Fantasy Baseball Today - Freeman Replacements, Week 3 Sleepers & Two-Start Pitchers! (4/4 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

Kristian Campbell is off to a great start (3:35). ... JT Realmuto is back to running (10:50). ... News (15:38): Freddie Freeman was placed on the IL. Who are top replacements? ... What if blank (22:25)? ... We had a pitchers duel in Milwaukee (33:18)! ... Should these starting pitchers still be rostered in shallow leagues (36:51)? ... Bregman and Casas had big games (42:04). ... Hunter Brown is 2-for-2 in quality starts (45:40). ... Let's talk Week 3 schedule, two-start pitchers and sleeper hitters (47:41). ... We wrap up with bullpens and weekend streamers (1:00:45). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @CPTowers @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome in to fantasy baseball today on April 4th. I am Frank Stamphle, joined by Scott White. Today on the show, Freddie Freeman is going on the IL. That means we need replacements. I have a what-if segment planned, week three sleepers, two-star pitchers, and much more. Let's jump in. Can you believe it? Wow!

All right, Scott, busy day, five-game slate. We've got to... What are we going to talk about? We've got to figure out which players did something. And with that, you're up, Player of the Night. All right. I kind of wanted to go with Rafael Devers because I think he's probably fine. But it sounds like you and Chris talked about that.

Pretty much said everything I have to say on that front last night. I'll go ahead and bring up Raphael Devers today. his bat speed was on his three at bats, 73.6, 73.2, 72.9, which is basically normal Raphael Devers. He had the two balls hit 109 miles per hour yesterday. I think it's fine. I think if you didn't panic and do anything crazy that first week where everybody was acting like the sky is falling,

you should breathe a sigh of relief. Okay, so that's not my player of the night, Raphael Devers. His teammate is my player of the night, and that is Christian Campbell, who is off to a great start and had another good game here on Thursday, two for four with a single and his second home run. Both of them hit more than 104 miles per hour. He's been hitting the ball plenty hard, but more than that is the plate discipline.

when he's demonstrated, which was part of the profile in his breakout season in the minors last year. So it's not a total shock. It's just remember how spring training played out for him, where it just seemed like he couldn't catch up to Major League fastballs. And his strikeout rate was through the roof. It is now, after this latest game, 18 percent, the strikeout rate. And he's doing great. Those issues from spring training seem to have worked themselves out just in time. for the start of the season.

And so apparently the Red Sox knew what they were doing all along. And the price remained reasonable for Christian Campbell throughout draft prep season. So I feel pretty comfortable saying it's not going to be a Jackson holiday, a situation like Jackson holiday last year. And part of me wonders, like what was it all for? What was closely monitoring all these different players in spring training really for? Because I feel like I'm not sure we learned anything. I'm not sure the biggest takeaways from spring training, whether you talk about Clay Holmes or Gavin Williams or Christian Campbell or whatever.

I'm not sure any of them have panned out. And I mean, I know why we talk about it because we have to have things to talk about. And those are things people are paying attention to. And, you know, we have to do that. But maybe the right advice is longstanding advice. Kind of the longstanding default when it comes to spring training is just ignore it. I'm not saying nothing ever happens in spring training that changes a player's trajectory. Certainly things do.

But are we that good at identifying them that we actually can. come out ahead by obsessing about it. And I'm not sure that we are. I don't know. How do you feel about it? No, it's a good question. I mean, some of those pitchers that we continuously talked about in spring, they were doing new things, right? Clay Holmes has new pitches and Gavin Williams was, you know, his fastball IVB was up and he

was getting all these whiffs on his fastball. And, you know, so things like that, I feel like it's worth talking about. But, I mean, to your broader point here, Clay Holmes through two starts, looks like a reliever who is transitioning to being a starter and that it's going to take more time than we thought here. Yeah, they're worth talking about, but they end up rocketing up the rankings. Maybe just because we're talking about them. Other people are talking about them, too. Don't get me wrong. But I think we have a certain amount of influence over the whole fantasy baseball culture.

and I don't know. It's, I don't know. And look, we only have one start from Gavin Williams. Maybe he gets a dozen whiffs on his fastball

on his next one. It turns out to be, it turns out our energy was properly placed for him. Clay Holmes, no, a second start wasn't great, but there were signs there

of improvement from the first start. And I'm not totally without hope for him and suggesting people drop him and everything. But when you add this Christian Campbell thing, you know, I'm thinking back to the horrors that I experienced

as somebody who invested heavily in Jackson Holiday last year and like, oh, I'm seeing a lot of the same problems here. We can't count even the highest in prospects. We can't necessarily count on them being impactful right out of the gate. Looks like he's impactful right out of the gate. So I don't know. At the end of the day, how much do I really know? How much does anybody really know?

How much does spring really matter? And that will be an ongoing question. Yeah, maybe we get wrapped up in a little bit too much. We're just so close to it during spring. And we're just observing every little minutia and every little thing that we possibly can. And I don't know, maybe we're just like over-analizing because baseball is back and we want something to look at. It's certainly possible. Part of my what if segment for later on is, what if Christian Campbell is a top 10 second baseman as a rookie this season.

And Scott, you moved them all the way up to your ninth ranked second basement already. So I guess tell me what would that look like, right? If you're just kind of projecting this out, like what is a top 10 Christian Campbell season look like at the second base position? Well, part of the reason I felt comfortable moving him into the top 10 already is because there are just so few high-end second base. So it wasn't much of a stretch to move him past Bryce Terang, for instance. There's somebody I don't even believe in. Brandon Lau, I believe in a little more. But, you know, he always has his playing time issues and his health issues.

