Fantasy Baseball Today - Opening Day Overreactions, Injuries & Week 2 Sleepers! (3/31 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 31, 2023

Let's get into Opening Day overreactions, starting with Brendan Donovan (3:24). ... Pablo Lopez is HIM (8:15). ... Dylan Cease might make us look stupid (10:38). ... Adley Rutschman and Alec Bohm look ready to break out (14:50). ... Stolen bases are back (16:33)! ... Everybody is hurt (22:15)! Justin Verlander is headed to the IL and Max Fried might be next. ... Let's talk waiver wire hitters (31:54). ... Yordan Alvarez might not play everyday to start the year (40:22). ... Aaron Judge picked up where he left off (48:05). ... Who were the best pitching standouts (55:55)? ... Which sleepers should you add for Week 2 (1:01:48). ... We wrap up with bullpens and streamers (1:05:30). 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.  Fantasy Baseball Today is a finalist in the Baseball Category for the Sports Podcast Awards! Quickly create an account and vote here: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-baseball-podcast/ 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/ Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday You can listen to Fantasy Baseball Today on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In tough fantasy baseball today on March 31st. Opening day is in the books. Frank Stamphle joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, we will have opening day overreactions. A ton of injuries already, unfortunately, that we'll have to break down. We've got some week two sleepers later on if your lineup resets on Monday. So if you're looking for two-star pitchers and all that fun stuff, before we get started, make sure to like this video.

Leave a comment and subscribe if you haven't already. and if you're listening on the audio side, we really appreciate a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. Lots to talk about, but first. Scott's birthday. It's Scott's birthday. Let's go. It is.

It's true. Happy birthday from all of us to you. We wish it was our birthday so we could party too. Hey. What did you work at Red Lobster or something? I've just, I've been to Chevys a lot in my time, you know. Yeah, it's always weird that it happens right when the season's starting.

Pretty much always. It's fun. Yeah, it's a good thing. Right around the end of March. I never get a chance to think about it, like to decide. What am I going to do, plan anything? Because I am so deep in baseball as it's approaching. And then just suddenly it's here.

And it's like, oh, okay. Well, yeah, 39, if you're wondering, 39. The next one. Three-nine. Next year's the big one. The big one. Everybody, please make sure to tweet at CBS Scott White on Friday afternoon, Friday morning, anytime on Friday. Show him some love.

Happy birthday, Scott. Chris, how was opening day for you? I know you were at the Yankee game and then you went to a fun little Enosaris event. How was that? Yeah, it was great. It was super cold. Like the, I was up in the left field upper deck. I told you.

Basically, everybody in my section was just like counting. down the innings until the sun got to us. Yeah. Because it was, yeah, it was brutally cold. I was up there in my coat and gloves, drinking my black cherry seltzer with my gloves on because it was too cold to hold it with my bare hands. It was a good time.

It was a good time. Got to see an Aaron Judge home run. Oh, yeah. So, yeah. Fun day. Yeah. You got to see a Judge Homer, Glaber Torres, sock and a shoe, Volpe, Solon Base.

Met some, T listeners at Aetherhaaf Brewing last night. So thanks to everybody who came and said hi. Always makes me feel super uncomfortable when people recognize me in public, but it's always fun. It's always nice to be recognized. So thanks for coming out. Absolutely. You love to see it. Let's get things started with a little opening day overreaction. Let's start with the birthday boy. What do you have, Scott? All right. So just to clarify, there are a lot of things we could overreact to. This is an overreaction that I'm not sure as an overreaction. I think it might be true. And it's that a breakout season for Brendan Donovan is forthcoming. Now, there are a few reasons why I say this, but let's start

with what he did here on opening day. Batting in the leadoff spot, I'll point out. Tommy Edmund was down hitting ninth. They had Brendan Donovan in the leadoff spot. He went three for six with a home run. All right, so already has a home run after hitting five all-year's rookie last year. That home run was his third hardest hit ball of the day. He hit a ball 105 miles per hour apart from the home run, and he hit a ball 109 miles per hour. His hardest hit ball all of last year was 107 miles per hour.

