Fantasy Baseball Today - Noelvi Marte Suspended 80 Games! Spring Standouts & ADP Risers/Fallers (3/11 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 11, 2024

Noelvi Marte has been suspended 80 games because of a performance-enhancing substance (2:36)! ... Does Christian Encarnacion-Strand gain value (8:17)? ... News (15:26): Ronald Acuña won't be limited by the knee injury. ... Devin Williams is dealing with a back injury (23:50). ... The Marlins and Dodgers have some deep pitching sleepers (31:45)! ... The Orioles prospects and Wyatt Langford continue to stand out this spring (40:40). ... Pirates pitching prospect Jared Jones looked good again this weekend (51:55). ... Who are the biggest ADP risers and fallers in March (59:10)? Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 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, @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/ 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 lead. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. As Jeff Goldblum once said, life finds a way. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Monday, March 11th. I am Frank Sample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers.

Have you seen that movie, Frank? No. Okay. I didn't think so. You're quoting it anyway. I have not seen the movie. You've never seen Jurassic Park. This is already going off the rails.

Chris, he really hasn't seen anything. I know. That is one of the biggest movies of all time. That tip of the iceberg, Chris. I don't know if you missed these other shows where we've gone over this. I just, wow. Wow. It's bad.

Watch it. It really holds up. It's a great movie. It's one of the best movies ever. It's the best Spielberg movie. It's his. There's a whole podcast waiting for that one. Well, me not seeing Jurassic Park is obviously not the biggest news of the weekend.

Today on the show, we'll do our latest round of spring training standouts, ADP risers, and fallers in the month of March. But of course, let's start with that big news that came out on Friday. Noel V. Marte has been suspended 80 games. after testing positive for a performance enhancing substance. Lots of moving parts for fantasy here. Marte will not be eligible to return until June 26th. Obviously, it sucks because Marte was projected to be a pretty fun player for fantasy.

It especially sucks for anyone who might have drafted him already. Sorry, Scott. Good thing you traded for Max Muncie, like, right after that draft happened on Thursday night. Memorial Magazine League, yes. Well, if you listen to all four hours of that, podcast, and I recommend you do because it was good content. Some of the best stuff I think happened after the part that we actually aired is the podcast. So if you can find it on the fantasy baseball today, YouTube channel, watch all four hours. I recommend it. But my concern coming out of that draft was,

okay, no L. V. Marte, I didn't love getting him for $8. But what was worse is I got him as my only third base option. I had Reese Hoskins at Corner Infield. And then in the reserve rounds, I got both Ryan Mount Castle and Jose Abrae. So two first baseman, who I never have caused to play because Shohei Otani was filling my utility spot, right? So I got four first baseman, one third basement, and it's Noel V. Marte, who's not the safest option. But fortunately, B. Don of Razball, before the night was even done,

offered me Max Muncie for Reese Hoskins and Davis Schneider, another player I got in the reserve draft. So I made that trade. Muncie's a third base. Mount Castle slots in at corner infielder. We're good there. A lot of people express concerns. Even in my Tout Wars leave,

where I got Noel V. Marte. You know, I got Jake Burger at third base. I got Pasquantino, a corner infield. I got Eloy Jimenez at utility. It's going to be fun. It's going to be fun. I'd like to have those picks back, but I don't have holes in my line.

Let's get back into Noel V. Marte. Obviously, you know, leading the show with Life Fines Away, does clear some things up for the Reds infield here. Jamer Candelario expected to be the team's primary third baseman. We know Ellie Dela Cruz and Matt McLean will man shortstop. And second that leaves first base in DH for Christian Encarnacion Strand, Jonathan India, and Jake Frailey. Before we get to those names, let's talk about Marte's redraft value.

So Chris, we'll start with you. How far did you lower or plan to lower Noelvi Marte? Should he still be drafted in all leagues? Because for the first three months, he is just taking up a bench spot. It's not like you could stash him on the IL or anything like that. Yeah, that's the thing. I think in your typical 12-team league, I don't really think he's worth drafting. I like Marte's upside.

But when you're talking about a player serving a suspension, like you mentioned, most leagues at least, you cannot stash that player in an aisle spot. And so by week one, it's fine. You don't need the bench spot necessarily. but there's two weeks left of spring games. Someone on your team might get hurt. And then April is the busiest month for injuries every year. So someone else.

And so you get to a point where you've got two injured guys on your bench. Let's say you've got two IL spots. The next one, you've got to start putting them on your bench. So maybe in a 15 team league where you do have IL spots, so not any of those NFBC leagues because you're going to need those bench spots for your players who get injured. I don't really think Marte is worth drafting at this point. I'll be excited if we get to June, more likely July, and he gets added to the Reds roster,

but that's not a guarantee at this point. You know, like let's say he gets to late June. They're relatively healthy in the infield, and they don't really have an obvious hole. Marte, there were questions about playing time before. There were questions about his defensive fit before. And so I don't think it's a guarantee. It's not a Fernando Tate's situation where this guy's going to come back and be right back. But yes, something could happen between that.

It finds away on the other end too, potentially. I mean, there's a better chance than not somebody gets hurt or washes out or whatever. But I agree with the overall assessment. Like you, because it's not an IL situation, you can't have Noel V. Marte occupying a bench spot all year, unless it's like an extremely deeply in all only, certainly dynasty, he still has plenty of appeal. and you hold on to them there.

But in a standard redraft league, particularly, like April and May are the most active months for the waiver wire. We know so little on opening day about how things are actually going to play out, and we learn so much over those first six weeks of the season that you need as much free space as you do. Absolutely.

Taking a look at the ranking, Scott, I noticed you lowered Noelvie Marte down to your 38th, third baseman. I have them at 34 at third base, and I just checked the overall rankings. I moved him down to 370th overall. So there were 13 NFBC drafts done on Saturday and Sunday. He was only taken in 8 out of 13. So there were leagues where Nuelvi-Marte was not drafted.

His lowest pick was 429. So does that sound right? Maybe between the 375 and like 450 range, if you are planning to target Noelvi-Marte? I think I haven't been like between 420 and 440. so I have them on the lower end of that range. All right. Yeah, I mean, how many leagues go that deep?

Yeah, I mean, it might only be, like you guys said, 15 teamers or NL only leagues for Noelvi-Martin. Let's talk about the rest of this. So how much more interest do you have now in someone like Spencer Stier or Encarnacionerunc, Jonathan, India, Jake Fraley, Will Benson, because there is still kind of some restraints here. You know, I mentioned there's first base,

there's DH, there's right field between Fraley and Benson. Scott, did you move up any of those other pieces in the Reds lineup as a result of this move? I haven't moved them up yet because I feel like I rank them all pretty optimistically. Even though I talked about them, some of them as bust cases because of the logjam, I still rank them on the more optimistic end because of upside considerations. I think if you're going to pick out one singular winner from this, I think it's Christian and Carnacian Strand because David Bell has

specified that Jamer Candelario is going to get the majority of the playing time at third base. There isn't much need to play him at first base anymore, I think is how he put it. And who else plays first base? I mean, Jonathan India probably makes some appearances there, but mostly it would be

Christian and Carnacian Strand, and that's before you get to possible DH at bats he might get. But really, this helps everybody. I mean, I feel like Ellie de la Cruz in Matt McLean, as long as McLean's healthy, and he did finally play in a spring game over the weekend. I think they're pretty much set at shortstop in second base.