And if I had Brandon Lau, somebody offered me Christian Campbell for them today. Yeah, I'd make that trade. So that's part of it. I think the threshold for a top 10 season at second base is pretty low. I mean, Campbell could breeze past that. Campbell could compete with the top five at second base, which is, you know, it ends with Jordan Westberg. Could Christian Campbell's numbers rival Jordan Westbergs this year?

Sure, they could. I think he's a better plate discipline guy. I think he's a better base dealer. I guess what I'm envisioning for Christian Campbell at this point, you know, it's hard to put an exact line on it because I think the upside is so high. But if I'm going to estimate conservatively, let's give him a 260 average and 2020

with close to it with close to a 350 OBP. That would be tremendous. Yeah, that's probably close to a top five second basement if he could pull something like that at all. Does that, does that sound to agree? to you? I mean, what are you envisioning? Yeah, I think that's more of like a higher end outcome. Like if, if I'm just talking conservatively, I would say probably like 1515 with a helpful batting average. So like

260, 270, 15, 15, 15, that would still be a really good, you know, season for a rookie and for a second baseman. But yeah, I mean, obviously he has the pedigree and the talent. He looks better. He looks better than that to me. Yeah. I guess he hasn't stolen a base yet, has he? I don't think so. Yeah, yeah I don't know I think he's good Bottom line I think he's good All right

Let's talk about JT Realomuto My player of the Knight here Who goes three for three with a walk And two steals That's two steals in five games He had two steals in 99 games All of last year And last time he had two steals in a game

It was May 16th Of 2023 So Rillamuto dealt with the knee injury Last year he had the NCNJVE in surgery, he came back from that, and obviously didn't really run much last season at all. But back to that what if segment, what if JT. Real Muto is healthy and he's running this season? Well, if that's the case, he could get back to being a top five catcher in fantasy. Not saying that's going to happen, but I thought this was a really, really encouraging game here

for Real Muto where, you know, everything else that he did last season was pretty much in line with who he is, right? It's a kind of middling batting average, 250, 260. Power was still okay. I think he can approach 20 home runs. He's in a really good lineup, so counting stat should be there. Maybe he doesn't play as much as he did in years past because it sounds like they want to play it a little bit safer

with Rio Muto this season. But yeah, if he can get back to like 10 to 15 steals with 18 to 20 home runs, that's a top five catcher in fantasy. So I'm not saying that's going to happen, but it's a possibility. Oh, yeah. No, I think he's basically the same. The steals were the main concern, and he said his knees were feeling great this spring. He wanted to get back to that.

Should you have ignored that because he said it in the spring? I mean, I think you could have intuited it, whether he said it or not, just given the time he missed with the torn meniscus in the knee last year. But the decline as a hitter has been minimal. and I thought he was sliding too far in drafts. So, yeah, I think J.T. Real Muto, him stealing two bases in one game, is a good reminder of what he can do for you as your starting catcher. And I think he'll be happy with him there. Yeah, I think we have him on that NFBC team that we all drafted together.

Oh, good. I got him somewhere. Let's go. He fell so far in some two catcher leagues. and I just, like right when I was like, okay, I got to take them. Somebody took them. So I didn't actually end up with, well, I guess just the one share. Yeah. Again, that was JT real muto that we were talking about.

Wanted to quickly mention an interesting stat that I saw. The Reds are the first team since 1960 to lose one zip three games in a row. So let's get those bats going again, right? That would be pretty nice here for the Reds who, yeah, they're making, history for the wrong reasons right now. Before we hit our first break, make sure to download and follow our 10-minute podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today Express. Wherever you listen to podcast, we'll have a bonus prospect episode coming out every

Saturday in season. And thank you to those who are watching us live. I know it's really late here on the East Coast, but wherever you're watching, thank you for being here. Hit the like button and subscribe on the YouTube channel to the YouTube channel if you haven't already. Let's take a break and we'll be back right after this. Welcome back in news and notes.

Freddie Freeman was placed on the aisle with that ankle injury, retroactive to March 31st. And it looks like Enrique Hernandez is in line for more playing time here. Don't really think it matters too much outside of the deepest of leagues. But we need replacements. And a little sneak peek at your sleeper hitters, Scott. You have three first basemen on the list, Reese Hoskins, Spencer Torkelson, and Ryan Moutcastle.

there you go those are three that you could potentially pick up i'll note also the cubs are only facing right handers next week some tough pitchers in there but only right handers means probably michael bush will start every game so that's another possibility it's a good position if you need a fill in it's a good position right now there are plenty of choices uh let's see anybody else who almost made the cut i think that's it but there are plenty of choices So Pavin Smith is first base eligible, I believe. And the Diamondbacks have only one left-hander. Actually, I think he's just outfield.

So Pavin-Smith won't work. Yeah, he did start at first base today, though, in real life, IRL. I did want to quickly pull up the raise. Do you know the raise scheduled by any chance if John Finneranda? Yeah, they're going to face two less. Left-handers in their six games, and I would imagine he would sit those games. The matchups aren't the greatest. They're not terrible, but they're not the greatest.

Okay. Yeah, that's more so a name, I guess, in slightly deeper formats, maybe like 12-team Roto. If you're looking for a corner infielder or something, I did want to quickly pull up Ben Rice as well. The Yankees here have... It looks like two lefties on the schedule as well. So, yeah, same thing going on with Rice and... and Ronda for next week. They'll probably sit out of a few games.

And also the fifth worst matchups for the Yankees. Yeah. Fifth worst titter matchups. Some names in deeper leagues, much deeper leagues. Gavin Cheats, Carlos Santana, Josh Bell, and Wilmer Flores. So if you play in 15-team Roto, you need a Freeman replacement. Those are some names that you can look at there. A couple other angles here with the Freeman injury.

I'm going to guess it's just a one-week fill-in you need. I was watching video of him jogging on the field, basically. yesterday. So I think it's just, okay, it's a 10-day IL now. It's not 15 days for hitters like it was

not so long ago. He's already missed a few days. Let's just, we're the Dodgers, we're 8-0, let's just make sure he's totally feeling good before we bring him back.