So he already has a career high here, game one of the season. also point out that Brendan Donovan hit four home runs in spring training. So between spring training and the regular season, now five home runs in 2023 versus five that he hit in regular season play as a rookie last year. I forget exactly what research facility he was working with in the off season. But he basically figured out how to rip his hands. hands through the zone faster. He started he's he's he started using a hockey puck style bat knob and that allows him to like I said,

rip his hands through the zone faster and like with with the intention of hitting for more power. I think also he's used I would assume that I would assume it was the same one that Aronado and Goldschmidt went to because they also use the the puck style bat knob if I if I'm remembering correct. I know Goldschmidt does. I'm pretty sure Aronado both went to the. I think they both went to the same place last offseason. So I would assume just being on the same team, that Brendan Donovan also went to the same place.

Now, Brendan Donovan wasn't a huge fantasy asset last year because he had just the five-home runs. He had just two stolen bases. But he reached base at a 394 clip. He walked 60 times versus 70 strikeouts, probably why batting leadoff for the Cardinals. If he has like 20 homer power all of a sudden and early indications,

I mean, you set a new max exit velocity on opening day. It's a pretty good sign that you've unlocked something new. If he has 20 Homer Power, all of a sudden, he's like Alex Bregman, you know? So I think Brendan Donovan is somebody who is worth picking up. I tweeted about this as somebody asked if they should drop Taylor Ward for him. Okay, obviously not. But, you know, if you want to drop one of your last picks for Brendan Donovan, who happens to be 80% rostered in CBS Sports Leagues,

but I think that's just because there's so many points leagues on CBS Sports Leagues, and as I said, he had great play discipline last year. I imagine he's more available in other formats and triple eligible already. I believe third base outfield and second base, right? Yeah. So, yeah, I think it's a move worth doing based on what we've seen from him between spring training and opening day. And I will point out, you know, the first thing that I look at with a left-hand,

player is one of the splits. You had 14 walks to seven strikeouts and 77 plate appearances last season against lefties. Now, that's a very small sample size of 77 plate appearances, but he also had like an 809 OPS against lefties in 2021 in the minor. So seems like splits are not a huge concern here. Yeah, I like that call a lot. And I'm looking over on Yahoo, Brendan Donovan is 63% rostered there. He has five different eligibility.

everything except for catcher, first, second, third, shortstop, and outfield. So especially if you play in some kind of daily lineup league on Yahoo, I mean, you can move this guy all around. Yeah, definitely make sure that Brendan Donovan is not a free agent and he's on your fantasy team. There was something else I wanted to mention. In spring training, I was watching a game

where he hit a home run while Oliver Marmole, the manager for the Cardinals, was on the headset. And he talked about how Brendan Donovan is consciously trying to hit the ball with more force to the pull side and hit it in the air. His home run today was to the pole side. It was to right field.

So just adding more fuel to the fire when it comes to Brendan Donovan. Chris, an overreaction from opening day. Let's start with the positive one. Yeah, so we'll go with the confirmation bias addition overreaction, which is Pablo Lopez is him, which is a thing the kids say. I don't really understand it. I think it just means that he's good. Yes.

And I think Pablo Lopez is. Lopez is good. And I thought that before he started throwing harder, but we saw it in the world baseball classic. And I thought, well, okay, maybe it was just adrenaline. He's pitching again in a big game against the Dominican Republic. But then we saw him, I think, pitch one inning in the, uh, in the spring in front of the stack house cameras.

Velocity was also up in that one. But again, one inning too small of a samples has to say, well, pitched five and a third today through 85 pitches and average 95.1 miles per hour with his fastball, which is just about the hardest we've ever seen Pablo Lopez throw. He also had a sweeper. That's a new pitch for him. He got eight whiffs with that one. I believe Pablo Lopez at least heading into the late games led all pitchers in whiffs today. I don't know if that's held up, but he had 17 of them. He might just have unlocked something himself. And this is a guy who, who has always been pretty good,

but I think there's a chance that Pablo Lopez could be an even better version of himself moving forward with this new velocity. Obviously, I think he still has some injury concerns. There's a fairly lengthy track record with shoulder issues with Pablo Lopez, but certainly feeling pretty good about these shares of Pablo Lopez that I've got right now.

I wish I had more than one. Yeah, I wish they would just install statcasts at every spring training. You know, it would be really, because it's only in Arizona that they really don't exist. Most of the parks in Florida do. Arizona, all those parks are within like an hour driving. It should be easy to just install them.

