Fantasy Baseball Today - FBT Express - Latest Waiver Wire Adds! The Cubs Recalled Matt Shaw! (5/20 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Cubs have recalled Matt Shaw. Let's discuss on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome into FBT Express on Tuesday, May 20th. I am Frank Stamfield, joined by Chris Towers. Let's go over to the big waiver wire ads from recent days. And the Cubs have recalled their top prospect, Matt Shaw from AAA. He was in the lineup batting 9th on Monday. He went two for four with an RBI double and his first steal of the season.

Starting point is 00:00:27 He was sitting much better in the minors, showing off power. hour speed batting average the whole nine yards 52% rostered here chris do you think matt shaw is a must add we're available no there are shallow enough leagues where it's probably hard to make him fit on a roster but we are telling about a guy who was a top 20 prospect pretty much across the board coming into the season who really struggled in his first 18 major league games but that really shouldn't scare us off. You know, that's a very small sample. It was his very first taste of the majors.

Starting point is 00:01:04 And you're still looking at Matt Shaw for upside. We saw the downside, and the downside is he's unplayable. But he was also clearly overwhelmed. You know, I think he was, his approach at the plate would probably be best described as timid. He swung at 31% of pitches he faced. That would be by far the lowest mark in the majors. The lowest for qualifiers is 35. percent with Juan Soto.

Starting point is 00:01:29 Juan Soto, obviously, a very different type of hitter, very patient. Matt Shaw, I think, was on the passive side of things. But went down to AAA, looked more like himself. Last 10 games, average exit velocity was that 93.4 miles per hour. Plate discipline was still very good. I think Matt Shaw is someone who absolutely still has difference making upside, and that's worth chasing. Chris, how do you rank Javier Baez, Josh Young,

Starting point is 00:01:58 Jake Berger and Matt Shaw. These are kind of recent third base kind of pop-up names here. It's probably young. Burger versus Shaw is close. I think Berger probably has a higher floor, although obviously his floor is very, very low, but has a more direct path to hitting that floor.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Like, I think there will be certainly a point where Jake Berger is a must-start player for several months. I can't say that with as much confidence for Matt Shaw this season. So he's probably third. Shaw and then Hobby bias is clearly last for me. I'm also unsure of what the playing time is going to look like for him when Parker Meadows is back, which could be in the next couple of weeks. So yeah, I'm not really buying Hobby bias as fun as the story has been. Let's continue on with some other waiver wire hitters. And Austin Hayes just kind of feels criminally under roster right now.

Starting point is 00:02:53 He's 57%. Taylor Ward is also on a home run binge. He's got he's homered in 3rd. He's home run. three games in a row. I think he has like five in his past seven. Chris, who do you like more between Austin Hayes and Taylor Ward? I think it's definitely Hayes. Ward is one of those guys that just he goes through his ups and downs throughout the course of a season. It never really changes who he is on a fundamental level. The bad times don't change it. The good times don't change it. And at the end of the season, he'll have that mid-700s OPS and just be a kind of boring starting option. I think Austin Hayes does have the upside to be more than that. And that's what we've seen really all season when he's been healthy. He's missed time with a calf and a hamstring

Starting point is 00:03:32 injury, but it really hasn't slowed him down. And Austin Hayes hit 22 homers back in 2021. That was the last year before the Orioles moved the fences way out in left field. It became the toughest place for a right handed hitter to hit for power. And like, Austin Hayes doesn't have a lot to fall back on if he's not hitting for power. He's not a big walk guy. He doesn't steal bases. So that was really bad for him specifically, but Cincinnati's a much better place to play. I don't think he's a 975 OPS bat or whatever it is right now. Do I think he could be an 850 OPS bat and be a legitimately impactful hitter? I do think there's that potential.

Starting point is 00:04:14 Yeah, I think Austin Hayes could be a, I don't know, a better version of Nick Castionovs right now. Maybe that's underselling him even. Maybe say Suzuki without the speed is kind of where I'm thinking. thinking Austin Ayes could end up. It's not the likeliest outcome, but I really like what we've seen from him so far. And the fit in Cincinnati is just perfect. All right.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Let's take a quick break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in, FBT Express, going through some of the most added waiver wire names from the past couple days. Obviously, Chris, in two catcher leagues, you know, two names that have popped up in the past week or so, Dalton rushing getting called up by the Dodgers. Drake Baldwin has been on fire for the Braves as well.

Starting point is 00:04:56 Who do you like more between those two? So it was rushing and Dr. I think it's got to be Baldwin. They were similar prospects coming into the season. Maybe rushing was viewed as a slightly better prospect, but it wasn't a huge gap between them. And I just think Baldwin's playing time is a little more secure.

Starting point is 00:05:18 He has pretty much broken into an even split with Sean Murphy. I just don't think that's going to happen with Will Smith. I think Will Smith is too good. they value what he does too much. So unless there's an injury, I think Dalton rushing is probably going to be like a 35-65 split, whereas Baldwin might already be 50-50. And of course, there's potential for Sean Murphy to get hurt, in which case Baldwin could also become an everyday player.

Starting point is 00:05:48 So I think the upside is similar, but Baldwin has a clearer path to utility. On the pitching side of things, Chris, you answered some version of this question yesterday, but how do you rank the most recent Waverwire pitchers, Logan Henderson, Ryan Weather, Zebby Matthews, and Hayden Birdsong. Okay, so I'm trying to remember,

Starting point is 00:06:09 make sure I got the same order as last night because I don't want to mess anyone up. I think it's Weathers, Henderson, Matthews, and then I completely blanked on the fourth name. What was it? Birdsong. Birdsong feels pretty clearly fourth for me. I know he's been very good in a relief role

Starting point is 00:06:28 but the command is still not great. Obviously, we saw him last season, and he was pretty bad as a starter. So I'm hopeful, but I'm not necessarily optimistic about Birdsong, but I like the other three quite a bit. And I think there's plenty of upside with weather's at the top, especially. But I love what Henderson's shown so far.

Starting point is 00:06:50 And Matthews, like, I know he struggled last year, so that might sound a little hypocritical because I was down on Birdsong. The biggest difference is, is Zusebi Matthews is throwing like two miles per hour harder than he was last year. So I'm hopeful that that is enough to build on, you know, a pretty rocky rookie season. Last name I wanted to mention here is Yuri Perez of the Marlins who will make his next rehab start Thursday at AAA. And he got up to 48 pitches in his last outing.

Starting point is 00:07:18 He's recovering from Tommy John surgery. He's 58% rostered, Chris, so it could be out there in some leagues. And it just feels like the perfect name to stash right now. Absolutely, yeah. It could be three or four more starts at AAA. You know, Yuri Perez is already budding up against that 30-day timetable for rehab appearances. But when guys are coming back from Tommy John surgery, they're allowed to extend it up to an additional 30 days. I don't think the Marlins are going to do that, you know, go a full 60 days and he's not back until that would be late June. I think that's unlikely.

Starting point is 00:07:54 So we'll probably see him, I think, within the next three. weeks is my hope for Yuri Perez. And he's still only 22. And he's still like, looked like one of the most talented pitchers in the world before his injury. So while we've seen things go wrong, for guys coming back from Tommy John surgery, the upside is still worth chasing. All right. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-length fantasy Baseball podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found.

Starting point is 00:08:31 Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today Express, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.

Fantasy Baseball Today - FBT Express - Latest Waiver Wire Adds! The Cubs Recalled Matt Shaw! (5/20 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

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