So that's the one thing is I don't imagine it's going to be a long-term stay. And the other thing is could Dalton Varsh, or sorry, Dalton Rushing, I always want to call him

Dalton Varsho. Could Dalton rushing be the one who fills his spot? He has already started at first base in the minors after getting some exposure to left field late last season and of course he's a catcher by trade. Will Smith has played more consistently than I was expecting. I think he started every game but won for the Dodgers, seven of the eight and played well.

So if they are going to get rushing at bats, only so many are going to come at catcher. I don't know. He's somebody I wrote about in the prospect report that came out Wednesday because I saw he played some first base and because it seems like Freddie Freeman's might have to manage this ankle injury a little bit over the course of the season. And maybe between first base catcher,

occasional appearances in the outfield, maybe the Dodgers can carve out a role for rushing that way. and of course, he'll be catcher eligible in fantasy regardless of where he's playing. So there's something to keep an eye on. I don't know that now's the time, but there is an opening on the roster. Yeah, Dalton Rushing has 30 career games started at first base in the minor. So it's not impossible. I would bet against it happening.

I feel like whenever they call them up, they probably want them to get at least semi-regular playing time. And I guess he could do that for the next week or so, but once Freeman is back, It's, yeah, it's a little bit dicey there. So I would bet against it, but I would hope, I would love to be wrong. The more, I love getting prospects called up and seeing what they could do. But, yeah, we'll see what the Dodgers do here in Freeman's absence. Gunner Henderson is expected to be activated Friday against the Royals. Ranger Suarez could face live hitters before the end of the week.

He's on the IL with lower back stiffness. The Braves transferred Ronaldo Lopez to the 60-day IL. No surprise. He's scheduled for arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. Edward Cabrera tossed three innings in a rehab start on Tuesday. He'll likely need one or two more outings before rejoining the Marlins. Lucas G. Leto through 51 pitches over two and a third innings in his first rehab start at AAA. He'll need at least two more rehab outings before he joins the Red Sox rotation. This one is not confusing at all.

the Mariners are calling up Luis F Castillo to start on Friday. That's right. A completely different Luis Castillo. So now we have to look for the initial in the box score whenever they're pitching on the mound, which is pretty frustrating. But this Louis Castillo...

And you know who started the last game for the Mariners? What's that? Luis Castillo. That's right. So they're going to... Next week, they're scheduled to go on back-to-back days. Oh, gosh. It's, yeah, it's going to be confusing.

This Luis Castillo is 30 years old. He has not pitched in the majors since 2022, and he spent the past two years in Japan, where he pitched well, showed great command, but also did not get many strikeouts at all. I assume we have no interest in the other Luis Castillo. Nope, no interest in him. I mean, I suppose it could change if he performs well enough,

but I'm not anticipating that. All right, some injury updates that I saw for, Prospects, maybe names that could make an impact. Well, actually, some of these guys will not make an impact this season. But if you have them on your dynasty team, Ray's first base prospect, Xavier Isaac is on the IL at AA with a left elbow injury. Brewer's catcher Jefferson Caro is delayed by a hamstring injury. Braves pitching prospect Cam Caminiti is rehabbing forearm tendonitis. And Ray's outfielder, Theo Gillen, is dealing with a calf injury.

Let's get back into the what if segment. he spoke about Christian Campbell and J.T. Romuto, Jose Altuve. Over five with five strikeouts on Thursday. First time he has done that in his career. Scott, what if age is catching up to Jose Altuve? Well, I suppose it's possible. There have been a lot of those five strikeout games already, right? Isn't this the third one? And all from surprising people. Jackson Trio had one on opening day, I think. Oh, so maybe there's four, or Brent Rooker, I guess, had a four strikeout game. All from good players is the Dylan Cruz had one.

Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it could be happening. I don't know if a random five strikeout game on April 3rd is enough for me to say it's definitely happening. But he's in his mid-30s now, and it looked like he, his, His power took a little bit of a step back last year. The strikeout rate remained fine for what it's worth. So we hadn't really seen evidence of that declining. But that's particularly on fastball, swinging and missing on fastballs,

is something that happens a lot as hitters get older. So it's something to keep an eye on. But I'm not panicking about it. Yeah. I don't actually. If it happens, then Christian Campbell, that's another way Christian Campbell could enter the top five. You are correct.

I don't necessarily believe all these things, by the way, but just presenting them as possibilities this season. Jose Al-TuVe last year had a career-high O-Swing and career-high swinging strike rate. So, you know, some things under the hood with the plate discipline that, you know, he was still good, he was still viable for fantasy, obviously, but he's turning 35 in May.

It's a possibility, I think more likely is that Al-Tuvae will still have a productive season this year. Let's talk about Cedric Mullins and Kyle Schwabber both off to great starts. Mullins 1 for 3 with a sock and a shoe, his third home run, his second stolen base, and Kyle Schwaber hit a monster home run, his fourth of the season, nearly a 110 exit velocity 444 feet. This one I'm just going to say in Jess, Scott, but what if contract years are a real thing? Because both Cedric Mullins and Kyle Schwaber are in contract years this year.

So how about that? I mean, it's hard to imagine Kyle Schwerber improving that much on last year, especially. I mean, really, the last few years, he's been so steady. Not always, you know, there's been some tradeoff there with batting average and home runs, but just in terms of overall impact. And I'll point out, Schwerber was back in the leadoff spot today. Alec Bohm had been hitting second with Trey Turner leading off, but Turner was second.

Bohm was further down the lineup where he probably should be Schwabber back in the leadoff spot. So hopefully that's going to return to being a thing for him. I think it might just be for lefties that they want to do Turner at leadoff and Schwerber cleanup.