Get one guy with a van and a weekend, you know? Let's get this set up. Come on. I love it. I love the call on Pablo Lopez for all the reasons you mentioned. This sweeper can really unlock a new level because the change-up was still really good in the start. He had four whiffs on that pitch,

fastball velo being up. those three things in conjunction, Velo, sweeper, change up still being good, we could see a whole new version of Pablo Lopez that we've never seen before. Chris, your other overreaction note. Oh, Dylan Cease is the best pitcher

in baseball history and we're the dumbest. We're the dumbest idiots in the history of dumb idiots. Yeah, we, specifically, I don't want you guys catching strays. You guys were not on the bold predictions part, of the Dylan cease. We all had cease as a bust.

I'll take it. We all have this, but specifically, you were maybe the most sour. The Chris is on the bold predictions podcast, both had Dylan cease. Chris Wells said he'd be the third

best White Sox pitcher. I said he would finish with an ERA over four. He will probably have to pitch pretty poorly from here on out to have an ERA over four because that first start

was just about as good as you, could hope for. And at least for one start, he made us look really dumb. You know, 15 swings and misses, 6 in the third inning, 10 strikeouts, one earn run, no walks against Houston. Very, very good Houston lineup. Something I wanted to push back on that, Chris, is that they are dealing with injuries

right now, and the 6 through 9 in that lineup is very unproven and is not very good. It's still really impressive. I'm not taking anything away from CIS, but the bottom half of that lineup is not Not what we normally. Janier Diaz, Jake Myers, Martine Maldonado, Maricio Dubon is the 6th through 9 in that line. And they all went one for, I don't know, 14, 13, whatever those numbers add up to. So, you know, he took advantage of that. But also multiple strikeouts each for Jeremy Payne, Alex Breggman, Yordon Alvarez, and just those three.

All right, I want to say a couple things here, too, because first of all, I mean, the, The basic take with Dylan C's was, at his cost, the risk is too much for me. Understandably, he led the majors and walks last year. That is a potential deal breaker for a pitcher. But of course, he was going to be a big source of strikeouts. Of course, he was going to have some great starts. I don't think any of us doubted that. But I will also say this.

He walked zero in this game. Obviously, the big concern for me was walks with Dillen's. He walked zero in this game. He had only one start last year where he walked zero batters. I went through the game log for Dylan Seas. There were four to six starts he made last year that were, at least in the discussion for being about as good as this one, four to six. Which, okay, how many great starts can a pitcher have in a season? But it was four to six like this for Seas in a year where he had a 220 ERA.

So on the one hand, I don't want to overrate one start. On the other hand, this was an especially good start that maybe he only has three or four like it again all year. But I think especially when you consider he didn't walk anybody, he threw 72% of his pitches for strikes. And as I said, that was his biggest concern for me going in. you know, it may be the first indication that he's going to take another step forward. And if he does take a step forward, like if control becomes a non-issue for Dylan cease, then- Oh, yeah, the sky's the limit. Thy young contender.

Yeah, I mean, he was a Tsai-Young contender last year, and that was with leading baseball and walk. So yeah, not taking anything away from him. This was a fantastic start. Everything was working. Fastball, command, slider, curbball. Everything was awesome for him. He had 15 swinging strikes on 86 pitches. So again, not taking anything away.

But let's see if he can continue that type of control. And for everyone like with the tweets and everything, I don't mind some playful banter and all this stuff. But if you're gonna tweet at us like three or four times, the same thing over and over again, it's like, dude, the season is really, really long. It's one day, like, whatever. I don't care if I come off as whiny,

it's just like, you guys are jerks, whoever was doing that. But anyone else, if you wanna have fun, like, that's fine, we can have fun with it. But like, dude, don't just keep tweeting at me the same thing. It's just annoying. My overreaction from opening day, I want to highlight two hitters here who very much so look like they could be on the verge of a breakout. The first one's Adley Ruchman, who I think any time we talked about the catcher position,

the catcher I was avoiding, I probably mentioned Travis Darnow, who also had a great game. But I feel like I mentioned Adley Ruchman as someone who might be overvalued because I don't know if the power is going to be there yet in his second season. It looked pretty awesome on opening day. He went five for five with a home run, four RBI, a 400-foot home run in Fenwood. Park to right field. I mean, that's pretty impressive for Adlead Rutchman. So my overreaction is that I could be dead wrong and maybe he goes out and hits like 25 home runs and he's the best catcher in fantasy. It would not surprise me given the prospect pedigree with Adle Ruchman. And the other one

is Alec Bome, who, you know, we talked about a lot throughout spring and he was doing some nice things. He was lifting the ball. He was hitting some home runs. Three for four on opening day, a home run and a double off Jacob de Grom. Now, obviously, once you consider the entire start for DeGrom, it wasn't a good star for him. He didn't give up that much hard contact, except against Alec Bone. Like, Bone was just really good in this game and specifically against one of, you know, what we think as one of the best pitchers on the planet in Jacob de Grom. All four of Boehm's batted balls today were 95 miles per hour or more.

