corbyn Carol, Yandy Diaz, Sheaangaliers, Drake Baldwin, Carlos Correa, Christian Walker, and Christian Yellich. I wanted to highlight the two Astros on this list.

The Astros lineup is off to a nice star. We know Altuva had the two-homer game. Alvarez off to a great start. Correa the other day hit a three-run homer off of Crochet. He's got a 10% walk rate, 10% K-rate so far. Also 58% ground ball rate for Korea. Christian Walker has five doubles early on, seven RBI, 11% walk, 18% K, 95.7 average exit velocity.

Very small sample size, but Christian Walker, older player, got up to a really slow start last year. It's been a nice start so far. More or less like himself in the second half. And I did notice earlier today, Frank, I think you mentioned this in one of the recent podcasts, but Jeremy Pena has been starting every other day. Yeah. so far and that has helped make the log jam in the infield a little more palatable,

but they're going to have to be more aggressive about using Jordan Alvarez in the outfield if Isak Paredes is going to keep playing as much as he has. I think Wednesday was his first day off of the season. Hopefully that doesn't become a trend because he's been fine. Esauk Prez. He's got like a 350 OBP, but he has five doubles, I think, or four doubles. So he's been okay. Correa and Christian Walker being off to such hot starts has not helped. Yeah.

But, yeah, there are still ways to make it work. Yep, yep. So nice start there for the Astros. Nice start for Chris. Our winner here on Fantasy Fusion. Play the song. What do we got? Give the people what they want.

Oh, I don't have it loaded up. Come on. I had one job. Scotty doesn't know. Yeah, there you go. Oh, Scotty doesn't know. Whoa. There you go.

Oh, Scotty doesn't know. Yeah. Scotty does not know. I did want to wrap up a few very quick things here. Just some early season trends that I've noticed. You know, early on, like the first couple days were like, oh, you know, there's a lot of home runs being hit. Like, what's going on so far with the offensive environment?

I just wanted to point out that before Thursday's games, it was an 11.2% home run-to-fly ball ratio. At the same point last year, it was 12.5% home-run to fly-ball ratio. So that is the only way that I know how to track this. I know that there are way smarter people than me that can, you know, look at every fly ball that has been hit and things like that. But just based on home-run to fly ball rate, it has not been a juicier ball so far.

I did not know this was a thing until a couple days ago, but there is a drag dashboard on baseball savant. That would help. That I actually don't know how to find it on the website, so just search for baseball savant drag. And it shows you the average drag co-affidate. I don't know what this stuff actually means, but it tells you how the ball is traveling relative to other years. They've got a nice visual. It does not look like there is significantly. less drag on the baseball than there was last year.

And you can look at it, 2019 had the lowest amount of drag on the baseball, which means that the ball traveled further when it was hit. It was less affected by wind resistance, I guess would be the way to put it. And that would be the main thing that would cause the ball to fly further. There is no evidence that that is happening right now. This is why we don't do analysis based on,

hey, that thing that I saw that looked weird, you know, like we can just look at data. We have that ability now. We don't have to say like, oh, Maricio DuBahn hit a home run. That doesn't look like a normal thing that happens. We can just look at the actual data and see that, no, the ball is traveling more or less exactly like it did last year. That will vary throughout the year based on atmospheric conditions and everything, but it looks exactly like it's supposed to right now. We don't have a dramatically different offensive environment. Some early season stack cast standouts.

And bat speed gainers and losers, again, we're not exactly sure how this correlates with like fantasy production and things like that yet. But I feel like it's something that we should at least take note of to see what comes of it, because like Bryce Terrang last year was an early bat speed gainer, and eventually it did lead to big production for him within the season. The biggest gainers, all over five miles per hour,

gained in bat speed. Miles Straw, Thomas Sejacy, and Denzel Clark. Do with that what you will. Other notable gainers, Luis Anhele O'Hunia, Lucichael, Tyler Stevenson, Colt Keith, Cam Smith, Reese Hoskins, Liam Hicks, Matt McLean. All of those names are up between two and a half and three and a half miles per hour on their bat speed so far this season.

Who is Miles Straw playing for? Blue Jays. He's still being paid by the Guardians to play for the Blue Jays, relief. I didn't know he had a job anywhere. So I think he's still under that contract. The Guardian signed him to a while back. I think he's a short side platoon there. Yeah. There is a, an account on Twitter, Jacob Hirsch, J. Hirsch, 04. He is the hitting coordinator of driveline baseball. And he appears to have a model for bat speed changes that I saw he was talking about Colt Keith earlier today.