But I could be wrong. They were facing a righty today, so. Yeah. So that's good. This with... The thing about Cedric Mullins is it's not totally up him. Oh, you're right. Chwarber's been batting leadoff

against, he's been landing leadoff most days. I know Turner had been out, but yeah. Okay, that's probably a non-issue then. The thing with Cedric Mullins is he only has so much control over his, anyway, because they're sitting him against left-handers.

So, I think it'll be good against right-handers, and I think the power speed combo is enough that in five outfielder leagues and roto leagues, certainly you just start him, and don't worry about it too much. But it's unlikely.

It's not outside the realm of possibility. It wasn't that long ago. He's an everyday player. But I don't think that's the Orioles wish or plan. I don't know if they have faced a left-handed starting pitchers so far, but Tedric Mullins has started all seven games for them this season. Yeah. Yeah, I can't think off the top of my head all these matchups.

Like, they faced the Blue Jays for four. I don't think there would have. been a lefty in there, and then the Red Sox. They did face two lefties. Man, I could have sworn he was out of the lineup earlier this year. Yeah, he started all seven games. Let's just start over because I'm speaking nonsense for all these players. Clearly.

Clearly, I imagine I saw things that I didn't see. Yeah, Mollins has started against the two left-handers. So, you know, I don't know. Maybe he'll go 2030 this year. It wasn't that far off last year. Yeah, 1830. I mean, the biggest thing for Mullins is if he could get the batting average back up a little bit, because he's been right around 230 the past two seasons, and in 2022 it was 258.

So, man, if we can get up over 250 with like a near 2030 season, I can't, I don't think that Cedric Mullins can have a career year because I don't think he will top a 30, 30 season that he did in 2021. But I wouldn't be surprised if he has maybe his best season since 2021 here. in a contract year. Yeah, and I don't even know that the contract year would be the thing there. But, I mean, remember how bad he was at the start of last year. Yeah.

And the way he turned things around about a third of the way into it, his final 87 games, he had 277 with an 834 OPS, prior to that 174 with a 532 OPS. So if normal Mullins is what we saw for the final 60% of the season, then I mean, that's enough right there to make it the second best year of his career. All right. Let's talk about Joe Ryan, who had a mixed start here against the Astros. Five innings, four runs allowed, six strikeouts, two homers allowed, had 10 whiffs on 83 pitches.

And so far, he's profiling more like the pitcher he was. in 2023 than the pitcher that he was last season. The velocity has been down a little bit. He's relying much more on his fastball so far. It's only two starts. Things can change, obviously. But coming back from that shoulder strain last season and the fact that I was watching the start,

his velocity, he was like 94-95 in the first inning. And by the time he was in the fifth inning, he was at like 90-91. So maybe he's still building up, but I think it's a little bit concerning. Scott, what if, Joe Ryan is more like the pitcher from 2023 than he was last season. Yeah, this is a tough one because last year was the exception in terms of how Hardy through,

even with his average fastball velocity being down even more in the second start of 2025 than in the first start. It's still velocity like we saw for the first three years of his career. and we still generally liked him for the first three years of his career. Now, I know 2023 specifically things went off the rails because he had, I think it was a groin injury that messed up his delivery and he just got, he was just getting crushed with home runs for, I think most of the final third of the season. And I know you and I didn't like him coming into last year because of that. Then he had the new velocity and made us look rather dumb.

But that bad, that really bad, 2023 season, 11K per 9 for Joe Ryan. And the year before, 2022, when he was still throwing, averaging about the same velocity he is now, 13 and 8, 355, ERA, 110 whip, more than a strikeout per inning. Like, that's what I think is the more likely scenario. If Joe Ryan is missing last year's velocity all season long, I think 2022 would be more my expectation. The numbers I just gave you, 355, 110, 9.2K per 9,000, rather than 2023, where with the groin injury, it blew up to a 451 ERA. And really, those numbers from 2022 with the lower velocity aren't that different from

24 with the higher velocity. The whip was better last year, but it's the same basic profile of elite control guy with a good enough strikeout rate, but fly ball tendencies that sometimes caused the home runs in ERA to get away from.

Let's take a quick break. When we returned, we had ourselves a pitcher's duel in Miami. We'll talk about that right after this quick commercial break. Welcome back in. baseball today and Scott we had ourselves a pitcher's duel out in Milwaukee. First time we've used that this year. Let's let's talk about it. Nick Ladolo up against Nestor Cortez who had himself a nice bounce back. Ladolo six and two-thirds innings, one unearned run with four strikeouts. Still only eight whiffs on 82 pitches in this one and Nestor

Cortez, obviously much better. The only place that he could go was up after his start against the Yankees. Six shutout innings, one hit, two walks, six strikeouts, 11 whiffs on 86 pitches. With that said, velocity does remain down about two miles per hour on the fastball here for Nestor Cortez. Scott, what did you see from Ladolo and Cortez here? I was happy that Lodolo emphasized the curveball again through it nearly 30% of the time. It was 16% in his first start. And that was a little concerning because that's his bread and butter pitch. I mean, as Nick Lodolo's curveball goes, so goes Nick Ludolo.

And him losing it because of the blister on his middle finger last year, obviously tanked. What was looking like a breakout season then, I'm not sure the curveball movement profile is exactly what I'm hoping to see. it's in particular the I don't know the whole shape is just different and he got four whiffs on it eight whiffs total on 82 pitches is kind of an underwhelming number as far as that goes so I'm not totally at ease with where Nicolodolo is right now but the results have been fine through two starts obviously I mean fine may be underselling it it's just the lack of wiffs and the lack of strikeouts that has me a little uneasy, but I'm mostly satisfied. And then Cortez, yeah, the velocity being down, not a big velocity guy anyway, but how much can

he afford to lose before he just gets tattooed? I know the Reds lineup has been a little iffy so far. And maybe that contributed to his success here. He also hasn't been throwing a sweeper as much, about only half as well. often as last year. Not that it's like some dominant pitch for him, but he's kind of restricting his arsenal in addition to losing the velocity.

