Fantasy Baseball Today - Format Specialists for Both H2H Points & Roto Leagues! (3/3 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 3, 2022

Join our FBT March Madness Bracket- cbssports.com/FBTbrackets Before we get into our format specialists, what's the latest with our TGFBI teams (1:58)? ... What's the biggest difference between a H2H points and Roto specialist (5:35)? ... What is the H2H points scoring system on CBS (11:10)? ... Why does Keibert Ruiz stand out in H2H points (14:10)? ... Rhys Hoskins excels in points leagues while Jose Abreu does in Roto (18:18). ... Should you draft an insurance policy with Max Muncy (23:33)? ... Perhaps there is no bigger difference than between Alex Bregman and Adalberto Mondesi (28:30). ... Tim Anderson was made for category leagues (33:17). ... Soto, Winker and Reynolds excel in points leagues (39:37). Why is volume so important for pitchers (45:42)? ... Why is Josh Hader more valuable in categories (50:08)? ... We wrap up with our thoughts on Astros starting pitcher Luis Garcia (54:18).  'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CTowersCBS, @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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 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. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. What's up, what's up? Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Thursday, March 3rd. I am Frank Stanfield, joined by Scott White.

No Chris Towers. He's out doing Dan Marino-type things on the flag football field. But we are here. And today on the show, we have format specialists to talk about what does that mean? We're going to go over the players that excel in both head-to-head points leagues, and then on the other side, Roto Category Leagues. And basically, what are the differences between these players? Also, Scott, a listener pointed out that I completely missed Luis Garcia.

We did three starting pitcher previews, and I just missed him. You know why you missed him? He doesn't show up in Fantasy Pro's ADP. That's exactly right. I think there's some kind of name conflict error between him and the second baseman, Luis Garcia of the Nationals. Oh, I found him, Scott. You know where I found him?

Where? He's at 430th overall, for some reason. There must be some kind of name conflict error from where they're pulling their data. Because I had that when I first uploaded my rankings to the site. It actually bumped out the second base version of Louise Garcia, and I had to add him back in later. So, yeah, people with the same name. Things go wrong. Fear not, Houston Astros fans.

We will get to Louise Garcia. He's a pretty interesting pitcher, too. Also, fun pitcher to watch. He rocks back and forth. He's pretty interesting on the mound. He's got five different pitches. We'll talk about him a little bit later on in the podcast. But what's up, Scotty?

How is your TGFBI team going so far? I think pretty well. I think pretty well. I filled out my infield through 10 rounds, which is no small feat in a 15-team league. all that depth that shortstop goes away very quickly

I was I felt very fortunate to get Willie Adamas with my round nine pick after you know all the all the big short stops obviously were gone through Carlos Correa

then also Bobby Witt but even Jake Croninworth and Chris Taylor had gone before Willie Adamas oh geez yeah yeah so that was scary because so I took Christian Yelich in round eight

kind of a luxury pick for me he's not somebody I usually count on but he had lasted 30 picks beyond his ADP and of course the upside is enormous so I thought you know what I'm going to get a little bit greedy here Adamus you know my tears said Adomis was the right pick

but it just seems wrong to take him with Yelich still on the board and I figured you know what Chris Taylor Jake Croninworth they're there I can always fall back on them if somebody takes Adamas here But then Taylor and Croninworth went with the next two picks. I'm like, what is going on here? So fortunately, I was able to get Adomas.

And then on the way back in round 10, there was a run on closers. Craig Kimbril, Blake Trinen, Corey Kenebel, Mark Malanson. It was pretty much down to Camillo Duval as the only expected safe source who had the skill set befitting of the role, you know. So I went ahead and took him in round 10 Didn't have a save source yet I don't like drafting any safe source as early as round 10 But when everybody else You know everybody else forced my hand

Because they went aggressively after the saves Which tends to happen in these 15 team leagues So I went ahead and took Deval And that's where I'm at right now I currently have two starting pitchers I'm planning on taking my third once it gets to me in round 11. I have Ranger Suarez queued up. I have Adam Wainwright queued up, Tyler Malley.

But my infield is full. I already have an outfielder in Yelich, and I have two starting pitchers and a closer. The brand is strong, Scotty. Ranger Suarez and Adam Wainwright in the queue. So we're going to keep following along throughout the next couple of weeks or so. I think it's going to take a while for us to get through these drafts.

Again, if you aren't aware of the Great Fantasy Baseball Invitational, It's a collection of 15 team, 5 by 5, roto leagues. We're all competing in separate leagues, but also against each other for an overall prize as well. Scott, I actually caught up to you a little bit. I'm in round 10 myself. And so far, I've got Fernando Tatis, Tim Anderson, Aaron Judge. I've got Jorge Polanco at second base,

Wilson Contreras as my first catcher, and the Prophet Pocket, baby. Josh Bell, my starting first baseman. You know I had to do it. And I just took my third starting pitcher. My pitching staff is a little shaky, but Freddie Peralta, Max Fried, and Framber Valdez. He is my SP3. I've got Will Smith as my first closer.

I took him at the end of round six. So I kind of like the way it's coming along. I'm thinking about double-tapping starting pitcher here, but we'll see what the first overall pick does here, and that will probably dictate what I do myself. But today on the show, as I mentioned, we're going to talk about format specialists. Scott wrote a great article. You can find it on the site, CBSports.com slash fantasy. slash baseball. And before we actually talk about these players, Scott, what is the biggest difference

in players that you would target in a head-to-heads-to-points league versus a Categories League, whether that's Roto or heads-head categories? Well, the big difference just because it's such a scarcity in the game right now and essential to one of those formats is stolen bases. Anybody who gives you, even a modest number of stolen bases is going to have more value in Roto leagues. I'm going to use Roto as short. short hand, but really it's any league that uses five by five category scoring, which covers certain head-to-head leagues as well. But I'm just going to call it Roto, and you'll understand what I'm saying when I do that.

