Fantasy Baseball Today - Is Will Benson a Sleeper? Can Yu Darvish Do It Again? (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:03 Let's talk about Will Benson and you Darvish up next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FD in 5 on Saturday, March 9th. I am Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White, the players we haven't talked enough about. First up, Will Benson, ADP of 319.4, 73rd outfielder off the board. Last year hit 275 with 11 homers, 19 steals, and an 863 OPS. There's power, there's speed, obviously a great ballpark. Good walk rate, 12%, 31% strikeout rate.

Starting point is 00:00:36 So I think we do have some questions, Scott, about the swing and miss. Interesting skill set, will he play enough? That's also a question. What do you think? Yeah, so the playing time question will start there because that's the question for every Reds hitter, basically.

Starting point is 00:00:51 We focus so much on the infields because that's where most of the talent is piping in. But the outfield, you know, if Spencer Steer is getting pushed out there because of the infield surplus, then how is that going to affect Jake Freyley and T.J. Friedel and Will Benson,

Starting point is 00:01:09 three left-handed hitting outfielders who put up some pretty interesting numbers last year. Friedel, I feel like, is the most likely to hold on to his spot there, tends to bat toward the top of the lineup. But I think Will Benson might be the second most likely. I think he's more talented than Jake Freely, and I think the Reds know he's more talented than Jake Freely. And while strikeouts are obviously a

Starting point is 00:01:32 something that could potentially derail him and also his struggles against left-handed pitchers, his work, he's trying to address one of those at least. I know I read he's taking as many abats as he possibly can against left-handed pitchers inside sessions or whatever else, just trying to get more looks at them to hopefully improve his standing. With all the Red's depth, I'm not sure there's going to be an opportunity for him to play much

Starting point is 00:01:59 against lefties, but you can't get better unless you're seeing lefties. So I like that step that Will Benson is taking. And even if he just picks up where he left off last year, left off last year, I mean, those numbers you read off, 11 homers 19 steals, and 329 plate appearances, that suggests 2040 potential. I don't think he's going to get to 2040, but 1530 as a platoon player. that seems perfectly plausible for Will Benson. He is in five outfielder leagues especially emerging as a real sleeper for me.

Starting point is 00:02:34 Let's talk about you, Darvish. The ADP is 178.6 as the 50th starting pitcher off the board entering his age 37 season. Does he have one more bounce back left? Last year, 136 in the third inning is his lowest in a full season since 2018. He went on the IL in late August with right elbow inflammation. Turns out he had some bone chips in that elbow. didn't get it surgically repaired this off season,

Starting point is 00:02:58 but has not been limited, hasn't reported any pain. He's pitching in the spring. He's made two starts. Scott, there's lots of inconsistencies year to year with you, Darvish. He feels like one of these players that you buy after a down year

Starting point is 00:03:11 and hopefully he returns value. Maybe you let someone else draft him when he's coming off one of those awesome seasons. What do you think about you, Darvish this year? I'm kind of down on you, Darvish. I understand there are some excuses. there's some excuse-making for what happened to him last year between the bone spurs and the elbow

Starting point is 00:03:32 and kind of a strange build-up with the World Baseball Classic going on. I know some on the Padres beat have talked about that. And maybe it'll prove valid. I can't say for sure. But U. Darvish is 37 years old now, and there were warning signs even in 2022. He went 16 and 8 with 310 ERA, but he had barely a strikeout per inning,

Starting point is 00:03:53 which is not U-Darvish. Like, I mean, the U-Darvish, we remember, was like 11K per 9, not 9 per 9. And so that was a big drop-off for as good as the season was overall. And then last year, he turns out this season, which was just pretty much bad all the way around. Listen to the swinging strike rate decline for you, Darvish, over the last few years, too.

Starting point is 00:04:16 So in 2020, that great year with the Cubs, it was 14.4% swinging strike rate. The next year, 12.1, then 11.4, than 10.7 last year. Again, for a 37-year-old, 10.7 is bad. And so I don't know. It might just be a case of a pitcher on decline

Starting point is 00:04:37 and no reversal in sight. I think Darvish is fine around the SP40 range, but I wouldn't go much higher and I'm not that optimistic about a bounceback. Yeah, maybe I'm just reading too much into the name value. If you, Darvish, obviously, plenty of years having massive seasons,

Starting point is 00:04:54 and it just feels so weird for him to be drafted as the 50th starting pitcher off the board, but he's getting up there in age. So like you said, this might just be part of the decline for you, Darvish. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today in five,

Starting point is 00:05:16 and we'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Is Will Benson a Sleeper? Can Yu Darvish Do It Again? (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

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