So he has me concerned. I think Nestor Cortez is pretty fringy anyway, even when he's going well. But you can usually count on him for a high 3ZRA, a helpful whip. You know, in the long run, I'm talking. And 8K per 9, that's kind of the upside for Cortez.

So if any slippage there, I think quickly makes them not so usable. Yeah, and you bringing up the sweeper usage being down, just a reminder that Cortez dealt with a strained flexor in his left elbow late last season. And, you know, the next time we saw him was in the World Series, giving up a grand slam to Freddie Freeman. So, you know, velocity being down, coupled with the sweeper usage down, and he's had some arm troubles the past couple of years. Yeah, I'm more so viewing Nestor Cortez

mostly as like a matchup streamer at this point. And next week, he's in Colorado against the Rocky, so you definitely do not want to start Nestor Cortez next week. Do any of these pitchers need to be rostered in shallower leagues because I kind of view them in a similar light to Nestor Cortez? Tanner Halk, who's been pretty bad in his first two starts of the season, Charlie Morton, who, yes, had 10 strikeouts. in this start. 16 whiffs, that's great, but also gave up five earned runs and, you know,

he's 41 years old coming off a year with bad ratios and Merrill Kelly got blasted in Yankee Stadium. He gave up nine runs over three and two-thirds innings. He allowed three homers in this start and his fastball velocity is down a little bit so far this season as well. Scott, do you think Merrill Kelly, Charlie Morton and Tanner Howe need to be rostered in shallower? leagues right now. No. I mean, Tanner Halk comes the closest Tanner Halk, I think, just because his overall numbers were solid last year, he got some benefit of the doubt was a late round pick in most leagues. But I feel like he had to kind of hit the ground running to retain that spot in those shallow mixed leagues. Because remember, everything kind of collapsed for him in the second half.

Ground ball rate, okay, that remained fine. But first three months, 8.8K per 9, 1.1.4.4.4.4.5.1. So he became like an elite strike thrower and nearly a strikeout per nigh guy. Final three months, 6.2K per nine, 3.7 walks per nine. So he lost both of those. And that's more in line with what we had been seeing from how previously. It mostly just been a ground ball guy with some questionable control. And early on, if you want to lump spring in there with it too, it's fine with me because it seems like all a continuation here for Halk.

Just other than those first three months of 2024, just hasn't shown us that much. So I'd be fine dropping him for someone else who's emerging still. I mean, Chris Boobich is out there and more than a quarter of leagues still. And any, I'm not going to say any of the guys we talk about in the sleeper pitcher segment for week three, but probably like half of that list I'd be willing to drop Palk 4. And that's the most interesting of these three. I think Charlie Morton, he's been just a streamer guy for a couple years now

and somebody who's going who's very likely to crush your whip. I don't have much hope for him in that regard, even if he can miss bats at a decent clip still. And finally, Merrill Kelly, I just, I don't think there's much of anything left here. He's his velocity is still lagging from two years ago. He lost some of it last year in an injury plague season. Hasn't gained it back this year. And it was marginal stuff to begin with. So I think he's just, I don't think there's much of anything left.

I think he's going to keep getting crushed too often anyway to really trust him in fantasy. Here are some names that I moved ahead of both Tanner Halk and Merrill Kelly on Thursday. Dustin May, Reese Olson, Brady Singer, Casey Mize, Jordan Hicks. So I'd be okay dropping Tanner Huck for any of those. Yeah, sure. I didn't hear them all, but the couple I heard sounded about right. Dustin May, Reese Olson, Brady Singer, Casey Mize, Jordan Hicks. Yeah, yeah, that's fine.

Hicks, I'm not totally sold on Hicks, but whatever. I don't have a lot of confidence in Halk at all. If you want to make that swap, it's fine with me. A couple deep league middle infielders who played well here on Thursday and are widely available. Brendan Rogers, 3 for 4 with a double 3 RBI. He has started five of seven games for the Astros. And Geraldo Perdomo, who's off to a nice start for the debacks,

one for four with a grand slam, his first home run of the season. Very deep league stuff here, Scott, like 15 teams or deeper middle infield options. But, you know, if you're desperate, do you like either? Brandon Rogers or Geraldo Perdomo? I do not like either I think we know who they are and what they are as long as they're getting at bats you know you get in the deep enough league

anybody who's getting at bats as value but beyond that I don't have much hope for either Rogers or Perdomo I will have you know Scott in my Tout Wars League which is 15 team Roto with OBP I picked up Haraldo Perdomo this week because you had the debacks

as one of your sleeper hitter matchups entering this week. And so far he's been great. He just hit a grand slam. So I'm happy I did it. Like, yeah. Glad it worked out.

I mostly picked him up to have just whatever, a backup middle infielder. He's on a good team type thing. But, you know, he has to go, he has to go right into your lineup. In 15 team roto leagues, it can be tough to get a backup shortstop,

for sure. Yeah. Quickly run through some other leftovers here from Thursday before we talk about some rankings movers and week three. But on the hitting side of things, Alex Bregman had his first big game with the Red Sox, three for five with two doubles and his first home run.