That's how the Reds have talked. I think they did the most to prove they belong last year. So I don't think those jobs, those spots were ever that much up for grabs. Not saying Spencer Steer could never appear at second, but it feels like they're pretty secure. So it was really the corner infield spots and then the whole outfield and DH. and now there's one fewer person there. Now they're over by one, right?

They have one too many players for those spots now. I think Jonathan India doesn't have a dedicated home. And here's the interesting thing about India who made his spring debut over the weekend. His first appearance in the field, I believe, was in left field. So that was something that they talked about all offseason. We want Jonathan India playing the outfield more. I don't know if he's ever actually played the outfield

at the major league level. But one thing that they talked about with this foot injury during the offseason that was still lingering was it limited his ability to get reps in the outfield. But apparently they're still looking at that as a potential solution. So when you obviously, I still think he'll play all over the place. But if he's going to actually play in the outfield, it creates a little bit more of a roster crunch in the outfield. But those are the guys we're less interested in. And suddenly, so third base, first base, D.H and the three outfields, about six. guys. So we're talking about seven players

for six spots. That doesn't even sound like that much of a log jam. I mean, teams have made, like, everybody in that log jam that the seven vying for those six spots can probably get enough at bats to keep us satisfied if we draft them in fantasy.

And that's even considering that all three of the outfielders, Will Benson, T.J. Friedel, who's probably going to play every day, and Jake Fraley. Benson and Fraley, because they're left-handers, that probably takes them, I mean, one of them's going to probably be in the line at most of the time against a lefty, at least. And they'll probably be able to trade off enough against lefties that

that'll create a certain number of opportunities for India to come in the lineup, whether because Spencer Steer moves to Alfield or India himself. And yeah, I think they all become a lot more attractive with this move. Yeah. And look, it's with this suspension. It's, what, one day, off per week at most for all of them until there's an injury. And then it's just six guys for six spots. There you go. There will be an injury at some point. This is this is baseball.

Like Jonathan India's already not 100%. Matt McLean's been injured all spring so far. They're both playing in games right now. But like there are, there's going to be an injury. So that that's the thing is that when you go from eight and six spots to seven and six spots, if there were eight, something needed to happen for there to to get to seven. We're already at that point. So now it becomes fairly easy, I think, for all these guys to play roughly every day. You won't really notice if T.J. Friedel is sitting once a week or Will Benson is

sitting once every five games. Like for where all of these guys are going and maybe their prices increase, but I don't think they will that much. I think it's, there's really not that much playing time concern anymore. I do agree that I think if anyone gains a little bit of value, it's Encarnacian Strand. I was a little bit lower on him because I was worried about just the playing time, the way everything's going to work. So I moved Encarnacion Strand up to my 15th ranked first basement, 154th overall.

Might not be high enough because I kind of do want to get in now. But the ADP, again, in those 13 NFBC drafts on Saturday and Sunday, 132 for Encarnasian Strand. as high as 109, as low as 152. So he is on the rise a little bit. I think his ADP before that was like 145. So he's moved up about a round. And again, if you want Encarnaccio and Tran as a result of everything that's happening,

you might have to be even a little bit more aggressive on him moving forward. I do want to say for him, though, seeing exactly where I have him in my rota rank. He's 148, so a little ahead of you, Frank. Less interesting in points leagues, I would say, because the plate discipline is going to be pretty ghastly. But the home run total could be really nice. Yep, certainly could.

Again, big news from the weekend, Noel V. Marte, suspended 80 games, unfortunately for him, but it does help out the rest of the Reds. Let's quickly promote a few things, and we would like to extend a warm welcome to the newest podcast in our CBS Sports family. It's that month that we know you are craving hoops, but maybe not just on the college level. Beyond the Arc is a brand new show featuring Daily, NBA discussions with hosts

John Gonzalez, Bill Ryder, and Ashley Nicole Moss, as well as regular appearances from NBA champion, Avery Johnson, download and follow Beyond the Ark wherever you find this podcast. And a quick reminder that there is one week left to get your FBT

listener league submissions in. Email something clever, a song, song lyrics, a poem, a Photoshop, whatever it might be, to Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. That's the letter I. Or just let us know why you deserve to be in one of the podcast leagues. Put FBT Listener League in the subject.

I'll announce the winners one week from today. The 12 team Head to Head Points League will draft Tuesday March 19th. And the 16th team head to head categories for the People League will draft the following Tuesday, March 26th. Both drafts will be done in the evening time and live streamed here on the podcast.

Please make sure you can actually make the draft and specify which league you would prefer to be in. Let's talk some news and notes and Braves manager, Brian Snicker, downplayed the idea that Ronald de Cunia might run less this season due to his knee issue. Quote, he's still young and he's still at an age where he can still steal a lot of bases. He's going to reach a time where he's going to slow down on his own. For now, you've got to let a kid like that loose and let him play his game. So I have expressed some concern that maybe he doesn't run as much, but there you go.

Braves manager, not nearly as concerned. I do think it's funny. That answer suggests he didn't. understand the reason for the question because it doesn't seem like he was addressing the status of the knee. He was just addressing what stage of his career is he in? Yeah.

I found that a little amusing, but I think the overall point is the Braves are not concerned about his knee at all, and the Coonja doesn't seem to be concerned about his knee at all. So I think, you know, he went for $61 in the Memorial Magazine auction last week, and it doesn't seem like the people in that league were too concerned about it either.

The thing is like Akuna might steal 20 fewer bases than he did last season. Yeah. I mean, that would still give him 50 plus. Right. And we might get to a point in April or March of next year where people like, see, he ran less because of the knee. And it's like, we don't know if he ran less because of the knee, but like he's probably just going to run less than he did last year.

That's a good point. And I'm glad you brought it up because I, you know, even before this knee thing happened, I don't know that it's reasonable just to pencil Acuna in for 70 steals again. But 50 or so, I think, is probably reasonable expectation. It's just, you know, you don't see many back-to-back 70s steel seasons. Just for some context. In 1982, Ricky Henderson stole career high 130 bases. The next year, he led the majors with 108.

That's 22 fewer. The next year, he stole 66. These things still just fluctuate. That's just kind of how these things work. There are seven projection systems on fan graphs, and they all have Acuna for between 50 and 58 stolen bases this upcoming season. Kevin Gosman, who's dealing with right shoulder fatigue, said in an interview on Friday that he would be ready for the start of the season.