Yeah, anyone who gives you any amount of stolen bases sees their value pushed up in Roto leagues. Anybody who gives you a lot of stolen bases tends to go a lot earlier in Roto leagues than they do in points leagues. So that's the number one factor between the. the two formats. But it is worth pointing out that stolen bases are worth two points apiece, at least in standard CBS points league scoring.

So it's not necessarily the case that you're burying the big base dealers in points leagues. It's just that they don't demand the same sort of premium. The second differentiator, I think, between the two formats is, plate discipline for hitters, strikeout rate, walk rate. Those do not have a direct effect on rotissory scoring. Yes, a high walk rate will generally lead to more runs scored. Yes, a low strikeout rate will generally lead to a higher batting average.

But normally those are already baked into a player's roto cost. So there's no need to, to really emphasize it. But in points leagues, walks are worth one point a piece. Strikeouts are worth minus half a point a piece. And a player with terrible plate discipline can definitely suffer because of it,

while a player with great, plus plate discipline can stand out. So that's the second factor. You have additional factors like doubles and triples are rewarded in a points league, and they're not in a roto league. So, you know, a guy like Brian,

and Reynolds who may not have a high home run total, but will have a lot of extra base hits in general, can see his points league value rise because of that, but not as significantly as those other two factors I mentioned. And then for pitchers, high volume guys stand out in points leagues in a way they don't in roto. Volume, of course, matters in roto, but not in that direct way it does in points,

where every inning is three points apiece. on the other hand, strikeouts are devalued in points leagues while they're 20% of a pitcher's production in Roto. So a guy like Marcus Stroman stands out as being much more valuable in points leagues than he is in Roto. And that's probably the biggest difference there.

I find that there's more difference between the two formats within the hitter ranks than within the pitcher ranks. All right. And you know, you mentioned Brian Reynolds, and the extra base hits that he had from last year and how that helps him in a points league, I always find it so interesting

that he was tied for the league lead with eight triples last year. Just blows my mind. Like, you know, he's not, he's a pretty athletic, dude. I don't think anyone considers Brian Reynolds fast, per se, but, you know, I guess playing in a bigger park, you know, you could find those alleys

where, you know, he could leg out some triples. He was tied with two other players. Shohei Otani makes sense. Scott, I can give you 100 guesses. As to the other player tied for the league, lead, and triples, you will never get it. You know, I think I've seen it before, actually, but I don't remember. Because I remember, I saw on Twitter somebody was comparing it to that year, Evan Gaddis randomly had a bunch of triples for the Astros.

Right. So I want to say it's a slow Astros player, like Jordan Alvarez or something. But I don't know. Who is it? It is David Peralta. Okay. From the Arizona Diamondbacks. I don't even know if he's slow or not.

Yeah, that's not at all who I was thinking. That is, that's kind of a blast from the past name, right? Like, when's the last time anybody cared about David Peralta and fantasy? Poor guy. 64th percentile sprint speed, honestly, would have never guessed that for David Peralta either. Well, I was going to point out, Brian Reynolds, 88th percentile sprint speed. Let's get this guy going on the base paths. We need more than five stolen bases from you, buddy.

So you know how we talk about, Scott, there's a lot of variance in, the players that can steal, you know, anywhere from 8 to 15. I think when you see that for Brian Reynolds, you know, he's fast enough, he's got the skill. I wouldn't surprise me if he bumps up to like 10 or 12 steals this year. I would say, I would agree that that's definitely within his skill set, but he's just shown no inclination to do it. Right. So there's no way you can factor that into your fantasy analysis of him.

I mean, even in the minors, where players tend to run freely. He never had more than five stolen bases in a season. It doesn't look like. Yeah, and he was pretty inefficient as well. So, all right, maybe forget everything that I just said. I'm happy that you mentioned the head-to-head points scoring. So this is according to CBS, of course.

So I'll just run through these here, and then we'll start talking about the players. For hitters, one point for each of a single, a walk, a hit by pitch, a run scored, and an RBI. Two points for a double, three points for a triple, four points for a home. But of course, you know, if you hit a home run, you get the run, the RBI, so it's actually six points. And then it's just two points for a stolen base. Hitters lose half a point for strikeouts. So again, you want strong plate discipline.

You want home runs. Makes a lot of sense there. You also want volume. So more plate appearances equals more opportunities for fantasy value, which seems obvious. But I like to target hitters that are in the top half of strong lineups, just because they have more opportunities to score fantasy points, score runs, obviously get on base. I think that makes sense.

For pitchers, it's one point per out, so three points per inning, half a point for a strikeout, three points for a quality start, seven points for a win, seven points for a save, what causes you to lose points as a pitcher on CBS, minus one for each of a hit allowed,

run aloud, walk aloud, or a hit batter, and minus five for a loss. And as Scott mentioned, you want volume. Ennings matter more than strikeouts in this format. Just make sure you know your scoring system because I'm sure there are many different points leagues out there

and they have different scoring setups. So just make sure you know your point scoring system inside and out. And I'm not saying this just because I work for CBS, but I've played on CBS my entire fantasy baseball life, basically, and I truly do like the scoring format. So I would encourage everyone to mock it. My longest fantasy baseball league, the one I've been playing in since high school,

penalizes a full point for a strikeout for a hitter. Wow. And also rewards a full point for a strikeout for a pitcher. So strikeouts matter much more in that format. But with every hitter losing a full point for every strikeout, it makes the pool of usable hitters so thin. Like it just devastates it, which is, it kind of works in its favor because it's a 10-team league

and with standard head-to-head lineups, so only three outfielder. So it's a shallow league. So it kind of creates this artificial scarcity that maybe is useful in a 10-team league. But I remember when I first started the 24 team, Scott White Dynasty League. And, you know,

I invited people from that league of mine. And one of them was like, hey, don't you want to use the scoring from our other league instead of this standard CBS scoring? And I was like, no, You have no idea. Hitting stretched that thin in a 2014 team. Oh my gosh.