Tristan Kossis is on the board with his first home run of the season. Christian Walker hit his first home run with the Astros. It was a no doubt shot second deck against Joe Ryan. Aaron Judge had himself a huge game, three for five with a sock and a shoe, four RBI. He is already up to five home runs. and it was his first steal of the season

and Jazz Chisholm also had himself a big game one for four with a sock in the shoe, his fourth homer, his first steal of the season. Scott, I mean, all these players are expected to be, you know, viable to elite fantasy options, but do you have anything to add on any of them? I've been kind of worried about Tristan Kossis with 40% strikeout rate coming in

and the strikeout rate, ran hot all of last season for him, both before the rib injury and after the rib injury. And that's why I began to lose confidence in him as a fantasy asset, particularly since he wasn't exactly discounted coming into the season. He felt like kind of the default pick at first base in the spot where he was slotted. And of course, yeah, I mean, former top prospect, a lot of upside there. it just, it felt like a leap of faith. And as much as he's striking out early on, okay, so he had the home run today.

Hopefully that's the start of something. But I don't know. I'm still pretty concerned about Kossis. The rest of these guys, nothing about them has, nothing about their performance so far has moved me at all, which isn't a knock on any of them. They were just already highly regarded in the first.

plays. Yep. Some quick stats on Aaron Judd's last season. It took him 28 games to get to five home runs. This season, it took him six games, and remember he ended last season with 58 homers, so we'll see what kind of pace he can keep up

for the entirety of the season. Of course, he has to stay healthy, too. Also, the only Yankee to reach 500 extra base hits faster than Judge, the only Yankees were Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. So we are watching a historic player right now in his prime and it's pretty awesome to see definitely yeah i just feel like sometimes i

can as a yankee fan i like i can take it for granted like he had the bad postseason or whatever but man he just Aaron judge really is uh he's an amazing player he's a hall he's on a hall fame track like he's he's awesome he's the best power hitters since the steroids era i think pretty easily right who else is even in that competition Yeah, I mean, everyone else I'm thinking of was just better as like a pure hitter, like Poo-Holes and Miguel Cabrera and stuff. But yeah, just pure- Yeah, but you got a guy who's, I mean, he hit more home runs than any player in American League history two years ago.

And then last year he nearly repeated the feat. So it's like there have been two players in history with multiple 60 homer seasons, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGuire. but I think it's very, I don't know that it'll be this year, maybe with the kind of start he's off to, but judge could do it. Judge could become the third and without the associations that those other two have. Yep. Some pitching leftovers from Thursday, Hunter Brown is now two for two in quality starts,

six innings, two runs with eight strikeouts. He had 14 whiffs on 91 pitches and two names in the deepest of leagues. Taiwan Walker pitched well against the Rock. Rockies, six shutout innings with four strikeouts, and Carlos Carrasco. He was okay in his Yankees debut up against the debacks, five and a third, three runs aloud with five strikeouts. Scott, anything on Hunter Brown, Taiwan Walker, and Carlos Carrasco. So Hunter Brown is throwing a lot harder this year.

Velocity pretty much across the board up one to two miles per hour. And there's already a lot to like about him. He's a great ground ball pitcher, gives up weak contact. The strikeout potential, it's decent. It's not amazing. It's kind of why I don't really view Hunter Brown as a potential ace for fantasy, but he's on the next level there. I mean, he could be Max Fried like in terms of his impact,

and he's off to a good start. I think that of Velocity can only help. So that's the main takeaway there. Don't see a lot to get excited about with Carasco. Taiwan Walker, I wanted to mention for him. I don't think there's much to see here either, but it was throwing a lot of pitches, got multiple whiffs on four different ones.

And we've seen him be streamable in the past. I don't know how long he's going to stay in the Phillies rotation. because obviously he's just filling in for Ranger Suarez. But last year was more of an outlier in its badness than the norm for Taiwan Walker. So I don't know. We'll see if the next couple, I don't even know how many turns he gets,

but this was a good first start. All right, Scott, let's get into week three sleepers. And I realize for some people, this might be week two if you played the long week one. But we'll go with week three because, you know, If we go by Roto lineups, then there was the short week and then the long week, whatever it is. But week three sleepers.

Let's talk about the schedule. There are 26 teams with six games next week, and there are four teams with seven. The Red Sox, Royals, Twins, and Blue Jays. What about the Rockies? They have three games in Cordes Field against the Brewers and then three on the road at the Padres. Before we get into two-star pitcher, Scott, I wanted to give you an opportunity just to remind everybody about two-start pitchers and the way things have trended the past couple of years with scheduling and spacing starters out and sometimes two-star pitchers not making that second start,

it just feels like they are much less reliable than they once were. They've never been super reliable, but yes, it seems like in recent years, teams have been reluctant to start pitchers even on on regular rest so traditionally when they're a team would be in line for seven games in a week they want to have a day off that week well that meant they had two two star pitchers the guy going monday and the guy going tuesday monday saturday tuesday sunday but in recent years we've seen that when a team has a stretch of consecutive games like that without a day off they like to insert a spot starter at some point so that their pitchers stay on extra rest and that Tuesday starter ends up not getting the start on Sunday because everybody

gets pushed back. So it doesn't happen always and we're so early in this season that we don't know if the trend's going to continue. I presume it will. So I'm going to try and make a concerted effort when I do the two-star pitcher rankings to if it's a Tuesday Sunday situation and a seven-game week. to kind of downgrade those guys a little bit, just because I'm not sure they'll actually make two starts,

and maybe I'll even signal who they are, certainly in the article, so that you can know there's an added element of uncertainty there that might make you think twice. So because there are only four teams playing seven games this week, that means there are four pitchers that are in line for Tuesday, Sunday. It means they might not actually go Sunday. And they are Cole Regans, who you'd probably start anyway.

Pablo Lopez, who you'd probably start anyway. Tanner Halk, who you'd probably only start with two starts. And the second one is at the White Sox. So that's the one you really want to get from him. That's the questionable one. And then Easton Lucas of the Blue Jays, who you're probably not thinking about it all. All right, well, let's start with the starter sit, these fringe two-star pitchers. And look, Freddie Peralta most weeks, he's locked in.