The injury was first reported on March 4th. There have been 42 NFBC drafts done since March 5th. Gosman's ADP is 41.6 during that span just behind Tyler Glassnow and Zach Gallen. Would you guys be looking to buy whatever slight dip is here with Kevin Gosman down to around the 40-ish pick range? I moved him to 42, and I'm probably going to keep him there, even if we see him pitching in games.

It's just it's enough of a red flag that I think, like, you can use it as a tiebreaker between him and Pablo Lopez and, you know, a couple other guy. I've got him behind Yoshi. not Yamamoto and Terris School and Zach Allen as well. I'm probably just going to leave him there. I kind of expect him to tick up again if

he threw a bullpen session Saturday, apparently came out of it fine. If he gets back on track, I think this will be soon forgotten. So I guess I'm a slight disagreement there with Chris, but for now I have him closer to 40 than 30 in my rankings. Mookie Betts will be the Dodgers starting shortstop with Gavin Lux sliding over to second base.

That means bets will have second base outfield and shortstop eligibility about two weeks into the season. So I don't know that his value could get much higher. He's already like a top five or six pick in most drafts, but obviously it helps having that triple eligibility. Specifically makes me feel worse about Gavin Lux as a sleeper. And in Sleepers 2.0, I didn't like,

I didn't really highlight him. It's been kind of a weird spring. and there had been signs of this coming. There was the weird quote from this where Mookie Betts, according to Dave Roberts, is our shortstop permanently for now. I don't know, man. Gavin Lux, he seems to have some yips going on. I don't know if you saw, but there was the game.

I think when Yamamoto struggled against whoever it was, the Rangers or the A's, whichever team it was, his second start. Lux was responsible for a couple of the hits that he gave up. his first appearance at second base, I think there was a double play ball that Mookie Betts fielded cleanly, got deluxe, and he bounced the throw. And that's a lot closer than the throws he was trying to make from shortstop.

So it's definitely concerning. I'm worried, like they have a, the Dodgers have a lot of guys who could play second base, if needed to, if needed. And I'm definitely worried. I mean,

partially you can look at it and say, this is a way to, like they're moving Mookie there to, keep Gavin Lux's bat in the lineup. And I think that's a reasonable thing to suggest. But Miguel Rojas, Chris Taylor, Kika Hernandez, they can all play second base. And Miguel Vardis. Yeah. So I think there is certainly a shorter leash for Gavin Lux, who really has to hit now to keep an everyday job. Let's take our first break when we return. We've got some bad news on Devin Williams. Potentially, we'll talk about that right after this.

Welcome back into fantasy baseball today. Devin Williams apparently dealing with a sore back and we'll get a second opinion from a spine specialist this coming week. Do you guys plan to drop Devin Williams in the rankings? He was part of that top tier with Edwin Diaz and Josh Hader. But now we have this injury and there are some serviceable backups there. Yoel Paiamps, Adner Uribe, Trevor McGill. Scott, how do you feel about Devin Williams?

I mean, if you have to draft before this examination, happens, then I think it makes sense to make sure Josh Hader and Edwin Diaz go ahead of him at least. In my official rankings, I'm going to wait to see what comes back. It is curious that there seems to be some disagreement between Williams and the Brewer's medical staff over this. It sounds like the Brewer's medical staff just thinks he needs to rest it for a little while and he'll be fine, but it's Williams himself pushing to get the second opinion. So that's, I find, I find, that interesting and maybe I don't know exactly what to take from it but I do think it is worth pointing out that the Brewers medical staff doesn't seem to feel like it's a big deal.

If Devin Williams misses time, Chris, who do you think would step in for saves for the brewers? I think you'd have to assume it would be Pai-Aps. I know ARIBE may have more prototypical, prototypical swing and miss ability than Pye-amps, but Pye-amps worked almost exclusively the eighth inning last season. He got three saves. If you look at the game logs, your Reba was almost exclusively sixth inning. Not even,

like he wasn't even the next next guy up. And so obviously it's a different coaching staff. We don't know what their preferences are. But I do think you probably want to defer to the guy who's got a little more experience in the later innings. Gavin Williams wasn't available to pitch on Sunday after recently experiencing discomfort in his right elbow, manager Stephen Vote didn't seem overly worried,

saying Williams was scratched out of, quote, an abundance of caution. But look, anytime you hear elbow, it's obviously scary for a pitcher, so got to see what happens next for Gavin Williams. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was scratched Sunday due to a left knee contusion. It's a minor issue that won't require medical testing.

Matt McLean made his spring debut on Sunday. He's been dealing with an oblique strain up to this point, the same oblique that he dealt with last year. Nathaniel, is expected to be sidelined up to four weeks after being diagnosed with a right oblique strain. Jared Walsh and Justin Foskew are options to fill in, though Foskew felt pain in his right,

I don't know if it's his right, but in one of its sides on Friday as well. I didn't see that about Foskew. It was going to have him as a big riser. Because it seems pretty, like if, if, okay, so we'll see how that goes with Foske's pain in his side. But if Lowe is not hurt, I'm sorry, if Lowe is hurt, Nathaniel Lowe is hurt, and Foskew isn't,

then I think it's pretty clear Foske would make the opening day roster because he already had a good in, and wouldn't improve Wyatt Langford's chances of making the roster, because Foskew, like, if it wasn't Lankford who was going to be D.H, it was probably going to be Foskew. So it might. Yeah, something to keep an eye on. It doesn't sound like a long-term injury for Nathaniel Lowe,

but one that obviously could keep him out for the, and it sounds like we'll keep him out for the start of the season. And as we'll talk about throughout this entire podcast, I'll just mix it in, the ADP risers and followers in the month of March. This is comparing February NFBC ADP to March ADP so far. So the 10 days worth of drafts, I think there have been like 78 drafts done.

So a pretty big sample. Nate Lowe is one of the biggest ADP fallers in the 200 to 300 rain, range down 28 picks from 203 to 231 so far here in March. Lars Neupar has been down. diagnosed with two non-displaced fractures in his left rib cage. The Cardinals aren't ruling him out for opening day, but it does seem like a long shot and just unfortunate. It feels like Lars Neupar throughout his career is always dealing with something,

and this is the latest for him. His teammate Tommy Edmund said Saturday that the nagging pain in his surgically repaired right wrist is more inflammation than structural following second and third opinions from doctors. He said he's confident he won't be sideline too long. It does sound like Edmund will start the season on the IL. Bolt names here. Edmund and Noobar are big fallers in ADP so far. Edmund down 24 picks from pick 175 to 199. Newbar down 17 picks from 201 to 218. Chris, do you see a buying opportunity here for Edmund and Newpar? Or are you worried about these injuries and maybe looking to stay away?