It would be, yeah. It would, it would, it would be a problem for sure. Yeah, the way that strikeouts run rampant in baseball nowadays. Joey Gallo is probably like unusable in that format. Yeah, he is. Yeah, so it's absolutely. That's rough. All right, so let's jump into catcher here, Scotty.

And you have obviously one standout for each in a head to head points league. It's Cabot Ruiz. and in a Roto Categories League, it is Dalton Varsho. And I think based on everything that we've been saying leading up to this point, it makes sense. But what are you expecting from those two guys this year in those respective formats? So K. Bert Ruiz, the best thing he does is make tons of contact. He does not strike out in a way that I think really the only catcher who compares is Yadir Malina. but I think Cabr Ruiz is going to

Kiber Ruiz is going to strike out even less frequently than that. I mean, he's going to be, he's going to be one of the most infrequent striker outers among all hitters. Like 10% strikeout rate. He had less than that, really,

in his 29 games in the majors last year. So it almost doesn't matter how much, how much power he provides in a points league. if he's striking out that infrequently. As long as he's hitting well enough to keep the job to start two-thirds to three-quarters of the games for the nationals, he's going to be a top-10 catcher in points leagues.

And I can't say the same. He may be in Roto 2. He saw a big surgeon home runs in the minors last year. So if that carries over to the majors, and there's some question whether it will because he doesn't impact the ball that hard on average. But yeah, it's not going to matter so much in points leagues. Meanwhile, Dalton Varsho, it's pretty simple.

He's the only catcher who's capable of stealing 15 to 20 bases. He'll probably be the only catcher who steals double-digit bases. I know J.T. Real Muto did, I'm pretty sure he did last year, but that was the first time. I think he had 13 last year. Yeah, but that was the first time he's ever done that. And obviously, catchers just as a rule, don't run. Varsha will. He did through, oh, I take that back. Rio Muto did twice in his career. He also did in 2016 for the Marlins.

But yeah, Varsha will run maybe enough to even steal 20 bases. It kind of depends on the playing time. And that playing time question is also why I think he's valued more in Roto than points leagues, because as you mentioned, volume is more important in points leagues. but if Varsho does meet his full upside, then he'll be valuable in both. I feel pretty confident saying. Yeah, if you look at the minor league numbers too,

he's had decent walk and strikeout rate. So I would agree with that. If he's good, he's going to be really good for both, but those steals are obviously much more valuable in Roto Category Leagues. Can we mention the honorable mentions for these positions too? I think it's worth getting into Yasmani. Grondal is my honorable mention in points

leagues and of course Yasmani Grondal straight up is more valuable than Kbe Ruiz I want to point that out as well just because you know the the first team player for the all-roto team and the all

head-to-head team is the most representative player at each of this position as it doesn't mean they're the best player just want to mention that but Yasmani Grandal with as much as he was locks. He actually averaged more head-to-head points per game last year than even Salvador Perez. Doesn't mean I'd take him over Salvador Perez in points leagues, but per game, Grandal was actually better last year.

And then in Roto, the honorable mention, is Mike Zunino as an all or not, like literally all or nothing power guy. you're looking for any help in any category once it gets late in a roto draft and hopefully he's capable of providing that when he'll probably be useless in points leagues. All right, let's move on over to first base where we have Reese Hoskins as to standout in head-to-head points league, points leagues,

and then Jose Ibrahim on the Roto Categories side of things. Scott, Reese Hoskins, 360 OBP for his career, a 14% walk rate. The strikeout is, obviously prevalent. It's just a matter of, you know, can this guy stay healthy? So if he does that, I have no doubt that he's going to be awesome in this format. Yes, in this format, it's safe to say he's going to be awesome. He actually had his worst year by far for walks last year, only a 10% rate when normally he's around 15. And yet head to head points per game for him last year, 3.21. That was more

than Pete Alonzo. So this is clearly a good format for Reese Hoskins. If he hits 230 with as much as he walks, and by the way, he led the majors, or he led the NL with 116 walks in 2019. So with as much as he walks, it really doesn't matter what he produces in batting average. He's going to be worth starting in points leagues.

Roto, you know, there's so many lineup spots to fill that he's probably going to be worth starting there as well. But the batting average, the likelihood of him hitting. less than 250 is going to pull him down in the rankings. So, Scott, you mentioned Pete Alonzo and Reese Hoskins having, you know, nearly the same amount of fantasy points per game. In head to head points, would you rather have Alonzo in the fifth round?

His ADP right now is right at the four or five term, but let's say Alonzo in the fifth or Reese Hoskins in the 11th round where he goes right now. In points leagues, I'd rather have Reese Hoskins in the 11th. All right. I would not rather have Hoskins straight up. Oh, for sure. I know that's not what you were asking. Right, right.

I don't want to confuse people since I was pointing out Hoskins average more head-to-head points per game than Alonzo. There are a number of ways I think Alonzo kind of got screwed last year. And I still would say he has more upside in points leagues than Hoskins does. But it just goes to show you the gap is much narrower in that format. Yeah, it's, you know, would you rather have whatever. starting pitchers available in the fifth round and Hoskins versus Pete Alonzo and whatever starting pitchers available

in the 11th round. I think in that format, more often than not, we would take the Hoskins side of things there. Roto N categories, Jose Abraeu doesn't walk much in his career, though I will point out. He had a career high walk rate last year, but for his career, just a 6.7% walk rate, known for being a better batting average contributor. But even with that, Scotty, I mean,