I totally get that. one of his starts is in Corse Field, one is in Arizona, I will point out, it's very cold in Corse Field this time of year, but still just crazy stuff happens there all the time. I assume we're starting him, Scott,

but matchups are pretty scary here for Freddie Prowto. Yeah, I still have him as a must start, though. It's a big group, but like half my starting pitcher rankings are must start, and he's on the lower end of that. I have him a 13th among the 15 must start.

start options. All right. Let's talk about Justin Steele, who, again, most of the time he's just locked in. He's a must-star pitcher, but he's struggling with home runs early on in the season, and next week he gets the Rangers and at the Dodgers. It's, those are difficult matchups for sure, and he is struggling. So that's why I have Justin Steele outside of my must-start pitchers. But he is still in the advisable in most cases category.

certainly points leagues. I'd run them out there in categories leagues. You know, you'll have to weigh how much you want to protect your ratio stats versus getting extra strikeouts, getting more possibilities that wins. Dodgers aren't going to go 162 and 0. It's a chance he could win that start. All right. Next up, we have Jose Burrios, who is at the Red Sox and at the Orioles. So some pretty tough matchups there. Yeah, and Jose Berrios obviously is a bit of a random number generator, as Chris pointed out the other day.

In the long run, the numbers are where you want them to be. So I'd rather not try and play the guessing game with him if I can help it. There hasn't been a lot of attrition at starting pitcher yet, so you may have the option of picking and choosing and, okay, maybe you want to leave Jose Brieus out with those two tough matchups. I'll probably start him since it's two matchups, but it's not a sure thing. And the last name I had on the list was Tanner Halk, who we don't know if he's going to make that second start. Yeah.

Yeah. It would be points leagues only, and I wouldn't mind just dropping him and assuming he won't make the two starts. All right, Scott, who are some two-star pitchers that you are looking to add and stream names that are under 70% rostered? Okay.

We have Casey Mize, who apparently, this is a case of a guy already losing two-start status, looking like you'd have two-star status one week, but then it gets pushed back to the next week. I don't even remember what happened with the tiger's rotation, but it looks like he's in line for two-starts next week. Yankees and Twins.

So Yankees match-up is definitely a tough one. Twins, they've had a hard time hitting so far, and might as look great with that revamped splitter. If you're looking for a two-starts, start sleeper, I think he's probably the best one. Hayden West Nesky, much more available, only 22% rostered in two matches that are pretty favorable at Seattle versus the Angels. I don't think West Neske is as good as Casey Mize, so that's a factor. But he does have relief pitcher eligibility, and I think certainly in points leagues, I like Hayden West Nesky

is a sleeper for this week. Shane Smith, highly, highly available. He gets Cleveland and Boston. So the matchups could be better, but they're not terrible. Also, relief pitcher eligible. But he does pitch for the White Sox. He did kind of run out of steam in inning five in his first start. So not confident even if he pitches well, it'll be in good position for the win, but only 13% rostered and has RP eligibility.

All right, let's slide over to the one-star pitchers. And these names are ones that we've talked a lot more about recently. Pretty exciting names for the one-star streamers here. Oh, yeah. Chris Pooh bitch at Cleveland. Like I said, still available in more than a quarter of leagues. Drew Rasmussen. Same thing.

He gets the Braves, which has been a great matchup for pitcher so far. I don't think it'll remain that way. Maybe they come alive this week. But I think Rasmussen is a good enough pitcher that I'd be willing to roll the dice. Brady Singer gets the Pirates this week coming off a great debut. I guess I'll have another start over the weekend. So we'll see how that looks. But you like the Pirates matchup either way for Brady.

singer, Jose Soriano at Tampa Bay. I think that's a fine matchup for him. Nick Martinez at San Francisco, David Peterson. I think it's going to be a low-impact starter for the most part, but if you're just rolling the dice on a streamer, I think he'll be good at limiting damage as a ground ball guy and he gets the athletics. I do worry a little bit about that new venue, Scott. I mean, I know it's only one series, but I was reading an article from Susan

Susler who covers the athletics and she was pointing out that yeah she really thinks that offense is going to play up in that ballpark and she said i mean i think jokingly but she's she said i think brent ricker might hit 30 home runs just in his home games this season which was obviously a crazy statement but uh yes obviously a bit of hyperbole on her part but i mean david peterson's a ground ball guy so i wouldn't expect him to be that affected by venue anyway. All right, let's move over to the hitters and the best matchups for week three. The Mets, Padres, Red Sox, Brewers, and the Reds, the worst hitter matchups, Cardinals, Rangers, Mariners, Braves, and the Yankees. Scott, who are your favorite sleeper hitters for next week?

So there are some weeks when I'm choosing sleeper hitters and it's like, oh, the matchups work out so that there are these players who, who just happen to be attractive pickups regardless. And so obviously if they have good matchups, why not play them? This is not one of those weeks. This is a week where I could choose the really low-end hitters who happen to have good matchups

or I could choose the interesting hitters. Whose matchups could be better, but they're not so bad. And I did the latter. I had Michael Massey as a possibility with the Royals playing seven games, only one against the left-handed. I had Paveen Smith, who I mentioned earlier, Diamondbacks are pretty good matchups, only one left-hander.

But in all honesty, I'm not starting Paveen Smith or Michael Massey over Kyle Monsardo. You know, it's just, I'm not going to recommend them over Monsardo or Torkelson or a bunch of hitters who qualify for this list just because they happen to have better matchups. I'm not going to do that because I want to do them myself. So who I do have here is Jake Croninworth, the Padres you mentioned. to have the second best matchups, and he's off to a pretty nice start. It's available nearly half of CBS Sports League, eligible to positions.