I mean, I'm definitely worried about both of them, but you're also talking about a range in the draft 200 plus in ADP where it doesn't really matter that much. Like you're probably talking about guys who have a pretty good chance of being dropped at some point in the season when you're drafting in that range. So I can't say they're my favorite players to draft around 200th overall, but I can't really make a strong case against it at this. Certainly if they start falling 20 spots beyond that, which, you know, average is only an average. It's not the, it doesn't show the extremes. And particularly when you're that far down in the ADP, there's, a lot of room for variations. And there's something to be said for having an extra roster spot when you're drafting at that range.

Because like Scott said, the early part of the season is when you want the most flexibility for your lineup as possible, for your roster as possible. So you're saying drafting a guy who you know you're going to stash on the IL right away to allow yourself another pickup. Yeah. It gives you a little bit. And there's something there's something to be said for. knowing that you have someone, not that you can drop, but that you can put away. And, you know, there's value in that over just your typical late round dart throw who you ideally want to keep around to see if you're right about them hitting.

And it's also worth noting. So if we're talking about how much a player's ADP has changed in the last however many days, we're cutting out a segment of ADP. that's NFBC ADP. They have the tool that lets you do that, that lets you show ADP over a certain span of time, and NFBC doesn't offer IL spots. Most people listening, you probably have IL spots.

So there may be a bigger reaction to injuries in NFBC ADP than their quote unquote should be, certainly from the perspective of a league with IL spots. So that's something to keep in mind. And if New Bar and Edmund aren't ready for opening day, it sounds like Dylan Carlson and Alec Berlo will be in the Cardinals outfield. And while I am really excited about their speedy prospect, Victor Scott,

president of Baseball Ops, John Mozelak, said it's unlikely. Scott will be on the opening day roster. He went two for four on Sunday. One of his hits, 107.4 exit velocity, which I think is pretty interesting for a guy that's as fast as Victor Scott is. I do want to say keep an eye on Alec Berluson in deeper leagues. I'm not saying he deserves to be drafted in 12-team leagues, but he's a guy who makes a lot of contact and hits the ball pretty hard.

And I think there's upside to be found there. I mean, his minor league numbers are great. I've said it the last couple of years, I'm going to say it again. Alec Berlinson could become something. Josh Young underwent an MRI on Friday that showed improvement in his left calf, but not enough to ramp up his running progression. The ADP in March for Josh Young is down 12 picks from 119 to 131. So if you're a fan of Josh Young and you're optimistic, he'll be ready for opening day.

there is a little bit of a buying opportunity on him as well. Edward Cabrero was scratched Sunday due to right shoulder tightness, and if he's not ready for opening day, one of Max Meyer or Ryan Weathers could step into the rotation. Chris, Ryan Weathers just had another dynamite outing on Sunday, or over the weekend. It's like five shutout inning, seven strikeouts, his velocity is up. I don't know how much to put into that.

We haven't really seen Ryan Weathers be much at the major league level, but he's looked really, really good so far. You know, they always say, don't worry about spring stats. But the people who say that may not be aware that Ryan Weathers leads all pitchers and strikeouts this spring. They also may not be aware that AJ Puck is third. And just to continue with being a homer for this podcast, Nestor Cortez is fourth. And former Yankee Yanni Brito is second. Yeah.

So, you know, do with that information. Well, you will know. Ryan Weathers is a former top 100 prospect. He was a lower end top 100 prospect, but he was nonetheless a top 100 prospect. And his velocity is up about, what, a mile and a half per hour from what we've seen. Yeah. He's looked, still only 24. Yeah, he's looked really good.

He's a big, beefy baseball boy, which we always root for. I'm going to write about some deep sleepers for 2024. for and both Ryan Weathers and A.J. Puck will likely be in that discussion. I think what they've shown this spring is really impressive. And obviously, it's just spring. And my expectation for both is still that they'll be worse than league average starting pitchers. But we're talking about guys with ADPs outside the top 300 at this point. So yeah, I think Ryan Weathers is absolutely worth a look in the later rounds, especially of deeper leagues. And this might be another life finds a way such a situation with the Edward Cabrera injury.

Not that it sounds like a big deal, but they don't really know. And it wouldn't take much of an absence at this point to knock a pitcher out for the first time through the rotation at least, and who knows what happens between now and then. So yeah, I'm coming out with my big annual deep sleepers piece this Friday.

And I was actually narrowing down the names earlier today to, you know, 40. It's a huge, it's always a huge list. but weather's and puck I both I expect to be on mine too and Cabrera did miss a month last year with shoulder impingement as well so something to keep an eye on

he said it didn't feel even close to as bad as it then 10 which is part of why I'm not sure it's a big deal but you never know but yeah it's also like there's no such thing as pitching depth because it always gets tested and that's that's the other thing yeah that's exactly right

MHH-H-Hand will start the season on the IL due to shoulder soreness. And with Walker Bueller and Sheehan out early in the season, another deep sleeper, Gavin Stone, looks to be the frontrunner for the fifth starter job. And while we're talking about spring training stats, Stone pitched well on Sunday. Again, four shutout innings, two hits, zero walks, five strikeouts. He's having a strong spring so far. There was talk that he was tipping his pitches last year and kind of pitching through some stuff.

I believe there was like an injury involved as well that that Gavin Stone was trying to pitch through. And yeah, I think certainly anytime you can find a pitcher with the Dodgers run support, you know, backing them up. Yeah, we have interest. Remember, this is a guy we were really excited about when he got called up last season. His numbers at the minor league level were really, really good. 33% strikeout rate across his minor league career, which is like 300 innings or so. It's a profile that tends to not work at the major league level, which is a right. with a mediocre fastball whose best pitch is a change-up.

There's not a lot of guys like that at the major league level who really succeed. It's part of why I'm a little skeptical of Drew Thorpe, the big prospect of the Yankees traded to the Padres. They're very similar him and Gavin Stone. But Stone has also talked to this spring about how I think he added like 12 pounds of muscle since last season. He's kind of been looking for a new secondary, like a new breaking ball as well. And there's a lot that was going on with Stone last year, too, that wasn't really revealed until later.