Jose Abraeu is getting up there in age. I'm not really sure what we, should expect from a batting average perspective in 2022. Yeah, so kind of an interesting case here. He has long been kind of the representative first baseman for this format. And he is one of the first baseman who, in my tears, I tear him differently based on the two formats. But you pointed out yourself, batting average dropped last year. The walk rate went up substantially. So if that, if that becomes, a trend instead of just a one-year phenomenon,

then his value is going to be pretty similar between the two formats. So he may be trending that way, of being less of a standout specifically in rotisserie and more just a pretty good starter in both formats. But actually, first base doesn't have as many standouts right now in roto leagues as I feel like it does in points leagues. I mean, you have so many high walk guys in points leagues. Matt Olson's more valuable in points

leagues. Joey Votto is more valuable in points leagues. Max Muncie, of course, would probably be the representative in points leagues if not for the concerns about his elbow. In Roto leagues, poor plate discipline first baseman. I got Jared Walsh as the honorable mention here. I guess I could have gone Ryan Mountcastle as well

because neither of them walks much. But I don't, just in general, I don't like either that much for 2020, regardless of format, because I feel like they both overachieved last year. Oh, one more I wanted to mention. Uli Gureel, significantly better in points leagues. Obviously, you just want him to score points anyway.

He can. You don't really care how many home runs he gets. He strikes out so infrequently that even with the mob. modest number of home runs he hit last year, 3.07, head-to-head points per game. That was, let's see, what's a good comparison for that? 3.07, well, it was more than Jared Walsh, 2.90. Pete Alonza was only 3.16, and their Uli Guriel was at 3.07. So Uli Guriel, I would say, is a points league standout as well.

Yeah, great play discipline for Uli, lots of doubles, going to drive in a lot of runs in the top half of a really strong lineup. is it going to be in the top half? Yeah, he'll probably about like 50 or 5th or 6, something like that for Yule. Let's move over to second base. Scott, you already mentioned Max Muncie, who we spoke about yesterday on the mock draft that we were doing as well, obviously dealing with this elbow injury, but another one who walks a lot. 371 OBP since joining the Dodgers in 2018. That is tied for 17th best in the MLB. You know, I was looking through 80p, Scott. I'm trying to figure out, let's say you want to take the shot. on Muncie, who is a good player to pair him with late in your draft, you know, just as like an insurance policy. So I was scrolling through and lo and behold, I fall back on Gene Segaro once

again. It just seems like a fine option. But yeah, look, if I'm doing any drafting of Max Muncie, Scott, I want to make sure that I have a nice insurance policy behind him. Now, are you talking for points league specifically or just in general? I mean, I think Gene Ciguro is fine for either format, but yeah, I mean, if you know of a better late round points league second baseman, then throw them my way. Well, it's hard to gauge what exactly qualifies as a late rounder of points league because we're, you know, we so often work off of roto ADP data. Right.

DJ LeMay, he was somebody who would probably be more valuable in points leagues, but I don't know if you could call him a late round. I think Eduardo Escobar is okay. I don't know that you need to actually invest a roster spot in him in your draft. I think most points leagues are so shallow that you don't need to do that. So honestly, I'm not sure I would pair a guy with Muncie in points leagues. I would just see how it goes. And if I need to replace somebody, I can do it capability enough off the waiver wire.

Obviously not with the kind of upside Muncie would provide. But, you know, the shallower the league, the more worthwhile it is to take a risk. on somebody as dangerous as Max Muncie. Jonathan India, by the way, is the honorable mention in points. That's another good plate discipline guy who doesn't necessarily excel in the counting stats. Yep, that's exactly what I was going to ask you next. Who is the honorable mention? Yeah, I think it was a double-digit walk rate for Jonathan India last year.

Solid lineup. Really good ballpark. Should get on base quite a bit there. In Roto and Categories, the standout you have here, Javier Baez makes a ton of sense. The K to walk rate is awful. 5% walk rate for his career, and last year had a career high, 33.6% strikeout rate, but lots of home runs and lots of steals. So that props him up quite a bit in that format.

He finished 36th overall in Roto last season. It was an awesome year. That's a huge difference between those two formats. I mean, a 31 homer, 18 steel guy who wasn't that bad in batting average either. You think that would automatically be a fantasy stud, but the plate discipline is just so dreadful for Javier Baez. He averaged 2.86 head-to-head points per game last year that was less than Jake Cronenworth.

It was substantially less than like Jorge Polanco. It was almost a full point less than somebody like Jose Al-Tuvei. 2.86 head to head points per game for Javier Baez. Here's a good comparison. and Thai France was 2.84, so almost identical. Oof. Yeah. Most times when you're thinking about Javier Bayes, you're probably not putting Thai France in the same category as him

from a fantasy perspective. But again, that's the point of doing this. The honorable mentions that you have here, Scotty, are Jazz Chisholm and Tommy Edmund. And I think it makes sense. It's, you know, lots of stolen bases for those guys, but probably a lower walk rate than you'd like. Yeah, in both cases.

And the lack of power hurts Edmund. Chisholm, obviously, the strikeout rate is going to be draining his point production there. Edmund, though, was actually better in points leagues last year than I think a lot of people would realize. Still more valuable in Roto, but not useless in points leagues. Somebody that you could potentially draft late as a starter if you don't invest big at either of the positions where he's eligible. All right, Scott, last question here at second base. Javier Baez and Brandon Lau, they have the same exact ADP on Fantasy Pro, 70.4.

Who would you rather have in a Categories League? I'm sorry, who would they again? Javier Baez versus Brennan Lau. In a categories league, I have Lao quite a bit higher. Okay. Though obviously, Baez provides some steals that Lao won't. So it kind of depends on what sort of team you're putting together. but yeah, I would definitely just everything else being equal.