I mean, the breakout could be imminent here for Alec Bone. So if you, you know, missed out early and you managed to pick up Alic. Alec Bohm later on in your drafts, you might be just fine at the third base position. So another overreaction, we'll see how far those two guys can take it. Adlea Rochman and Alec Boem, awesome on opening day. Steels, let's quickly talk about steals. Quickly. Quickly, yeah, I mean, however long you want to talk, because we could talk for a long time.

We knew coming into the season that steals were going to be up. And we had an idea, you know, throughout spring training, they were up 25 to 30 percent. All right, maybe dating back to the two. the early 2000s, we had some data on that. Last opening day, there were five stolen bases. Right now, we're recording this 1248 AM. Games are still going on, so maybe this number has changed. 23 steals and counting.

Almost five-fold. It is insane what we saw. I mean, specifically the Orioles, they had five steals by themselves, two for Jorge Mateo. Maybe we kind of buried him too quickly too, because I mean, if they're gonna be aggressive on the base paths,

Mateo could steal, I don't know, 40, 50 bases this year. Cedric Mullins had two. Adam Frazier stole a base. Tyro Ashrata stole one. Starling Marte. He stole a base. And he stole a few in the spring too. So, feeling pretty good about Marte so far.

I'm sure there were a bunch of other players that I just didn't write down who stole bases. But he's got any early takes here on what we saw opening day, 23 steals and counting. I mean, I don't think there are going to be five times as many stolen bases as there were last year. I did say multiple times in the off season that I think it would blow people's minds how much stolen bases would increase and one day in I think it's I think that's proving accurate so far

I do think it's notable that and I'm checking the late games box scores I think they just ended like I don't recall seeing Ryan McMahon had a stolen base But almost all of the stolen bases were from guys who we consider base Steelers in one manner or another. Paul Goldschmidt had a stolen base, I know.

But we've seen him do that before. Not so much last year, but two years ago, he had a decent number. So that doesn't necessarily mean anything, but I was kind of counting on it being a wider distribution as opposed to being concentrated to those we already think of as base Steelers. and one day in it seemed to go mostly to the base dealers, the big base Steelers. They're going to steal more bases, so maybe there's nothing to that, but it is something I wanted

to point out. Also, and let me see if I can get a quick count of the home runs in the West Coast games. There were four, so there were 20 total home runs today versus how many

deals did you say, Frank? 23. Yeah. So the fact that the steals are outpacing the home runs, I don't even remember the last time there was a season where there were more stolen bases than home runs. Again, that doesn't mean it's going to happen this year. But players seem motivated to run. As motivated to run as we could have hoped for. The first base runner of the season was Ronald de Kuna.

And I happened to be watching it. He's taking a big lead right away. He gets too quick. disengagement's out of Patrick Corbyn. Two quick throws over to first base. And after the second one, he starts like, I don't know exactly who he's gesturing at, but you can tell the thought processes that was two, right?

Like, I don't have to worry about him throwing over again. And he was taking the same big lead, but he was clearly leaning towards second base. And actually, he tripped when he first started running. The first time he tried to steal, he tripped, so he had to go back to first base. But then on the second one, like, he took off. stole it pretty easily.

So, like, that was, like, the very first base runner of the season with the new rules. We saw the disengagement come into play. And I didn't see all of these steals attempts, but I imagine that was something that was happening and games all around the league. I was watching the Mets and the Marlins play, and Max Schurzer did the same thing with Gene Sager. He threw over two times. The very next pitch, Gene Sagar got, like, a running lead and then just took off. And I think it was a foul ball.

So he came back and then he didn't run again after that. So I thought it was kind of weird. Also, very, very funny situation with the, uh, the pickoff rules where I can't remember which pitcher was for the giant. I think it was Logan Webb.

