Fantasy Baseball Today - Latest Spring Training Injuries to Jordan Westburg, Joe Ryan & Others! (2/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)
Episode Date: February 23, 2026Frank Stampfl and Scott White react to the latest news from the first weekend of spring training. Pablo Lopez needs Tommy John surgery, Jordan Westburg has a partially torn UCL, Joe Ryan was scratched... from his start and more. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv 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/ 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
Transcript
Discussion (0)
We have a bunch of news from the first weekend of spring training up next on Fantasy Baseball Today Express.
Welcome into FBT Express on Monday, February 23rd. I am Frank Stample joined by Scott White,
and let's take a look at the latest news and notes. We did learn that Pablo Lopez will officially undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss all of 2026.
It looks like as of now, Zeb Matthews will likely take his spot in the rotation, Scott. And we just wrapped up our SP preview part three.
and it sounds like you have at least a little bit of interest in Zebby Matthews.
I do have interest in Zebby Matthews.
Yeah, there's a bit of a competition there, I would say,
because they also have David Festa, for instance, McAble.
But I think Zebby Matthews is the most interesting
because he gets a lot of whiffs.
That is one thing he showed,
even though the results were not the greatest.
he had a near 13% swingy strike rate nearly 10K per 9.
And if you look at the ERA estimators, you know, particularly FIPP,
it comes out a lot better than his ERA.
It comes out about 380.
So I can see ZEby Matthews taking a step forward here this year.
And if he's there from the start, yeah, I think he's going to be worth targeting late in some leagues.
Jordan Westberg is dealing with a partially torn UCL in his right elbow.
he will not undergo Tommy John surgery,
opting for PRP injections instead.
He is going to miss all of April at a minimum,
and then he'll be reevaluated after that.
But Scott, this looks like it opens up an opportunity for Kobe Mayo.
Any deep league interest in him?
It would have to be a pretty deep league, I would say.
Now, he did finally show some signs of life
toward the end of last season.
he let me see if I can pull up the numbers here in September 301 with five home runs in a 941 OPS.
Hard to complain about that, right?
The problem is that he still struck out at a 29% rate.
So I would say there's a lot of reason for doubt with Kobe Mayo still, but, you know, there is that little glimmer of hope from last September.
We know it's a big prospect.
We know he has a lot of power.
seems like there's an opportunity available to him now and maybe he'll make good on it.
But I view him more as somebody to monitor off the waiver wire in most cases.
Joe Ryan was crashed from his start Saturday and an MRI revealed inflammation in his back.
So something to monitor here and pay attention to Joe Ryan being drafted as a top 20 starting pitcher in fantasy.
So obviously he's very important this season.
Riley O'Brien won't pitch in the WBC due to a mild calf strain.
he's shut down for a few days.
Jojo Romero is a name to watch there in the Cardinals bullpen.
Shane Bieber has progressed to throwing from 120 feet.
We know he's starting the season on the aisle due to forearm fatigue,
but I guess this is a good sign for Shane Bieber.
Ronald Acuna, we learned, will hit lead off for the Braves this season.
It's not breaking news, Scott, but last year,
Acuna hit in the middle of the lineup.
Now we know he's leading off.
It just changes the shape of his production instead of maybe big RBI numbers in the middle.
We should once again expect big run totals from Ronald O'Cuna.
Yeah, and that's where he's hit for the majority of his career,
even the majority of last year.
So we're pretty used to that.
I am curious what it means for the rest of the Braves lineup.
I think the way Walt Weiss laid it out in their most recent spring game
was Drake Baldwin batting second,
which is interesting, especially since he's not going to have to share the load
with Sean Murphy until May, probably when Murphy's health.
healthy again. And then Matt
Olson third and jerks and ProFar
fourth. That is
interesting. Considering ProFar has a great OBP
right, so you figured you would want him
on base, but... Well, he is
hitting ahead of Austin Riley and Ozzy
Albys who are fifth and sixth.
So,
you know, I think
even more interesting than Acuna lead off is
Baldwin's second and then if
Olson follows him, you got the two lefties back
to back, but they both
hit lefties pretty well. So probably not
big deal.
I think more than anything, it could be good news for Baldwin.
All right, let's take a quick break.
We'll be back right after this.
Welcome back in, FBT Express, taking a look at the news and notes from the first weekend of
spring training.
The Guardian signed Reese Hoskins to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring
training.
Last year, he hit 12 home runs with a 748 OPS in 90 games.
Still hit the ball decently hard.
It's got any deep league interest here in a, uh,
Reese Hoskins to Cleveland.
Yeah, I think there's interest there.
I don't really, I don't, I guess there's enough interest that in deep roto leagues with
corner infield spots to fill Hoskins now belongs in the discussion.
I don't know that he belongs in it any more than Kobe Mayo, especially as bad as he
was coming back from injury.
I thought it would go better with the Brewers.
You know, obviously a reclamation project for Cleveland, but he has enough of a history there of success that I'm intrigued, just not really seeing the point of drafting.
Reese Hoskins in most contexts still.
Edwin Useta has been diagnosed with right shoulder inflammation and will resume throwing next week.
He also received a cortisone injection in that shoulder.
And it's, I think, good news for Griffin Jacks.
I just wonder how much the drafting public will react to this guy,
and maybe they'll push Griffin Jacks up too far as a result.
Could be.
I moved him up pretty far myself in light of this news.
How far did you move him up?
I believe he's a top 25 reliever for me in Roto.
Let's see if I can give you a little more context than that.
I think he's a clear frontrunner at this point.
Some had him, Griffin Jacks, as the frontrunner even before the UCs.
injury. It doesn't sound like Usada's going to miss much time, but it is the sort of thing where,
you know, they think he's rested enough. He starts throwing in. Oh, no, it's still hurting. They
shut him down again. It just, it's the sort of thing that could snowball and end up costing
Useta a lot more time than it seems now. So just that doesn't mean Ussaida won't be back
opening day. It doesn't mean the job is definitely Jackson's. I just think it, it definitely tips
the scales in Jacks' favor.
Yeah, I'm 24th, which is behind Ryan Walker,
but ahead of like Alexis Diaz.
So he's now in the fringe closer group, Griffin Jacks.
Even if Usade is out of the picture,
it could still be a committee.
Garrick Clevenger is somebody, a left-hander,
who could be part of that mix.
So I don't want to overrate Jacks either,
but I do think he deserves to be as high as I've put him.
All right, next up here, Kerry Carpenter could see more opportunities versus left-handed pitching this season.
Not so sure that's a good thing because he's been pretty bad against lefties in his career.
207 batting average with a 606 OPS.
Again, that's Kerry Carpenter.
The Cardinals signed infielder Ramon Arias to a one-year $2 million deal with a mutual option for 2027.
It sounds like the plan is for him to be a short side platoon with Nolan Gorman at third base.
I hope.
I don't think this is the case got, but I hope.
Ramon Arias doesn't affect
JJ Weatherholt's chances of making
the opening the opening day roster.
I don't think
he will. I suppose
we can't rule it out. He's not
a starting caliber player himself,
and he didn't sign for
starter money. Yeah. So I imagine
Ramon Arias
is just depth for the Cardinals.
But
who knows?
I'm not in charge there.
Last up here, Merrill Kelly will undergo
precautionary imaging after experiencing
mid-back tightness, and Patrick
Sandoval might open the season on the IL for the Red Sox.
He is still working his way back from Tommy John's surgery.
Let's wrap there.
For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage,
listen to our full-lane podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today,
on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts
are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball
Today Express, and we will be back again later this week.
Bye-bye.