I'd take Lowe. Third base, and I think this one might be the most obvious distinctions between the two so far. In a head-to-head points league, Alex Bregman excels. He has a 12.5% walk rate, 377 OBP. We've got to see how he responds to having surgery in the off-season. And then in categories, At Alberto Mondesie has 114 steals since 2018. that is the fourth most in baseball and he did it in just

271 games. Each of the three players ahead of him in that span, in steals, have each played at least 458 games. So 458 versus 271 and Mondesie is still fourth in baseball in steals. There's no denying

his skill set. It's just he can't stay healthy. So yeah, Scott, talk to me about the differences between Bregman and Monassie. Yeah, I mean if Mondaysie stays healthy, he's going to double up the field in stolen bases. And given the premium placed on stolen bases these days in Roto leagues, it's

obvious he's still a prized commodity in that format, even if he's lost some of his luster because of the injuries over the years. He's liable to go 10 rounds later in a points league, like probably just a late round pick. Which, you know, if he stays healthy, he's

probably going to be a deserving starter in points leagues, but less than a stud because the plate discipline is horrible. But there is power speed there. He could be a 20 homer 60 steel guy if he stayed healthy. And even with the poor plate discipline, that would add up to enough to make him worthwhile in points leagues. Bregman, as you mentioned, one of the best on-base guys over the past, well, not just on base, but low strikeout rate too.

over the past, let's see where it is. I think it's like over the past four seasons, he has more walks than strikeouts or something like that. I know he had that in both 2018 and 2019. Yeah. So that would make sense because he hasn't played many games in 2020 and 2021. Yeah, I thought I had the exact stat here.

But anyway, he is somebody who I tier higher in points leagues. I tier him with Austin Riley and Nolan Aeronado. Like, I'm just as satisfied to give him. Bregman as I am to get those guys in that format. Because I'm not confident he's going to be more than a 20-25 homer guy now, though, provided he stays healthy. I don't value him quite the same as I used to in Roto. And similarly, Anthony Rendell, he's also been a guy who's walked to strikeout rate

has been somewhere in the neighborhood of one-to-one in recent years, and that's elevated him in points leagues. and if he's going to have, if there are concerns now about his power output like there are for Bregman, it's going to hurt him in Roto in a way. It doesn't in points leagues. I also have J.M.R. Candelario,

as an honorable mention for points leagues. He was the major league leader in doubles last year, which are not rewarded at all. In Roto leagues, other than maybe the effect they have on RBI and runs scored. But they're just, directly rewarded in points leagues. I pointed that out to Nando

Defino once and he yelled at me. He's like, what do you mean, Frank? They could drive someone in. They could score a run easier. They're on second base. I'm like, yeah, but they don't really matter more. Plus, runs and RBI also count in points leagues. Of course.

You're not getting any additional effect in Roto leagues that you aren't getting in points leagues for those doubles. Yeah, Candelario, 42 doubles last year that led the majors. Only 16 home runs. So it's hard to justify. corner infielder who's not going to get you 20 in a roto league. But with that many doubles, I would say Jamar Candelario is a fringe starter in points leagues. All right. And the honorable mention

you have in Categories leagues at third base is Cabrion Hayes, who had six homers and nine steals in just 96 games last year. So could be someone that goes, you know, 15, 15 at third base, which is pretty rare. I mean, you don't really get a lot of steals from your third baseman unless you get Jose Ramirez or obviously Manny Machado earlier on in your drafts. Scott, I'm probably not going to draft to Brian Hayes at his ADP because it's higher than I think most people would expect. I'll pull that up. It's about the same as it was last year.

He's somebody that I'm so interested to watch this year, though, eventually, hopefully. I just want to see if last year was a fluke because of the wrist injury. You know, he got off to an awesome start. I think it was like, whatever. First two or three games hits a home run. But man, he's someone I really. really want to watch this here. Very interested to see Kim Brian Hayes.

Let's move on over to shortstop and head-to-head points. No surprise. Wander Franco, who had a 43 game on base streak, tied Frank Robinson for the longest streak by a player 20 years old or younger. And then on the other side, Roto and Categories, the standout here, Tim Anderson, his 322 batting average since 2019 leads all qualified hitters. However, in his career, he's got just a 3.5% walk rate. a 314 OBP.

I think this makes a lot of sense, Scottie. Yeah, Tim Anderson was built for the 5-5 format. Right? I mean, the standout batting average, which has no direct value in a points league, contributing a decent number of home runs and stolen bases. But yeah, that plate discipline really hurts him in points leagues. He's still worth starting.

I mean, he should be starting for somebody in a points league. but he doesn't really stand out among the crowd like he does in Roto. And, yeah, Wander Franco. Like, obviously we have a lot of hope for him in all formats, him taking a big step forward and potentially emerging as a first round caliber bat. But drafting him early in Roto leagues, is relying on him to take a step forward as a power hitter that he may not be ready to take yet.

He doesn't need to do that in points leagues. His plate discipline is so good. Over the final two months, August and September, he actually walked more than he struck out. 14 walks to 11 strikeouts. That is unheard of for a player who at the time was only 20 years old. I mean, I can't think of a modern comp for that. And because of it,

of that, he averaged 3.3-2 head-to-head points per game last year, that basically exactly the same as Corey Seeger, more than Xander Bogarts, more than Carlos Correa. He was, uh, he's already a stud in points leagues as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, he was absolutely ridiculous. Scott, how many short stops would you take ahead of Wander Franco in a points league this season? Tatis, Trey Turner, Bo Bichette, Marcus Simeon. I would say, even though I obviously have doubts about his ability to sustain last year's numbers. And I would take Xander Bogarts and Corey Seeger over him, but I think they're in the same range.

It's close. It is close. I've got him fifth in my points league rankings. You have him seventh. So we're close on Wander. The difference are the Rangers guys. It's Marcus Semyon and Corey Seeger. I've got both of those guys behind him. I still trust Bogartz. I know kind of fell off in the second half, but the track record, plate discipline, hits a lot of doubles. He's awesome. He's been a standout in points leagues forever, too. So I'll still take Bogarts ahead of him, but man, once we get into that late fourth, early fifth round range,

I've got my eye on Wander Franco in that format. How about the honorable mentions? Oh, I just mentioned one without even knowing. Sandra Bogart's, your honorable mention in a points league. Yeah, he has pretty good plate discipline, not amazing, but pretty good. and I do have questions about his power production with the new ball too. The only 30 homer season he's had was that 2019 season when the ball was at its juiciest and everybody was setting career highs and home runs.