Apparently, a blister he suffered on his big toe in spring training kind of messed up his delivery. And that's why his minor league production suffered last year, in addition to the Major League production. Also, there's been reports that he was tipping his pitches at the start of his time in the majors last year. So, yeah, I mean, it's, I kind of feel like we need to treat this year as a fresh start for Gavin. Stone, who in 2022, you'll remember, had a 148 ERA and 12.4K per 9 in the miners. Not going to say he's not saying he's going to be that good, but there's, he definitely deserves a second look here now that the spot's open for him. James and Tyone's availability for opening day is in jeopardy as he's shown little improvement

with his lower back injury. One of Javier Assad, Drew Smiley, or Hayden Wisniewski would step into the Cubs rotation. Yasmani Grondal is dealing with plants are fact. Ashiitis, and which hopefully means more Henry Davis at catcher. I did see the, Frank. Can you, you got to add the, you got to add it as a sound drop at this point. Oh, what is it? The one you started the show with. Oh, yeah. It's got to add as a drop for the spring. Pretty much. Yeah. I find, oh no, Yosmani Granda. Henry Davis isn't going to be able to play. Okay. Yeah. He hit another home run on Saturday. By the way, Henry Davis is fourth of the spring. And his 80p is on the rise as well of 21. picks in March from 244 to 223. Marco Luciano has slipped behind Nick Ahmed for the giant starting shortstop job. Oswald Parraza has, was diagnosed with a sub-scapularis strain in his right shoulder, and he'll be shut down for the next six to eight weeks.

Padre's prospect, Grand Pauly, is in the running to start at third base while Mani Machado is limited to DH early on in this season. Ague Rosario and Matthew Batten were also mentioned as third base possibilities. And Scott, I mean, I think there's some intrigue here with Grand Pauly. He's 23 years old. He had a big season in the minors last year. He hit 308, 23 homers, 22 steals, a 931 OPS. He did only get up to 20 games at AA.

But he's a little bit older at 23 years old. And if he's up on opening day, I think there's some deep league appeal here with Grant Pauly. Yeah, I classify him as a deep league sleeper. He's for having such good numbers in the minors last year, as you said, 2020 season batting average over 300. He doesn't rate particularly high by,

he's not rated particularly high by prospect evaluators. And I think, so I think on a skill level in terms of how he impacts the ball, how fast he is, the skills don't actually, I guess that's not skills. Ability,

what would you call that? Just raw ability, I guess, doesn't really back up the numbers for grandpolly. And so it's fair to wonder, particularly since he'll be playing half his games in San Diego, if he'll, if he's going to stick it all, if he'll all fizzle out. But, you know, obviously the Padres are willing to give him a chance, having a good spring, had a good season in the minors, you know. But certainly in a deep enough league, I'd give him a shot.

I do think it's worth dwelling on the Machado part of this for a moment because this sounds more serious than I thought it was at the beginning of spring training. I think he started throwing recently, didn't feel right, and I believe has still not begun throwing again. So we're talking about, you know, three weeks away from opening day, 18 days away from opening day, actually 11 days for opening day for the Padres. And Machado has not been throwing yet.

So he might not play third base for a while. The latest news that it was out on Machado over the weekend was that he will restart a throwing program on, Monday when we're recording this. So I guess we'll see how his arm bounces back from this recent throwing program. And finally, somebody has signed Joey Vado. He joined the Blue Jays as a non-raster invitee on Friday. We always knew Joey Votto was like a national treasure, an international treasure, obviously from Canada. But man, what he's been putting out on social media is just hilarious. He's so great. Let's bring J.D. Martinez home next. Let's follow in the same category.

I know the Marlins listen to this podcast. They signed Timmy Anderson. Let's bring Jady Martinez back to South Florida, boys. Let's talk about some notable spring performances from this weekend, and a lot of them are the names that are moving up in ADP. And let's start with the hitters. Orioles prospects, not messing around. I mean, these guys are just mashing right now. Kobe Mayo went two for four with his first home run of the spring on Saturday.

He had 29 homers in the minors last year, has played mostly third base, a little bit of first base. Not sure where he's going to fit in. It's the same thing we say about a lot of Orioles, but man, there's a lot to like there. Colton Couser, another big weekend. Two hits on Saturday, then blasted a home run on Sunday. He is now 9 for 20 with four homers and a stolen base.

Jackson Holiday, the big name, hit a grand slam off. You say Kikuchi on Sunday, lefty on lefty. Holiday is now 8 for 28 at the 286 average with one homer, two doubles, two triples, and a steal so far this spring. Holiday's ADP is up 10 picks in March, from 186 to 176. either people don't really like Jackson Holiday this year or they're waiting for confirmation that he's going to be on the opening day roster,

even though it kind of feels like a foregone conclusion. Yeah, I think they're waiting for confirmation. I mean, it just doesn't seem high enough, you know, like up to 176 in the month of March. Yeah, I think when it comes to playing time issues, the NFBC drafters are particularly risk-averse. For a reason, for a good reason. You have less roster flexibility,

a lot of 15 team leagues, no aisle spots. Yeah. And you can't add a, Frank, you can correct me if I'm wrong. You can't add a prospect until they've been called up once the season starts. Am I right on that? Yeah. So on the NFBC, you can't add a prospect unless they make their debut or unless they were drafted and then dropped. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So I do expect Holiday to make the team. I do expect his ADP to rock it up when he does. As for Mayo and Kouser, they do have an open bench spot.

I don't think it's going to go to Mayo. It might go to Kouser, and it would kind of be in conjunction with my Cedric Mullen's bust case, because I think that would be one of the place Mullen steals at bats. Also from Ryan O'Hern. They could justify probably sitting O'Hern or even the Orioles could justify sitting O'Hern or even Mollins against left-handers to get the righty, Colton Couser in there. Or you know what? Maybe life will find a way.

Maybe one of these guys will get hurt and Couser will just have a full-time role. We'll see. Worth mentioning Scott Colton Couser a lefty bat. So I just, I thought I looked that up before the show. Kobe, Mayo.

Maybe throws righty and. Yeah, that's what it is. He bats lefty, throws righty. So we'll see. I know Cedric Mullins is dealing with the hamstring. And so, you know, again, if he's not ready to go on opening day, think that could create some playing time here for Colton Couser early on as well.

Wyatt Langford hit his fourth home run of the spring on Friday, and this one to right center off of reliever Will Smith. He is the biggest riser in the pick 100 to 200 range in the month of March of 43 picks from pick 149 to 106. Chris, what do you think about the price tag on Wyatt Langford up to 106? Are you willing to pay that price? Probably not. I don't know.

106, that's a pretty... pretty close to a premier pick. It's 10 spots higher than I have him ranked right now. And I'm pretty much treating him as if he's going to make the opening day roster, although I don't think it's 100% certainty right now. But yeah, that's probably a little high. I don't know. I struggle with it.

I struggle with a guy like Wyatt Langford who was just so dominant at every, like best player in the SEC arguably last season, the best conference in college baseball, rocketed through the minors, dominated at every stop. It's only 44 games, but yeah, I don't know.

I know you want some strong take, and I just don't have it. I'm struggling with it. How about this? We just got through saying the NFBC drafters are particularly risk-averse with playing time issues, and yet they're not treating

Wyatt Langford that way. So I'm less, confident in Lankford making the opening day roster than Holiday personally. With every injury that happens to Rangers bats, it improves the chances, of course. But it's just seems like it's going to hinder his development because they're not going to be able to give him. They will not be able to give him every day of bats in the outfield.