I have Reese Hoskins, who is not off to a great start, but I think he's good. Brewers have the fourth best matchup. They have that series at Coors Field to begin the week that you pointed out, Frank. And I'm actually opened up the 10-day forecast for Denver. Hyes at the start of Neuros,

next week are in the 60s and 70s. So it should be fine, weather-wise. Nice. So like Reese Hoskins, Kyle Mazzardo mentioned him. The Guardians have decent matchups. They do have two left-handers on the schedule. Monsardo had a great performance against the left-hander on opening day and then sat out against Kyle Hart for some reason. So it's still unclear how much he's going to sit against lefties.

That gives me some pause to lefties again. But, you know, opens against him. the White Sox and no lefties in that series. Let's see, who else? Spencer Torkelson. Tigers' matchups are kind of middling, but I think Torkelson is available enough that he, I got to mention him here.

Max Kepler is available in three quarters of CBS Sports League, and he's been playing lefties, righties regardless. He gets a series against the Cardinals at least, so the matchups are fine. T.J. Friedel, The Reds have the fifth best matchups. And I like him out of the leadoff spot for them. Trevor Story has a couple steals in a home run already.

The Red Sox have the third best matchups. Ryan Moutcastle off to a slow start. But he faces a bunch of pitchers that can be susceptible to home runs. Merrill Kelly, branded Fott, Bowden, Francis, Jose Berrios. I think there's a decent chance Mountcastle gets going this week. Hunter Goodman and Otto Lopez, I think, two of the early risers at their respective positions. Yeah, like I said, like we've mentioned, the Rockies have their first home series, so we'll see how Goodman fares in that.

Catcher eligible, obviously. Otto Lopez gets to face some shaky pitchers in a series with the Nationals, especially, and it's been providing surprising power. We know he has some speed. I think if you need middle end field help, not a bad choice this week. All right. Again, those were your week three sleepers coming up for the next week. And we were going to talk about rankings, risers, and followers. But we're kind of out of time here. Scott wrote about it on the site. So if you want to check that out, feel free.

CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. And if you click on our rankings tab, you could just check out all of our rankings yourself. And they're by each position. We have for head to head points and for Roto and Category League. So yeah, make sure to check out the rankings on the site. A couple bullpen updates here from Thursday for the Phillies. Jordan Romano entered in the eighth inning with a two-run lead facing nine one and two in the Rockies lineup. He gave up a double, but got out of the inning unscathed. And Jose Alvarado then got the ninth inning with a three-run lead. He gave up one run on a walk and three hits. He struck out three for his first save. I don't know exactly how this is going to shakeout, Scott.

The way that I'm leaning right now is that I think Romano and Alvarado are just going to continue to kind of split closer duties for the time being at least. Yeah, I was trying to figure out exactly why they deployed them the way they did this time. So Tolio was up in the ninth, but he's a switch hitter. I guess I don't know. I mean, you could point to the fact that Romano got the time. top of the lineup in the eighth with Brenton Doyle and Ezekiel Tovar is okay maybe Romano's getting preferential treatment but you know you got two days in a row Alvarado working the ninth once

with the four run lead so it wasn't quite a safe situation and then here for the save yeah I think it's something I think it's something we're going to have to obsess over at least for the first month here before it gets sorted out all right over to the Astros Josh Hayter struck out one for his third save for the Brewers. Trevor McGill was unavailable after pitching the previous two days. Joel Pyeamps got the ninth inning with a one-run lead, and he struck out one for his first save of the season. And for the Yankees, Devin Williams is out on the paternity list,

so Luke Weaver got the final four outs for his first save of the season. To stream or not to stream on Friday. So, names that stood out, Tyler McGillinger. up against the Blue Jays, Max Meyer at the Braves, Zach Lattel at the Rangers, Nick Martinez at the Brewers, Jose Soriano versus the Guardians. Yeah.

So I think the best choice is here. I mean, those are all fine. I don't hate any of them. My top choice would probably be Nick Martinez at the Brewers because they've had some trouble scoring here at the start of the year. Soriano, Jose Soriano, ground ball pitcher, he tends to

excel at run prevention, limits damage, if nothing else doesn't get the big strikeout numbers, but then again, neither does Nick Martinez. So those are my favorite two pitchers of this group, and I think I'd rank them one and two for Friday. Though Meyer at the Braves, you know, that could

go great the way they've been performing and any of them are usable. And then on Saturday, the names that stood out here, Rees Olson against the White Sox, Edwardo Rodriguez, at the Nationals. Griffin Canning is facing the Blue Jays. Brady Singer is at the Brewers and A.J. Smith-Schauver home against the Marlins. Don't like this group as much. Of course, Reese Olson against the

White Sox. I feel like that's a must, maybe the best streamer of the entire weekend. Brady Singer, again, with Milwaukee struggling and as good as he looked in his first start, I'd be okay with him too. And AJ Smith-Shawver, obviously, that's attractive. an attractive matchup against the Marlins, and he showed us some upside. First time through, still hasn't, doesn't have much of a history

of actually delivering fantasy-relevant starts. So I'd probably rank him third of this group, but, you know, if you wanted to roll the dice on upside, with that matchup, Ms. Chauver is somebody you could gamble on. And then on Sunday, all three of these names are more than streamers, but they are available. So Chris Bubich, home against the Orioles,

Drew Rasmussen at the Rangers, Jordan Hicks, home against the Mariners, like all three of those, and then we'll mention David Peterson up against the Blue Jays. I don't think I would do it, but man, if you're desperate

and you want to go for it, Martin Perez at the Tigers, I'm not doing it, but somebody might. Yeah, it wouldn't be me either. All right, I'm assuming you agree with all those other ones.

They're all great. Cool. Yeah, more because of who they are than because of what the matchups are. Certainly, Boobitch against the Orioles. Tough matchup, but I think he's good enough that I'd start him. All right, we're going to wrap there for Scott.

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