And then he regressed to 23 home runs last year. So if he doesn't, if he's more of a 20, 25 homer guy than a 30 homer guy, he's probably being overdrafted in roto leagues, frankly, even though, you know, stable batting average, really stable across the board, but just not, probably not enough upside to justify the early round pick. I think it's easier justified in a points league. All right.

And the honorable mention in Categories leagues at Shortstop, you have Nikki Lopez, who you've talked about quite a bit, just spoke about him yesterday on our mock draft. Yep. Two categories specialists, but not strong enough across the board to impact points leagues, really. Yeah, I mean, he is going to be really bad in power.

So home runs, RBI, he's going to give you next to nothing. So keep that in mind if you want to draft him. But, you know, the run scored might be okay as well. So he's probably like a two and a half category player. But yeah, I mean, to find batting average and steals late, it's no easy task in a categories league. It is March. You know what that means.

Madness. Fantasy baseball today is running our very own college basketball bracket contest later this month. We've got a special prize for the winner too. We haven't announced FBT listener leagues yet for obvious reasons. but if you finish first place in this contest, we will let you pick a spot in either of our listener league. So that is a 12-team head-to-head points league or a 16 team.

I believe 16-te-to-head categories league. That is the Four of the People League that our buddy Heath Cummings made way back in the day. The link to join is cbsports.com slash FBT brackets. You can find it in the podcast and the YouTube description if you'd like to join up. We're going to take a quick break when we return We'll come back with Outfield here on Fantasy Baseball today.

All right, Scott, so let's take a look at the Outfield position, and we will start off with the Points Leaguers. And since there's three players per category, let's focus on one at a time. And we'll start with the Points Leagues, Juan Soto, Jesse Winker, and the aforementioned Brian Reynolds. They really excel in this format.

Yeah, they do. I mean, Juan Soto is the preeminent on-base guy in the majors right now, the only ones who come close, really, are Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, wants so to reach base at a 525 clip in the second half last year. So really, he's the best on-base guy we've seen since Barry Bonds, I think. And I think it makes him the obvious number one choice in points leagues, even though he's, you know, he's still a top five choice in roto leagues, but I don't think many people are taking him number one overall in that format.

go on to the next one Jesse Winker Yep Jesse Winker averaged 3.70 head-to-head points per game

last year oh I'm sorry I sold them short 3.72 head-to-head points per game last year among players with

at least as many at bats as he had only Fernando Tattis Juan Soto and Bryce Harper were higher than Jesse Winker. And, you know, guy gets on base a lot. That's really what it comes down to.

Now, there is the issue still for him, and it's probably even more concerning in points leagues than Roto, that he's so bad against left-handed pitchers that maybe he just becomes a platoon player or a semi-platoon player. So, you know, I don't think he deserves to be even one of the top 12 outfielder's off the board in points leagues. But he's right on the verge of top 15 for me in that format. And obviously he's well behind that in Roto leagues.

All right. Yeah, we talked about Brian Reynolds with all the extra bases. He's a pretty good plate discipline too. Plate discipline guy as well for what it's worth. Jesse Winker, you have 18th in your. head-to-head points rankings. One spot ahead of Nick Cassiano's. Scott, if you're on the clock, you're really taking Winker ahead of Cassiano's?

I don't know. That's a good question. It really, like, I mean, obviously Castellanos ultimate value hinges on where he signs. If he goes to a place with a big park, yeah, I probably am. Yeah, we keep hearing these rumors that apparently the Marlins were interested in signing Nick Castianos before the lockout. That will not be a great fit. Yeah, but I don't think it's going to have.

happen now. I mean, Derek Jeter left the organization. There were rumors that he wanted to spend money. They wouldn't let him spend money. So, I don't know. Are the Marlins really going to sign Nick Cassiano's? I don't think so. I think he probably winds up with like the Phillies, which would be pretty awesome. Yeah, that would be good. Brewers would be good. Rockies would be good, obviously. Someone, someone is going to wind up with the Rockies, Scott. I don't know who it's going to be. Cassiano, Schwaber. I've heard Chris Bryant rumors. Whoever gets it. Oh man. That is, we're talking about like a multi-round jump in fantasy value,

regardless of who winds up there. In a Categories League, here are your standouts at the outfield position. Randy Eroser Arena, obviously lots of strikeouts, but gives you a little bit of power, some speed. Miles Straw, lots of speed. He actually walks a lot as well. So better OBP than you'd imagine, but really does not too much other than steel bases. And then Akil Badu, I like the skill set, Scott, for Akil Badu,

and he started to walk more as the season went on. I worry more about the playing time with Badoo than anything because he struggles so much against left-handed pitching. Yeah, that's fair. I think the skill set is very similar to Randy Orozah Raina, though. I pointed it out on yesterday's podcast, and Chris has pointed it out before. If Orozah Rana takes the sort of step back,

I know Chris and I are expecting from him, and Badoo is able to get consistent playing time, stats might not be that different. It might not be that different. I think I could sum up these three roto standouts, Eroserrena, Straal, Badoo as simply as

they're all being elevated in rhodo leagues for their base stealing ability. Straw being the most extreme example since he provides virtually no power, sort of like Nikki Lopez, who we were talking about earlier. But Erosa, Rana, and Badoo also,

because, I mean, in a points league, Badoo really doesn't register. And a Rosarena, again, because we feel like the overachieved and batting average in home runs last year, he may not register this year, as it is, 2.99 head-to-head points per game last year. That made him pretty borderline. I mean, a deserving starter, but pretty borderline. a narrow margin for error. 2.99, I mean, Hunter Renfro was 2.96. Robbie Grossman was 2.88.