He just seemed to get in his head. He like stepped off the mound and was like rushing himself. And like immediately at the start of, I think the next pitch clock, he throws over to first to try to pick off Anthony Volpe. Anthony Volpe's standing on first base. when he threw over. Logan Webb looked a little

thrown off by the whole situation, but that was a very funny situation. By the way, I looked it up. 1992 is the last time that there were more stolen bases than home runs in the majors. Were you even alive, Frank, in 1992? Would you like to take a guess

on how old I was, Scott? I'll say one. One, yeah, I'll go with one. That's right. I was one year old, baby. Let's go. 1992. That's the last time. And, you know, it happened pretty regular in the eight, regularly in the 80s. I don't think we're expecting a 1980s-esque amount of steals or home runs, frankly. But that's, that's interesting. Also, just a purpose of nothing, but 1987, 4,458 home

runs in the majors. 1988, 3,180. Don't know what happened there. Probably a juice ball thing. All right. Well, let's take our first break here. When we get back, we'll talk about. some of the injuries on fantasy baseball today. So just as we're getting set for opening day to begin, we get news that Justin Verlander was placed on the IL with a low-grade terrace major strain, which is something near the armpit or the shoulder area. It's something up there.

Isn't it what Tristan McKenzie? Yeah. Yeah. Same exact thing there. They did say it was minor, for whatever that's worth, and that Justin Verlander will continue throwing at moderate intensity.

Tyler McGill will step into the Mets rotation and start on Saturday. Any interest in Tyler McGill in the short term? I mean more, my interest level is more about monitoring him to see how he does. He's flashed signs of potential in the past. And I could be open to picking him up if he looks good. But at this stage of the season, it's not something I'm going to do outside of very deep leagues. 10% rostered is Tyler McGill. And if you play in a deep league,

I think that's exactly where you should be looking for him. Let's see what he does on Saturday, but obviously pitches for a really good team and does have some upside. That is Tyler McGill. And just like on the subject of Verlander, it doesn't sound like it's going to be a long-term issue. It's the same injury that Tristan McKenzie suffered, and he's out two months,

but it's lower intensity. He's going to continue moderate throwing throughout his time on the IL. So hopefully it's just a short-term absence for him. Scott, I can't be mean to you because it's your birthday, but I did say all that stuff. You did say all that. Man, you said it so efficiently. Yeah, I guess so. Max Fried left to start with a left hamstring injury.

He will definitely miss his next scheduled start and could still land on the 15 day IL. We got to get this guy on like a yoga program or something because basically the exact same thing happened in 2021. I don't think it was his very first start of that season. But remember, he missed, looks like about three, three and a half weeks with a hamstring injury in 2021. Very early on. It was on March 14th. So probably like his third start. But like, come on, Max.

Let's stretch. You know, I know it's cold out there. But, you know, let's try to get ready for the season. Scott, what happens in the meantime here? Schuster, we know is in the rotation. Dylan Dodd is there. I guess if they need another fifth starter, I don't think that they would accelerate things with Kyle Wright. is there someone else to pay attention to?

Well, I mean, it wasn't expected that Jared Schuster or Dylan Dodd would make the rotation. It was expected to be a competition between Ian Anderson, Bryce Elder, and Mike Soroka. So I suppose one of them would fill in for Max Freed, and if Kyle Wright makes it back before Freed, then that gives Dodd and Schuster a chance to stick around longer. I think the Braves are only saying for sure

if you don't miss one start, I imagine it probably won't be more than two, but I don't think we've gotten an official grade measurement on the schedule. The schedule is not very helpful for the Braves in this instance. They are off tomorrow, Friday, as you're listening to this, but then they don't have another day off until the 13th. So they basically have to go

two and a half turns through the rotation without a day off. So this is not a situation where they can just keep everyone on regular rest and avoid it. They will, you know, likely have to get someone to fill in for at least a couple turns in the rotation if Freed goes on the IL. This next one is not an injury, but Daniel Bard will go on the IL as he deals with anxiety. Didn't appear in a game between 2014 and 2019 while dealing with the Yips and some mental struggles that kept him out of the game during that time.

So, yeah, obviously, wishing the best for Daniel Bard, but you know, the next question will be, you know, what happens in the Rockies bullpen and a few names that I guess we could speculate on in deeper leagues. Denelson Lemette, Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand, we know has experience, but hasn't really been great the past couple of years. Somebody named Justin Lawrence had 13 strikeouts to three walks over seven and a third innings this spring. And I saw a pitching ninja slider of his and it's it's like a frisbee. That thing just flies across the zone. So that's kind of interesting. on opening day, they were pitching with a 7 to 2 lead and they went to Nelson Lament in the 7th,

Justin Lawrence in the 8th, and somebody named Jake Bird in the 9th. What do you guys think happens with the Rockies bullpen? Well, I mean, based on that usage, I'm going to rule out to Nelson Lamet as the guy I want to pick up.