And by the model that they use, which I assume is based on the data that they've compiled in-house, the bat speed gain that Colt Keith has added so far would account for something like a 55-point improvement in expected Wobah on contact, which is significant. He would have been projected to go from 28 barreled balls last year to 48. That's a huge jump based on a three-mile-per-hour bat-speed game. My hunch just is that that doesn't pass the sniff test for me, that there are more variables than just bat speed and increasing your bat speed can change your bat length and change your swing path in ways that might not necessarily lead to changes or positive changes in production. But that's just my guess. And like I just said about the baseball, we have data. now. We have smart people analyzing data. So we don't have to just rely on some dude in a Marlins hat guess.

So if smarter people are saying that these bat speed gainers should add productivity, I'm more inclined to believe them than my own hunch. But I'm skeptical that just swinging the bat harder is just a fix for everything. Over the past couple of years, there have been instances where we say, hey, look, this guy's bat speed is up, two miles per hour, whatever. And it didn't really... It doesn't matter. It didn't really affect anything. I mean, Bryce Terang until August last year.

Well, we at least saw as exit velocities go up. Yeah. And it was just a launch angle issue. So ultimately, at the end of the day, like, this is interesting. And if any of these guys do see a jump and batting average, well, we can tie it back to this. But ultimately, I'm still looking at exit velocity. more than this. Yeah.

It's just going to take longer to see that. Yeah. The advantage of using bat speed in this instance would be it should be a leading indicator. You know, it would show up before the production does because bat speed can stabilize a lot quicker, but, you know, it's still very noisy. I just wanted to highlight Matt McLean for a quick second. His bat speed is up 2.6 miles per hour, and I know he's off to a slow start. but everything else under the hood

the strikeout rate is high, 30%, but his expected stats all look good, his average exit velocity 95 miles per hour, his barrel rate is 23%. So like if you drafted Matt McLean, you were one of the people who bought the hype this spring continue on, like keep the faith, because a lot of the stuff

under the hood still looks really good here for Matt McLean. Six hitters with at least four barrels so far this season. Christian Walker, Luke Rayleigh, Yoron Alvarez, Williare a break, Shay Langalears and Sal Stewart. So, you know, Stuart, a breakout hopeful. We talked about Christian Walker.

He's off to a nice start there. Williara-Brayu, just kind of carrying things over from the WBC. Luke Rayleigh shows up on multiple of these lists so far. I mean, he's hitting the ball really hard. Not going to play against lefties, but I think a deeper name that should be on your radar. Seven hitters with an average exit velocity over 97 miles per hour so far.

A. E. E. E. Hennio Suarez, Roman Anthony, Ryan Jeffers Garrett Mitchell Jordan Walker Jock Peterson Yordon Alvarez Jordan Walker is the one that kind of stood out to me here

The plate discipline has been good for him so far ground ball rate is 36% so he's hitting the ball hard and he's not hitting it all into the ground so again very small sample size but it's I think it's a little intriguing there for Jordan Walker

He's just like swinging out of his shoes every single time His bat speed is up to 79.6 miles per hour. I think that's the highest in baseball, right? It is. He was already 99th percentile last year, and he's added 1.5 miles per hour. His fast swing rate is up to 91%.

That's how many swings were 75 miles per hour or harder. Last year, it was 78%. But the most notable thing would be that he's hitting the ball in the air more. It's very early, too early to know whether that will stick. but this is what we would want to see from Jordan Walker. It doesn't necessarily mean he's becoming the guy we hoped he would be, but the physical tools have always been there. This dude is a really, really good athlete.

He's only 23 years old still, which is mind-blowing for how long Jordan Walker has been around. So I'm not ready to declare Jordan Walker a changed man, but I'm very intrigued by what we're seeing right now. Six hitters with an expected Wobah over 550, which is just a hilarious number, and it's very clearly not sustainable, but it's good early on in the season. Luke Raleigh, South Stewart, Dom Canzon, Yordaun Alvarez, Hazu Sanchez, and Ramon Luriano. So some deep league platoon outfielder's here.

Luke Raleigh, Canzone, and Jesus. Man, Sal Stewart seems like he's a monster. He's so good. He's so good. Like in addition to the contact quality, which was fantastic. It's been fantastic so far this year. It wasn't spring training. It was in the majors last year.

The minor, like, he's walked more than he struck out so far since the season started. He walked more than he struck out in spring training as well. He has the hitting profile here is just so impressive in every way. and he started every game for the Reds, so it doesn't seem like that's going to be a question. He has hit cleanup in every game as well, Scott. Yeah, I think Sal Stewart, you know, with a loaded rookie class,

I'm not going to say he's a shoe in for rookie of the year, but he might offensively be the best rookie this year. One of my two bets that I put in before the season, Sal Stewart to win rookie of the year. Nationals under 65 and a half wins. They already have four wins. They're off to a good start. There was a also very good piece from Jay J. Jaffe on fan graphs on Thursday about Sal Stewart. Headlines South Stewart has leveled up.