So, you know, a Rosa Rana really doesn't have much room. He can't afford to, his production can't afford to fall off much before he becomes not even really a viable starter in a 12-teen points league. All right, the honorable mentions in the outfield. In a points league, Alex Verdugo, And Michael Brantley, both should hit for a good batting average, strong plate discipline, a good amount of doubles for both as well. And then honorable mention in Categories leagues, Adoles Garcia,

with the Texas Rangers who has a bunch of power and speed, but the plate discipline, the K to walk ratio is terrible. I mean, we're talking about like Javier Baez levels of plate discipline from Adolice Garcia. Let's move over to the pitcher side of things, Scottie. And at starting pitcher, in a points league, you've got, Sandy Alcantzra, Jose Berrios, Framber Valdez, Adam Wainwright, and Marcus Strowman as the standouts in that format. With the exception of Strowman,

the other four ranked top 12 in innings pitched per start last season. They each averaged six or more. And I know you brought this up about Strowman, Scott, how his innings pitched per start was lower last year. Someone pointed this out. I think it was in a YouTube comment or maybe an email. He had two starts last year with a lot of, one inning pitched or less.

And he didn't struggle in those starts. So I think I remember he got ejected in one start. He might have got ejected in two different starts last year because it didn't make sense. He wasn't getting blown up. Maybe it was an injury or something. But I think that really brought down his innings pitch per start, Marcus Stroman. Because as I looked through the game log, it looked pretty good. There was a lot of sixes in there, a few sevens.

I think I saw like one or two eights. So he had a 10 start stretch where he didn't go six innings even once. Oh, all right? So, yeah, I wasn't. He started out fine, and he ended okay. And maybe it was just a weird stretch. And I was making too much of it. Certainly the two one inning starts

doesn't help the overall average. Yeah. But yeah, the game log has its down points too. For sure. Scott, if you wound up with this rotation in a points league, how would you feel? Sandy, Berrios, Valdez, Wainwright, Stromer.

12 team points league Yeah, I'd want it to be stronger than that Yeah, I think so too Yeah, I think Again, these picks are The most representative For their formats and obviously they're much You know, the pitchers that are good in both formats

Are not represented here Because we just know they're good And that's the majority of pitchers Like I was saying at the top of the podcast I think there are more distinctions between the two formats in the hitter ranks than in the pitcher ranks. So, you know, the highest ranked pitcher, I think I only have two of my top 15 mentioned on either of these lists

because, yeah, I mean, the good pitchers are just good regardless of the format. So, yeah, I mean, Sandi Alcantara, Jose Berrios, we're kind of missing a true number two there and probably missing a true number four there as well for a points league, having Framber Valdez. and Adam Wayne Wright. Yeah. Yeah, I would want it to be a little stronger than this.

Sure. All right. The honorable mentions in a points league, you've got Kyle Hendricks and Zach Rankie. No surprise. Guys you've been talking about all off season. And then in a categories league, here are the five standouts.

You've got Corbyn Burns, Freddie Peralta, Dylan Seas, Shane McClainahan, and Blake Snell. Obviously, this doesn't mean these pitchers will be useless in a points league. Corbyn Burns is still going to be, you know, an awesome pitcher.

A lot of these guys are going to be awesome. But we do have some questions about workload, Scotty, when it comes to these guys. And it seems like we can depend on them for ratios and strikeouts. But again, you know, the workload is what we worry about here. Yeah. And with this particular group, I feel like it's less about, oh, they're really good in Roto compared to head-to than they're not so great in head-to-head compared to Roto. which obviously Corbyn Burns is great in both, but if we do have a question about him,

it's how many innings he's going to accumulate, and innings are important in points leagues. In points leagues, it might be the difference between him being top five and top ten, how many innings he provides us. And Rodo, you don't really worry about it because the ratios you expect to be so great. And Freddie Peralta is kind of in that category as well,

I'd say. It's not like I'm avoiding Freddie Peralta. points leagues. Dylan C. Shane McClannahan, Blake Snell. I mean, certainly there's a point when I take them in points leagues, but it feels like a little bit of a resignation in that format because I'm just not confident they're going to give you

the workload with the sort of consistency you need to make them a regular part of your starting five. Relief pitcher, let's wrap up here. Head-to-head points. You've got two spark Anything it makes sense? Your boy, Ranger Danger. Ranger Suarez. And then Cal Quantrell.

Again, these are starting pitchers who have relief pitcher eligibility in a points league, the volume, the endings that they provide. It's just more consistent than what you'll get from a closer on a week-to-week basis because obviously saves.

They come so infrequently and so random, if we're being honest, that you'd rather have a starting pitcher in those spots if you can. Yeah, if he's a competent starting pitcher who can pitch a lot of innings. Yeah, you probably don't want force Jose Cantana in there just for the sake of having a spark.

I realize we probably haven't talked about Cal Quantrell enough this off season. What do you think the expectations are for him this upcoming season? He was awesome last year, really strong at suppressing hard contact, but doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. The walks are okay? What are your expectations for Cal Quantrell? So he has, he's that bad combination of a low strikeout rate and I don't remember exactly what his ground ball rate is, but it's not high.

It's not high. So he's not making up for the lack of strikeouts with a bunch of ground balls. And yet he succeeded in spite of it, ended up with a 289 ERA, had a 194 ERA over his final 14 starts. And over his final 13 starts, every single one of them was six innings or more. So I'm not really that hopeful he's going to be able to repeat that kind of run he was on to in last season. but with the advantage he would give you in an RP spot in a points league I think it's worth taking the chance that he will

because clearly he's capable of pitching deep into games if he does a good enough job keeping runs off the board that he stays in that role for the whole season he'll probably be a worthwhile reliever to say that, reliever for you in a points league. All right. In a roto league, though, I don't really think it's, I don't think the upside of that sort of

gimmick of playing them out of position in a points league. I don't think that when you remove that from the equation, I'm not sure Quantrel is as worth the risk. The honorable mention in a points league at relief pitcher, you have Luis Severino, who also has SPARP eligibility in that format. Yeah, and it's kind of a cop out to go with three sparks this year. Usually I try to find one closer who I think stands out more in Points League versus Roto, meaning a guy who's going to rack up a lot of saves but with pretty blah ratios.