I think it's going to be a committee to start out and not a very attractive one. Pierce Johnson is probably the one to pick up if you have to pick up somebody. And, you know, maybe if it becomes a long-term absence, somebody like Justin Lawrence can get a chance to step into the role more permanently.

It's a sort of thing with Bard where, like, obviously, there's just, there's no timetable. His bout with the yips earlier in his career, I mean, he's not a baseball for like six years. Yeah. So, but at the same time, I saw Bud Black, the Rockies manager and those on the Rockies beat saying, oh, yeah, it'll just take a step back for a couple weeks. I don't know. That seems like a rosy outlook to me.

Obviously, if you have an IL spot and saves are valuable in your league, saves are scarce, then I think you just have to stash barred away for now. But there will come a point where if that is showing no signs of returning, where you're just going to have to move on. All right. Let's rush through the rest of these injuries I have written down. Jorge Polanco was officially placed on the IL. And here's what the twins head trainer had to say.

Quote, I think the one thing that we all need to be cognizant of is that Jorge hasn't had a spring training this year. And I think the wise thing to do is to allow him to progress along like we have allowed the 26 guys that are on our team to do basically. So it sounds like there's no time period here. And it's going to like not only does he have to ramp back up, He's going to have to do some kind of extended spring training or minor league rehab stint. So I don't know.

I think we're looking at quite a bit here for Jorge Polanco. Ryan Pepio was placed on the IL with a left oblique strain. Michael Grove will enter the Dodgers rotation. Any interest in deeper leagues? I mean, would you rather speculate on Michael Grove or Tyler McGill? Miguel. I think Miguel, yeah. Okay.

Unless it's a short-term play because Grove has. two starts next week. Pretty good matchups. Wilson Catreras exited opening day with a right knee contusion and apparently we'll have an MRI coming on Friday. Doesn't say what day, but coming soon. Giovanni Gallegos is day to day with lower back tightness. Luis Arias limped off the field in the ninth inning with a left hamstring injury. Just speculation on my part, but if Arias does need to go on the IL, maybe Brian Anderson goes back to third base and maybe one of those interesting outfield prospects gets a shot. someone like Joey Weimar or SEL Freelick?

I would say that's a very likely scenario. Yeah. If Aureas does have to go on the I.L. I'm not sure which it would be, though. Like, I feel like it should be Freelick, but I feel like Freelick should have gotten the first shot over Garrett Mitchell, too. One thing, I do want to go back to the Dodgers for just a second

because it is worth mentioning. And not really a name that we talked about much in the spring. I don't know if Gavin Stone had a, yeah, scoreless six and two-thirds with 14 strike. He had one. It was amazing. It was like three innings and he got eight strikeouts.

That's, yeah, he's got bonkers, like video game kind of numbers. 192 ERA between three levels of the miners last season, 1.118 whip. Box are a little high-ish for a high-level

starting pitcher prospect, but 12 strikeouts per inning in both AA and AAA and AAA. I would guess that he's probably another injury away. from even being in the discussion to get called up. But you just sold him short, Chris. It was a 148 ERA between three levels.

192 was his run average. Oh, sorry, sorry. Yeah, I read the wrong column there. Yeah, he had an awesome spring. He's, I think, at this point, pretty clearly the Dodgers top pitching prospect, right? And, yeah. Twin him and Bobby Miller, but I prefer Stone. Someone to definitely keep an eye on if you're, you know,

if you're in a deep league because he definitely could be next in line if something happens for a Dodgers pitcher. And a Dodgers rotation that features Clayton Kirshall and Noah Cindergarde. So these are guys that have dealt with injuries in the past. I would say outside of Grayson Rodriguez, Hunter Brown, and Brennan fought Gavin Stone is the next pitching prospect that I think can make an impact this season in fantasy. Atalberto Mondessey was placed on the 60-day IL as he rehabs that ACL injury. and at this point, it kind of feels like Trevor's story is going to beat Mondesie back. You know who also is probably going to beat him back?