Worth checking out for a lot of the nitty-gritty details about what he's doing so far. But yeah, everything looks good right now for South Stewart for sure. And just some notable underachievers in Wobah versus expected Wobah so far this season. These are mostly stud players. if you have them. Again, we've only had a week of baseball, so we shouldn't be freaking out about anything, but I know that there are some people out there who are freaking out about some things.

So these are players who have underachieve so far. They should have better results based on expected Wobah. Josh Naler, Freddie Freeman, Bobby Witt Jr., Spencer Steer, Yvonne Herrera, Marcel Ozuna, Zander Bogartz, Will Smith, Ronald Acuna, Dalton Varsho, and Boba Chet. So keep the faith with all those players there. wrap up with Scott's favorite to stream or not to stream, and we will start with Friday, where we have a good amount of options. Will Warren up against the Marlins, Michael McGreevy at the

Tigers, Brady Singer at the Rangers, Joe Boyle at the Twins, Mitch Keller against the Orioles, Chad Patrick at the Royals, Reed Detmer's against the Mariners, Grant Holmes at the D-backs, Tyler Malley, home against the Mets. I'm going to say, I think my favorite here is Joe Boyle. Minnesota. There's a lot of downside risk there, but the upside, you know, he didn't walk anybody in his first start. So hopefully he can throw strikes again. Will Warren against the Marlin seems okay, even though they have a couple of RBI leaders we've learned. Just watch out for that Liam Hicks, man. I mean, battle first place teams, maybe. Five and one versus five and one. My third choice is it's between Chad Patrick and Grant Holmes. I think

either's okay. I think yesterday I went with Warren, Patrick, and Boyle. So I'll stick with this. I will say I don't want to use Mitch Keller, but I know Nick Pollock saw some interesting stuff in the changes that Mitch Keller made this offseason in his first start. So something to keep in mind. Something to keep an eye on, I guess.

I listened to the craft podcast between him and Enosaris, and they came to the conclusion that this crazy movement profile on his sinker was very wind-aided for Mitch Keller. Interesting. Yeah, he made his first start in City Field, and apparently the wind in City Field early in the season is, like, crazy, and it affects a lot of pitch movement and things like that. On Saturday, we have Eric Lauer at the White Sox.

Ret Louder. Eric Lauer, Rhett Lauer, Rett Lauer, Rett, at the Rangers. Stephen Matt's at the Twins. Mick Abel against the Rays. Mike Soroka, Mike Soroka, against the Braves, Landon Roup against the Mets and Emerson Hancock at the Angels. Pretty good sling as well. I like Lauer at the White Sox.

I like Hancock at the Angels and I don't mind Able against the Rays. Mike Soroka Revenge game, baby. No, yeah, I agree with Scott's calls. Soroka revenge game, yeah. Yeah, remember, Mike Soroka used to be a ground baller for the Braves.

And now he's like a fly ball strikeout guy. So weird. I would go Lauer, Lauer, louder. And Hancock. Lauer, Louer, Louder, Hancock. I like louder pitching in Texas. It's a good place. Lauer, Abel, and Hancock.

All right. And then on Sunday, we have Braxton Ashcraft against the Orioles, Parker Messick against the Cubs, Nick Martinez, at the Twins. Kyle Harrison at the Royals, Lance McCullors at the Athletics, and Jacob Lopez, home against the Astros. I can't see starting Lopez there.

I'm not pulling the plug on him, but that first start was just too rough. Yes, disaster. Harrison at the Royals. Yep, that's my favorite. Messick, Mesick even with a bad matchup against the Cubs. I'm not saying he's a must start or anything, but we're choosing from streamers here.

I just don't think Messick should qualify for this, so I have to say him, right? Like, I think he should be more rostered. I usually go under 75% roster on CBS. Yes. Yeah, I think he should be close to 100. I mean, I don't mind Ashcraft against the Orioles. I think he's going to be a pretty high floor play most of the time,

but I am intrigued by McCullors at the athletics. I just, I hate that it's in Sacramento. toe. It just kind of scares me, but... Yeah, they're very strikeout prone, though. That's 35% strikeout rate so far. I would go Messick Ashcraft Harrison on Sunday. Those three for me.

All right. Well, we were going to wrap there. You know, Chris, I heard the sirens going off. I wonder how many people listening to this podcast in their car think that, like, they're being chased by, like, a cop or something. There's a song by the flaming lips called Mr. Ambulance

Driver. I believe it it was in the Wedding Crashers soundtrack. You know the scene late when they like break up as friends and it's like somber? I think that's the song that's playing. But it starts with an ambulance. And I used to listen to that song a lot when I was driving and I'd always go like, oh, oh. Well, you do that to a bunch of listeners as well, I'm sure.

Just a reminder. Again, if you want Scott's sleeper, hitters and pitchers for Week 3, make sure to, A, check out his articles, which will be on the site. And also check out our shorter 10-minute podcast. be out on Saturday. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris. I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Podcasts.