That's just a given unless one of their outfielders gets hurt. And so, you know, I'm starting to be more on the, I'm starting to think it's better than a lot. 50% chance he makes the roster, but for like, and I do have them ranked in this general vicinity for not being as risk averse about playing time, but I still prefer Jackson Chorio. And that's why I never end up drafting like Wyatt Langford, because how are you going to draft both? Chorio, the ADP is 124.6 in the month of March. So yeah, he's going nearly 20 picks behind Wyatt Langford right now. It's, it's kind of one of those psychological situations with me

where I knew like a month ago you can get Wyatt Langford 100 picks later and now it's just I don't know I don't want to pay that price at 101 8 and maybe I regret saying that but it's so weird because like Jackson Churio isn't having an incredible spring

he's not having a bad spring he's hitting a lot of singles at all he's hitting 314 it's mostly singles he has three doubles no home runs but like I don't know we thought Jackson Churio was the better fantasy option And before, like you said, there was, you know, 80 to 100 pick difference between the two of them at the start of drafts.

Churio hasn't really done anything to set himself apart, but he also hasn't done anything to hurt his value. I don't know. I think I'd still rather have Churio. Unless we're concerned his spring is going to cost him the job, should we not pay that much? Like, he doesn't have a stolen base this spring. If Choreo's on the roster all year, he's going to have at least 30 steals, you know, like something's going to hold. horribly wrong if he doesn't. All right, let's take our final break when we return.

We'll get into the rest of the spring training standouts, risers and fallers, right after this. Welcome back in. Let's continue on with spring training standouts. O'Neill Cruz, two for four with a double dong on Sunday. Both home runs over 114 exit velocity. He's O'Neill Cruz. He's awesome. He is also one of the biggest risers inside the top 100 of ADP.

He's up seven picks from 69 to 62nd overall, which might not sound like a lot, but the higher you go up to draft board, it actually matters quite a bit. It's hard to move up when you're that high already. Are you guys okay paying that price tag for O'Neill Cruz? That would be early sixth round in a 12 team league. Yeah, I've got him as a fifth round pick. His strikeout rate is looking great.

And this, I mean, you said, you noted how impressive it was that he hit two home runs 114 miles per hour or more. Well, to put that into context, only five times as that happened during the race, regular season where a player is hit two home runs that hard in a game and I believe twice it was John Carlos Stan of the five and one was their own judge I think I think O'Neill Cruz has the two hardest hit balls in spring action so far and three of the top five so like so good the hitting

seems fine as far as the recovery goes he does have he's one for one in steals so I don't know that that tells us anything I guess it's good it's better than being zero for zero, but, but yeah, I think he's doing a lot, did a lot especially with this game to relieve concerns about the, uh, how, how his, you know, how he's going to respond to having that severe gruesome injury last year. Juan Soto looks primed for a massive season, hit his fourth home run of the spring on Sunday. He had two batted balls over 110 exit velocity. Cardinals prospect Thomas Sejacy went four for four with six RBI on Sunday. He came over in the Jordan Montgomery trade last year. Huge season in the minors. He has second, third base shortstop eligibility.

Got 13 games in at AAA. My guess is we cease to J.C. at some point with the Cardinals this season. They do have lots of names, but life finds a way. He has experience at three positions. You said eligibility. Oh, yeah, I think he's only second base eligibility to start the year. But yeah, has played second, third, and shortstop. All right, don't laugh at me, guys. I was texting, I was texting Nando about this player earlier in the day. He's excited. Just worth mentioning, Miguel Anduhar is having a massive spring. He went two for four with a double dong on Friday.

That's his second multi-homer game of the spring. He's 11 for 26. That's a 423 batting average. Four homers, one steel. Had a huge season in the minors last year. Hit well in the Dominican Winter League. So just started to throw his name out there. The A's are pretty bad.

So, Mike. God, he is 29 already. That makes me feel old. What happened to Miguel Andohar? How old are you? Older than him. Yeah, so am I. Does that make you feel old?

I was older than him. All the players I think of as being old or younger than me, you know? Oh, yeah, no. There's that famous tweet that's like, there he is. Like me, I'm 30. I have my whole life ahead of me. Sports announcer, there he is. The oldest player in the league.

He's 31. That's how I feel. On the pitching side of Spring Standouts Pirates Pitching Pitching Prospect, Jared Jones. Two and two-thirds innings, two unerned runs on Sunday, three strikeouts to zero walks. I think that is the key. Can he throw strikes? He did here in this start or appearance rather.

11 swinging strikes on 42 pitches. He's in the running for the Pirates rotation. And you guys have mentioned a lot of deep sleepers already on today's podcast. I think Jared Jones is in that mix. Absolutely. He's going to be on my list on tomorrow's newsletter. Shota Imanaga pitched on Friday against the Mariners, three innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, five strikeouts,

one home run allowed. The swing and miss is there. Ten strikeouts over five in a third innings this spring, but he's allowed five earn runs, including two homers. Obviously, there is an adjustment period for any international players, obviously, that come over stateside. He is one of the biggest ADP risers in the pick 100 to 200 range. Imanaga is up 14 picks from February to March,

from 191 to 177. Scott, what have you made so far of Imanaga spring? It's such a small sample size, but I'm really starting to not get concerned, but I think we can kind of get like a Joe Ryan type things here. Like concerns, I guess. Strikeouts and home runs. Strikeouts and home runs, right?

And the walks will be low. So probably an ERA that's going to be disproportionately high compared to his way. I mean, it's kind of just validated everything I was thinking for Shota Imanaga. tiny sample, not a particularly competitive sample. So it's, you know, as with all spring performances, you don't want to take everything away from it, but we only have so much to go on with Himanaga, and so far this confirms my suspicions,

which means he's probably getting drafted in more or less the right spot. I think maybe still a little low for what his upside is, but I don't think he has like ace upside. Nick Ludillo made his spring debut on Sunday, two perfect innings with one strikeout, apparently hit 96 miles per hour on the fastball. Last year averaged 93.2.

So a good sign here from Ladolo. Let's see how that tibia and that leg bounces back. Nestor Cortez got hit hard on Saturday, three and a third innings, nine hits, six earned runs, but he did add six strikeouts. He said he wasn't commanding well enough, but happy where he's at physically,

coming back from the shoulder injury from last year. Bailey Ober allowed two earn runs over three innings, and the fastball velocity remained up 1.5 miles per hour compared to last. year. He threw this new cutter 10 times in this outing. He got two whiffs on the cutter. And he's a big riser in that 100 to 200 range as well. Ober is up 17 picks from 151 to 154 in the month of March. Chris, are you okay paying that enhanced price on Bailey Ober? What'd you say? 130? 134, yep. That's a little more than I'd be willing to go to, but he's not done rising either.