Jose Al-Tube was not placed on the 60-day aisle. You did not mention that one yet, right? No, I did not. I had it later on, but, I mean, there's so much stuff on this opening day rundown. Let's get back into some of the action that happened, and we'll talk about some news and notes later on. Way too early waiver-wire hitter decisions. What if you need a catcher in a one-catcher league?

Some interesting performances on opening day. Darno went four for five with a double, two runs and two RBI. He was in there as the DH against a left-handed pitcher in Patrick Corbyn. Yasmani Grandal went one for four with a home run. It was a go-ahead home run, right? At the time, yeah, go-ahead home run in that game against the Astros, 70% rostered. Who would you guys rather have TDA or Grandal? I'd rather have Grandal, I think.

But this was a performance from Travis Darno that, kind of made me second-guess things. I had shied away from him toward the end of draft prep season because Marcel Ozuna and Eddie Rosario looked promising enough this spring that I thought they'd get a chance to play left field in D.H. respectively for the Braves,

which would leave Darno as primarily a backup catcher. As you pointed out, there was a left-hander on the mound, and so maybe it's a situation where Rosario in left field, Ozuna at D.H. against righties and against lefties, Azuna and left field, Darno and D.H. And maybe the Braves just stick with that.

Darno obviously getting backup starts a catcher sometimes too. But he was the offensive star for them today. And I wonder if they're facing a right-hander in their next game Saturday. If Brian Snitker doesn't just stick with him, in which case, I don't know, there may be more potential for a bat's here with Darno than I thought. is what I'm saying. James Outman.

And if it happens, then I do prefer I'm with the Grandal. James Outman had a big game here on opening day. He went two for three with a home run, a walk, two RBI, and three runs scored. So nice little game here for Outman.

He is 39% rostered. He had a huge season in the minors last year. He's a little bit older for a prospect, but in this Dodgers lineup, with some power and some speed, my interest was peaked coming into opening day, but like a game like this, I'm like, I don't know, he might be a must add.

What do you think about James Outman? 39% rostered. Now your interest is peaking. Yes. Sorry, I'm terrible. Yeah, no, we probably wrote him. I think we had like one point where we discussed him on the podcast. And I think we were all kind of a little bit too dismissive of him.

31 home runs. 13 steals and 125 games. A lot of swing and miss there. But, you know, there does seem to be a pretty interesting skill set. obviously because he's a lefty on the Dodgers and especially a young unproven one, there's a decent chance that he's a platoon player to start the season. But yeah, that's the thing. Definitely opening eyes.

I couldn't make sense of how the Dodgers were going to set up their outfield, you know. Jason Hayward there, who's a left-handed hitter. And I think throughout the preseason, roster resource had Trace Thompson set up in centerfield a right-handed hitter, which, you know, as a platoon bat, yeah. I didn't think that was going to, like, I didn't see him. Okay, so it's changed now. So Jason Martinez, who runs Ruster Resources now put James Outman

and is the center fielder over, Trace Thompson. And if that's how it plays out, if Outman is the better half of a platoon, then I agree. He's very interesting. Well, and, I mean, David Peralta is the left fielder. It's not a, you know, not a knock on David Peralta, necessarily, but that's not necessarily the most secure player of all time to have in your starting

lineup. So there's there's a path to playing time for James Outman. I would guess that the whenever the first time they face a lefty is, he will be on the bench. But, you know, it's entirely possible that he ends up forcing his way into a pretty big role. And yeah, I think he's, I think in your like 12 team points leagues, three outfielders, James Outman's not worth a look. but, you know, five outfieler league, sure. Yeah, I was going to say any five outfielder league. I think James Outman probably should be rostered. I found, let's see, three names that are rostered in more leagues than him right now

that I think I would drop for him. Mark Kana is 49% rostered. Austin Hayes is 51% rostered. And who was the other one? Mike Yistremski, 62%. Would you drop all three of those for Outman? Yistremskied, yes. If it's like a deep rotissary league

where you kind of need to make sure you're getting at bats, then you probably have to hold on to Austin Hayes. And who's the first one you said? Mark Kana. Mark Kana, yeah, over Outman. But if it's more like a 12-Team 5 outfielder league, you could sell it a little harder for upside, then yes, I think swapping them out for Outman makes sense.