But I just don't think there is one right now. The closest might be Dylan Floro, but... I was going to say Mark Malanson, but how many saves is he going to get? But he's not going to rack up saves for the Diamondbacks, I don't think. Yeah. No, that's a good point. That's fair. In a Roto Categories League, the relief pitcher standouts, you have Josh Hader, obviously.

And again, if you're somebody who wants to be aggressive in a Categories League and draft Hater in the fourth or fifth round of a 12-team league, just realize that you should not do that in a points league. I mean, he should be devalued by a couple of rounds at least in that format. And then the other one here is Paul C. Wallet, Scott, who was awesome last year, ridiculous slider, lots of strikeouts, awesome ratios, but really just doesn't do much for you in a points leave. Relievers don't give you enough volume in points leagues. Anyone, so anyone who doesn't get, like, they get all their points from saves, basically. That's not literally true,

but that's more or less true. So no reliever who isn't getting saves matters in points leagues, unless you have weird scoring and, you know, reward holds or something like that. But generally speaking, closers are the only true relievers that matter in points league. So somebody like Paul Seawalt who might get some late round looks in a roto league just doesn't deserve to in a points league format. All right, Scott, let's get to that email. And Luis Garcia, we completely missed them in our starting pitcher previews. And this one came from Matt in Massachusetts. He just, he said, I noticed it looks like he's ranked 430th 80p on fantasy pros, but 48th in their overall starting pitcher rankings.

So Luis Garcia was awesome last year for the Houston Astros, 3.48 ERA, a 1.18 whip, 167 strikeouts over 155 in a third innings pitched. 25 years old. He has this whole rocking back and forth routine when he's on the mound. It's pretty unconventional, but it's fun to watch. It looks like he's rocking a baby. Yeah. He's got five different pitches.

He throws at least 9% of the time, a four-seem fastball, a cutter, a slider, a change-up, and a curveball. the only downside that I found, Scott, and I think it's fair of any young starting pitcher, 6.57 ERA third time through the order. And I remember that that was consistent with his workload last year. A lot of five innings starts. So I don't really know that we should expect a huge workload this upcoming season for Luis Garcia.

Yeah, I mean, in theory, he should be able to deliver, he should be able to build on last year's workload and deliver more innings than a year ago. but I have some questions about just how good he is, certainly from the numbers. There's not much to complain about. I mean, the swinging strike rate was what you'd expect it to be for a guy who struck out 9.7 batters per 9.

Actually, the swinging strike rate looks even better than that. And the fact he has five pitches, you know, it's pretty impressive. It's pretty impressive. it might be the key to his success ultimately, but it's not like he was some highly regarded prospect. He had good numbers in the minors, but nobody was expecting him to turn in the kind of rookie season

he ultimately did for the Astros. So when you add it all up, struggling the third time through the order, in spite of having all those pitches, and he really faded in the second half, ended up with an ERA around 4, a whip around 1.3, only a strikeout per inning. I don't know. I just feel like we need – I need more data before I feel comfortable recommending Luis Garcia

as sort of a fantasy mainstay. Now, for the cost, I mean, he's going in the same range as a lot of unproven guys. So I'm not trying to, like, denigrate him relative to his – where he's being drafted. I think it's totally fine. I'm just saying, like, I don't, I don't think you want to, you don't want to put

too much on him, because there's still a lot that he needs to prove. The ADP is 148. He's going one spot behind Sean Mania. Who would you rather have, Scottie? I'd rather have Mania. Okay. He's going six spots ahead

in ADP than Ranger Suarez. Come on, you know, I want Ranger. Got to make sure. So if you are drafting Luis Garcia-S-Cat, you want him as a bench option, maybe as your SP-6 in a Roto League, something like that? Yeah, in a Roto League,

I think sixth. You're talking about a 12-team Roto League. I think sixth is about what I made me for. Yeah. I mean, it might end up being five. It might end up being, it probably wouldn't end up being seven. I probably would just,

if I already had six pitchers at that point, I'd probably just let Luis Garcia go to somebody out. So I'll say fifth or sixth. The underlying numbers I'll mention for Luis Garcia. He had the 3.48 ERA, his ex-fip, Sierra, XERA, they were all between 391 and 395. So those are the truest descriptors,

or I guess, yeah, descriptors of a pitcher's skill set, the talent level, basically. And they said he was closer to a high, for a high three's ERA, which even in this climate, like that's a usable, viable starting pitcher, but just realize, you know, there might be some regression coming for Luis Garcia.

And there's also, there's also more range, ERA has a wider range than any ERA estimator. So a 330 X-FIP is really, really good. Even though a 330 ERA, you know, it's good, but it it means more in X-FIP than it does in ERA, if that makes sense. So conversely, a 3-9 X-FIP is worse if you look at an X-FIP leaderboard than a 3-9 ERA would be. It's just the way that works.

All right. Because if you're trying to normalize something, you tend to go toward the middle. I don't know if what I'm saying makes sense. Hopefully you understand what I'm saying. I get what you're saying. So hopefully everyone out there understands as well. Overall, Luis Garcia, interesting pitcher.

Had an awesome year last year. Probably not going to be as good, but you need some strikeouts late. You don't want to depend on him as one of your top five starting pitchers, but anything after that is gravy for Luis Garcia. We're going to wrap there for Scotty. I am Frank.

Thank you all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball. Today will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.