I think the hive mind has agreed on Bailey Ober as this year's Jeffrey Springs or Jurasmuson and he's I think he's going to get closer to 100 before we're done. Jordan Hicks through three no-hit innings with six strikeouts against the A's on Saturday. Both Michael Soroka and Garrett Crochet pitched well for the White Sox this weekend. Soroka three innings, one run, five strikeouts, Crochet two and a third shutout, three hits, zero walks, four strikeouts, and got his pitch count up to 55. apparently hit 99 miles per hour with the fastball. And Scott, again, like the theme of today, some deeper sleepers, Jordan Hicks and Gera Crochet,

their relievers turned starters, hopefully this year, so they could be useful sparps in a points league. Michael Soroka, I mean, it's been a really, really long time since we've seen him have value, and he's fought back so much from the torn Achilles. But it looks like he's going to have an opportunity, if nothing else, with the White Sox. Yeah, I think he's pretty much in the White Sox rotation, much more questionable. about crochet though I I enjoy watching crochet so much he has this weird delivery so unique with that leg kick too and and they're just like there's so much zip on the fastball it's you know high 90s I get it but like it looks it it looks like it it looks like it particularly impressive high 90s

fastball to me just to my naked eye and so I'm rooting for him he's a deep sleeper among deep sleepers I would say is crochet, since it's kind of, the odds are kind of long with him making the rotation, but I hope he does. He's obviously put his best foot forward this spring. We mentioned the Marlins looking good this weekend,

AJ Puck and Ryan Weathers. I think A.J. Puck, for sure, of higher interest than Ryan Weathers, but again, two more deep sleeper names. Aaron Savali threw three and a third innings with one-run, run, two strikeouts on Sunday. He threw a new change-up eight times, a pitch he has not used since 2020.

So we'll see if that helps the overall. package with Savalini. Luis Severino through three shutout innings with four strikeouts on Friday. He has made two

starts to spring, five shutout innings, five strikeouts to zero walks. And Chris, Luis Severino is a big riser in the 200 to 300 range.

Up about 30 picks in March from 289 to 259. I think people wanted to see him healthy. And so far he has at least passed that test

and he's looked pretty good soon. Yeah, I got to move him up. I hadn't moved him up since the start of the spring, but he is healthy.

The velocity's pretty much there. I think it was down like half a mile per hour. So I'm pretty pleased with what we've seen so far. Obviously, no guarantee that he becomes the guy he used to be. But in the 250 range, I think he's well worth targeting. Sean Mania threw four shutout innings with five strikeouts on Saturday.

He threw a new cutter five times in this outing. He hasn't used a cutter since the short in 2020 season. So a new pitch alert there for Mania. Ricky Teeteman made his spring debut on Saturday. He recorded four outs, allowed one run, two strikeouts to zero. walks, he threw 26 pitches, 25 of those were either the four seam or the sweeper. He averaged 96.1 miles per hour on the fastball.

And Scott, the Blue Jays' SP5 job right now looks like it could come down to Bowden, Francis, or Ricky Teetaman. Manoa's still dealing with that shoulder. Does Teeteman have enough time to be built up by opening day? I'm not entirely sure, but obviously, big pitching prospect and lots to like, I think, long term with Teeteman.

Yeah, Teetan will get an extended look at some point this season. As long as he holds up physically. I would be surprised if he got the opening day job since he's kind of behind. I don't want to completely gloss over Bowden Francis. He has some really interesting numbers in his history. He's an older guy, 27. You know, he has some stats from like the Puerto Rican Winter League that are particularly impressive. But then it seemed like those gains carried over to the miners last year where he had a,

240 ERA, 117, WIP 13.4K per 9. Small samples in both cases, but low ERAs and a lot of strikeouts and just, you know, he's had a good spring so far. So I'd put him behind all the other sleeper pitchers we talked about, but don't forget the name, Bowden Francis. Let's talk about the rest of the biggest ADP risers and fallers.

Mentioned a lot of names so far, but the top 100 risers, Cole Reagan's is of 21 picks. From 103 to 82, Regans has looked awesome. Obviously, five shutout innings, four hits, one walk, eight strikeouts this spring. Terrick Scuba is up seven picks from pick 54 to 47, and we know he's looked really well and pitched well, and the velocity is up for him. Mentioned O'Neill Cruz is up seven picks from picks 69 to 62. Are any of those prohibitive at that cost?

The new cost. Cole Reagan's at 82, Scuba at 47, O'Neill Cruz at 62. I have them all ranked ahead of their new ADP. I don't love the process of Regens and Scoobel moving up. Like, I just had them there the whole time. To a certain extent, I guess I can see the case for what we wanted to see them sustain last year's gains. But yeah, I don't think I've moved either of them up much since the start of spring. Scoble is where I had him all along,

and Regens is still 20 spots behind where I have them. But people are catching up. It's getting harder for me to get them in any kind of discount. Yep. Top 100 fallers, all injury-related. David Bednar down 15 picks from 85 to 100. He's dealing with a lat injury. Josh Lowe is down 9 picks from 73 to 82.

He has left hip inflammation, hopes to be ready for full baseball activities this week. And Kevin Gosman, as we mentioned, down 7 picks from 32 to 39. Scott, are you looking to take advantage of any of these discounts? Bednar at 100, Josh Lowe at 82, Gosman at 39. So I've moved Bednar and Gosman down to a similar place. We talked about Gosman earlier in the show. Low, I was higher on all along by like 20 spots, and I haven't moved him down much because it doesn't sound like

his opening day status is in jeopardy. If that changes, then I'll move him down. but I probably won't move them as low as 82 unless it's like, like there's some kind of long-term issue that's holding them out for the start of the season. Biggest ADP risers in the 100 to 200 range. We mentioned Rangers prospect, Wyatt Langford,

of 43 picks from 149 to 106. Chris Sale is up 24 picks from 138 to 114. Billy Ober up 17 picks from 151 to 134. Imanaga up 14 picks from 191 to 177. And Shane Bieber up 12 picks from 161. to 149. Chris, any of these

prohibitive to how high they're moving up. Langford 106, Sale 114, Emanaga 177, Bieber 149. Sale and Bieber are two

that I like a decent amount, but especially sale at 114, that's too much. I like him, but not nearly. I would guess I might have him

ranked in a similar range of the starting pitcher landscape as where he's going, I just have starting pitchers as a whole a little lower in that range. So if I get to your way behind both Frank and I with your sale ranking. Yeah. I have 103. 10.

If we get to the 10th round and I need a starting pitcher, Chris Sale might be my best one available. So there's a chance I'd take him there. But I'm not particularly moved to move him up right now. Yeah, I have Chris Sale at 118. so I'm pretty much right in line with where this ADP has moved to, and I'm still totally fine taking him at that point. The top fallers in the 100 to 200 range. Let's quickly mention Kodi Sena.

