Fantasy Baseball Today - FBT Express - Top 5 Prospects to Stash! Jordan Lawlar Heating Up! (4/26 Fantasy Baseball podcast)

Episode Date: April 26, 2025

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today Express! You can find FBT Express on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Audacy App and wherever else podcasts are found. Logan Henderson and Zebby Matthews could join their respective teams soon. Jordan Lawlar is heating up but how does he fit into the Dbacks? Braden Montgomery is off to a great start with the White Sox. Fantasy Baseball Today Express is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 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 Express on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 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

We had a bunch of prospect promotions recently. Who's next? We'll discuss on Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Welcome into FBT Express on Saturday, April 26th. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White. The top prospects to stash right now includes Logan Henderson of the Brewers, Zebby Matthews of the Twins,

Roman Anthony of the Red Sox, Bubba Chandler of the Pirates, and another new addition here, Scott, Jordan Lawler, of the D-back, so I knew has been hitting pretty well down in the minors. Yes, he has. Let's start with the pitchers at the top. Logan Henderson and Zebby Matthews,

who are, they're at the top of the list, but they're like the, they're not the caliber of prospects as the other three, right? Especially Logan Henderson, who wasn't on any major top 100 list coming into the season, but that kind of shows the nature of stashing process. Like it doesn't particularly given the way starting pitching is on the waiver wired right now, not a ton of ton that's interesting.

It takes just that one start from Logan Henderson for me to say, yeah, you got to hold on. Nine strikeout effort in his season debut on April 20th. And this was for a guy who had a ridiculous strike-out-to-walk ratio in the minors last year. Doesn't throw especially hard, which I think is part of the reason why. he hasn't gotten much prospect hype, but low release height on that fastball helps his play up, and the change-up is great too. We saw him get whiffs on both in that major league debut,

and I suspect he'll be back with the Brewers in short order. Zebby Matthews, I might need to move him down the list a little bit now that David Festa has been optioned to the miners with Pablo Lopez coming back. So I would imagine if Festa got the shot over Matthews. This time, he probably will next time. But Matthews continues to do his thing in the miners, elite control guy whose velocity is up a couple miles per hour this year.

We saw him get more strikeouts to spring. It's carried over to the miners. And at some point, I would think the twins would move on from Simeon Woods Richardson. But it's starting to feel a little less like Matthew's arrival is imminent just because they got a big arm back there in Lopez. Anthony, you know, I could not. I could hear the case for Anthony probably actually being the top prospect to stash because he's the top prospect in baseball. And you'll definitely want him on your roster the day he's announced. I don't know that we're at a point where that's imminent.

Of course, an injury could change things. I feel like with the first injury given the versatility for Christian Campbell and for, say, down, Raphaela, the first injury could be Anthony's ticket to the majors. But he's been dealing with an injury himself, actually, a shoulder issue that he's been able to play through as a DH. He recently moved back into the outfield, but then he was out of the lineup again back at DH the next day. So I don't think the Red Sox are going to call Anthony up

until they're confident he's ready to play the outfield because obviously they have Raphael Devers occupying the DH spot. So that's not an option for Anthony in the major league. Bubba Chandler. I had been hoping he was building up to arrive around May 1st, but a recent quote from GM Ben Charrington has me thinking they're not going to be quite that aggressive with him. Charrington said the hopeful outcome is that he's helping us win games in 2025 at some point. When that happens, we don't want to shut that down.

And so we're managing that volume a bit early in the season by keeping him on. on certain pitch counts while he's in AAA. Basically what we expect. Back to the quote. At some point that will start to build, probably once we get into May, et cetera, then start to build closer to a normal starter's pitch count. At that point, we'll see where we are.

So it sounds like he's talking about Chandler remaining in the miners into May. Will he be up mid-May? That's about when we saw Paul Skeen called up last year. So maybe. That's the hope. And then finally, Jordan Lawler, he has been killing it at AAA, just in every possible way. And it seems like he's overdue for a promotion anyway, if not for his injuries last year. He probably already have a job in the majors.

The problem is, Cetalmarté is about to come back. He's like a week away maybe from returning, if that. And once that happens, obviously Loller can't play second. And also Tim Tawa, who's currently filling in for Catele-Marte, he's suddenly picked things up at the play. And his numbers, whether the baseline or especially the underlying numbers for Tim Tawa, look great. So he deserves continued opportunities still.

I'm beginning to think Jordan Lawler's best path to a major league job is third base, where Ehayuhenio Suarez can't buy a hit right now. And obviously, he's in the last year of his contract, so the dimebacks don't have a long-term attachment to him. I don't think we're there yet as good as Suarez was in the second half. last year. I don't think they're going to turn the page on him so easily, but I don't really see where Luller fits otherwise. All right. Let's take a quick break and we'll be back with more prospects right after this. Welcome back in FBT Express. Some prospects that are making some noise

lately. Braden Montgomery and outfielder with the White Sox came over in the Garrecrochet trade from the Red Sox. Moises Byesteros, a catcher with the Cubs. Nolan McLean, a starting pitcher with the Mets. Ryan Walschman, an outfielder with the D-backs, and Sean Lignon, a pitcher with the Dodgers. Scott, any quick thoughts here? Yeah, so Braden Montgomery basically doing exactly what everyone hoped he'd do. He was the 12th overall picking last year's draft, but had an ankle injury and didn't debut,

then got traded from the Red Sox to the White Sox and the Garrett Crochet deal. So there was a lot writing on him before he ever played a professional game. But it's gone spectacularly so far. he looks like the real deal does Braden Montgomery. Moises by Asteroz, Cubs catcher at AAA. A lot of hype around the bat and it continues to play up. Average and max exit velocities both improved to AAA this year.

Great contact skills. He is a short and squatty guy who probably can't play anything but catcher. And now they got Carson Kelly crushing it. addition to Miguel Amaya. So I don't know what his path is, but Moises Bay Estero's prospect stock continues to rise. Nolan McLean, this was a two-way player for the Mets, his first couple years in the minors,

gave that up midway through last year, and now his stuff is playing up at AA. Variety of breaking balls, a sweeper that comes in at almost 3,000 RPM. Looks like there's high-end upside here for Nolan, McLean could emerge as a top pitching prospect for the Mets. Ryan Walschman, another draft pick from last year, 31st overall, stood out for his exit velocities and his batting eye. And so far, he's reached base at nearly a 500 clip.

And has hit several home runs already in the chilly air of the Northwest League. So Walshmet is also looking like he needs to move up to AA because the skill set definitely appears to be there for him. And finally, Sean Lignon of the Dodgers signed as a 17-year-old. He's 20 now, his first year and full season ball. So he's kind of hidden away in the lower minus. We haven't heard much about Sean Lignon. But oh my goodness, he is striking out like two batters an inning. He's throwing 70% of his pitches for strikes, walking nobody.

And the key to his arsenal, Sean Lignon, is a change-up that has a sense. spin rate of like 2,700 RPM for a changeup. Normally that's like a 1,700 RPM pitch. And you don't necessarily want a ton of spin on it. But when you have that much spent, like that's basically a Devin Williams kind of change up for Sean Lignon. So you can understand why he's striking so many hitters in A ball with great control too. And the Dodgers knack for developing every kind of player, pitchers or hitters. I think Sean Lignon could be a name to know. and Dynasty League's moving forward. All right.

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