He's down 98 picks from 112 to 210. We know he's dealing with a shoulder injury on the NFBC. Again, there's no IL, so I get why he's dropping as much as he is. Scott, when is the right point in a draft that you have been looking to take Sena? Because I know you are getting a lot of him right now. I've been taking him a lot, yeah. So you mentioned 210 is his average new... average ADP and NFPC since the injury.

I got him 195 in Tout Wars, which NFBC no IL spots, so you can understand him falling forever. Tau Wars infinite IL spots. So I was thrilled to get Senga at 195. And I, I, so I rank him, where do I rank him? I have him, I have him as high as 137th in the rankings. I haven't been drafting him close to 137. I think it's worth noting.

I, on my tears page, when all the starting pitchers anywhere near him, their names have been crossed out and his is standing out there, that's when I take him. So like when it just feels like such an overwhelming discount that you'd be foolish to pass it up, that's where I'm taking Senga. So everybody is scared to death of him.

and I suppose it is possible. You know, he could keep suffering setback after setback. Maybe something more serious is revealed at some point. He doesn't throw a single pitch this season. That is a plausible scenario for Kodai Senga. But the likely scenario is that he's back in late April, early May. And you get five, six of the season from him, which would be great value. The non-Kodai Senga or Noelvi Marte division of fallers in this range, 100 to 200.

Verlander down 27 spots from 143 to 170. going to start the year on the IL because of the shoulder. Tommy Edmund down 24 picks from 175 to 195 to 199. Ian Hap, down 20 picks from 155 to 175. He's been slowed by a hamstring. Sonny Gray down 15 picks from 134 to 139. He is dealing with a hamstring as well. Has a history of right hamstring injuries.

He threw from 120 feet this weekend and sounds okay for now. We'll see if Sunny Gray is ready for opening day. And Josh Young down 12 picks from 119 to 139. Chris, looking to take advantage of any of these discounts. Verlander, Edmund, Ian Hap, Sunny Gray, Josh Young. I'm drafting Josh Young pretty much everywhere at this point. It seems like it sounds like it's 50-50 on being ready for opening day. He's been cleared for baseball activities but has not begun running as of this weekend.

So there's definitely still some concern there. I think he's a 30-homer hitter as long as he's healthy. so I'm willing to take any discounts. I can get on him. Hap, I guess he's got this hamstring, but isn't he back in games already? I don't know that I've seen him playing games, but I definitely would be willing to buy the dip on him.

Yeah, I think the dip there is perfectly fine. And then as for the pitchers, I mean, I've got this range of my rankings, 152 to 156, and you'll notice a theme very quickly. Justin Verlander, Walker Bueller, Sonny Gray, Kodai Senga, Gavin Williams. So just five injured guys.

And if I want to take a high upside flyer in the 12th or 13th round, I'm willing to do it. Sounds like I do have Justin Verlander ahead of his ADP. I'm perfectly fine with that. If he's not ready by opening day, it doesn't sound like it'll be long after. Top risers in the 200 to 300 range. Carlos Estevez up 44 picks from 271 to 227.

Byron Buxton up 31 picks from 231 to 200. Luis Severino up 30 picks from 289 to 259. Anthony Rizzo up 27 picks from 275 to 248. Kyle Harrison up 25 picks from 265 to 240. Scott, do you agree with the rise on these five names? Estevez, Buxton, Severino, Rizzo, and Kyle Harrison. So as DeVez has been confirmed as the closer for however long it lasts. So that makes sense that he would move up.

Buxton has looked great this spring. He had a home run. Two triples the other day. And a home run. Two triples and home run in the same. game and I saw one was kind of a bloop triple yeah but he wasn't running hard until he got halfway between first and second he still managed to get to third so that was pretty impressed he looks great does buxton and I think uh I think 200 his new spot is still great

value for him team buxton who would have thunk it uh Luis Severino yeah he's looked good he looks healthy Anthony Rizzo same thing hitting home runs again this spring Kyle Harrison I'm not really sure why he's moved up 25 spots because he's had, it's been a mixed bag this spring. I just think he was too low in the first place. I thought he was one of the most under-drafted players at the start of mock draft season. I have him 216, so I still have him higher than the new ranking of 240. A lot of upside and the Giants are slotting him in number two to begin the year. So they clearly are going to give him plenty.

of runway. The biggest fallers in the 200 to 300 range of ADP. Robert Stevenson down 59 picks from 265 to 324. Jonathan India down 56 picks from 268 to 324. Vaughan Grissom down 54 picks from 232 to 286, likely to start on the IL because of a groin strain. Nick Ladolo down 52 picks from 253 to 305. Nathaniel Lowe down 28 picks from 203 to 231. Lars Neupar down 17 picks from 201 to 28. My guess is low and Newbar will continue to drop down a little bit as well. Chris, looking to take advantage of any of these discounts right now. Absolutely, Nick Lodolo. Stopped the slide.

We'll see how he bounces back from this injury, but I still think the upside is super high. Even when he was pitching poorly last season, he was still getting a lot of strikeouts, a lot of swings and misses. I think the upside if he figures it out and stays healthy is really, really high. So I'm still excited about Nick Lodolo. And he started this weekend. Yeah, yep.

So he's back on track. And I worry about Andrew Abbott because Nick Martinez's looks so good this spring. Somebody is eventually going to be bumped for Lodolo there. But it mostly sounds like Lodolo's price fell because there was some weird, potentially inaccurate. I don't even think it's the reporting. I think it was probably just the aggregation of some of the reporting when he was going back to a specialist and it was like, oh, he's not healing right. It sounds like what actually happened was he was going to special. to get cleared to pitch in games.

And that's what happened right after he's visited the specialist last week. So it sounds like Nicodolo is fine. Obviously, there's big concerns there with the lingering nature of this injury. But it kind of just sounds like he's been healthy for most of the spring. And they were just waiting to get him cleared. So I'm excited about him. Everyone else, like Robert Stevenson, I'll take whatever discount there is, especially when I got a bench spot to play with because he's a high upside reliever.

could be the closer if the guy in front of him falters, but it's also perfectly fine if he goes undrafted in a 12-team. It's not like he has to be rostered. Grissom, if you've got an IEL spot to play with, hopefully he starts on the Major League IL. I would assume that's what's going to happen. I don't know what his option situation was if he was on the active roster at the start of spring training,

but I'd love to stash him in an IL spot, yeah. And the Robert Stevenson fall, it makes it easier to lock up both Angels release, if you wanted to just handcuff that situation. And Estevez is on the rise. Okay, you might have to take them around the 220, 230 range. But now you could get Robert Stevenson with maybe one of your last round picks

and just kind of hope, you know, you have the Angels Closer throughout the course of the season. We're gonna wrap there for Scott and Chris. 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'll be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.