All right, let's move over to corner infield. Spencer Stier went one for two with a home run and two walks. Yeah, baby. Chris, I feel like you have them everywhere, so shout out to you. Ele Harris-Montaro went two-for-five with a home run and three strikeouts. Garrett Cooper went one-for-four with a two-run homer off of Max Scherzerzer. He had two great at bats against Scherzai. I think one was like an eight or ten pitch at bat where he was just fouling everything off.

The very next plate appearance was the one that he hit a home run, and it was straight-away center field. So I was pretty impressed by what I saw from Garrett Cooper. How do you guys rank those three corner infielers? Stier, Montero, Cooper. I think it depends what you need because like Cooper's a really good hitter. He just cannot stay healthy. It's just at every point in his career,

even going back to the minors, he's had injury issues. So if I need a starter right now, I think I'd rather start Garrett Cooper than Spencer Steer or Al Harris-Montaro. But long-term... Cooper hit nine home runs in 469 plate appearances last year. I'm just...

Yeah, he doesn't have a ton of over-the-fence power. He's a good hitter, though. I would go exactly how you listed them, Frank, Steer, Montero, Cooper. And I would have Cooper as a distant third. Basically, in every Roto League, I would try to have Steer and Montero if they're available. Stier, that home run he hit today. 435. 435 to straightaway.

Like, I didn't even know he had that kind of power. I thought it was like Jonathan India level power where, okay, he hits a, to his pole side in Cincinnati. You know, maybe steer could approach 20 homers. But that home ready hit today makes me hope for even more. Some deep league thoughts. What about these names? Robbie Grossman went one for three with a three-run homer off of Aranola.

He has one year removed from going 2020. So in a deeper league, 4% roster, I think he's a little interesting. G-Wan Bay for the Pirates went two for three with a double, a walk, two steals and two runs scored. Last year at AAA, he hit 289 with 30 steals in 108 games in his limited time with the Pirates last year. 90th percentile sprint speed, only 2% rostered. I think they might just let this guy run a little bit.

So Robbie Grossman, G. Juan Bay in deeper leagues, what do you guys think? Yeah, I mean, it's depending how deep it is. I can see Bay being a steel specialist. He probably won't play much against lefties. so you're talking about mostly just steals and only part of the time. But if it's a deep enough league where that's of interest to you, that's somebody we haven't spoken of before who may have some utility. And for what it's worth,

Ju-1-Bay did have decent numbers against lefties and the minors last year. I don't know how much to take from that, but it's worth noting. It's actually slightly better against lefties and the righties with decent strikeout and walk rates. So, you know, interesting player, I think. Chris, if G. Bihuan Bay becomes a thing, I'm going to create a sound drop of the song A Be Be

by Hurricane Chris. Are you down with that? I feel like you know the reference. I don't know if I know that one. What, really? I was thinking like, I think there's a, there's a no doubt song. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong. All right, well, we'll workshop. That's before your time. Hopefully he does become a thing. Let's take our second break and get into everything else here on fantasy baseball today. A few other news and notes worth mentioning the Astros GM Dana Brown said Yoran Alvarez will not be an everyday player to begin the season. Apparently his hand is pain free, but they want to play it safe. I don't know. After hitting a

442 foot home run off Renaldo Lopez, maybe they'll change their stance. Who knows? Jose Altuve is optimistic that he could be back before June. He was placed on the 10-day IL, not the 60-day IL after all. Chris mentioned that earlier. Jerks and ProFar will remain at extended spring training for a stretch of tune-up games before joining the Rockies. Hunter Brown will start Monday against the Tigers. According to Evan Grant, who covers the Rangers for the Dallas Morning News, Jose LeClerc is likely to see the first save opportunity for the Rangers, and in fact, LeClerc pitched the ninth inning with a four-run lead on Thursday.

Estuary Ruiz is expected to serve as the everyday center fielder for the A's, with Christian Pache getting traded away. Johnny Brito was recalled by the Yankees and will start on Sunday against the John. Domingo Hermann was pushed back by a few days. I had a few lineup notes. I'll just quickly run through these. If there's anything especially interesting that you guys want to talk about,

just interrupt and we'll talk about it. For the Braves against left-handed pitching, Ozzie Albies was batting cleanup. Michael Harris was batting seventh. Marcel Ozuna in left field. Travis Darno at DH with no Eddie Rosario. For the Giants versus right-handed pitching, Lamont Wade was hitting leadoff.

Blake Sable was in left field, batting 8th. For the Yankees... He got pinch hit for. He did. Though, after two at bats, when they brought a lefty in. Still unclear how much Sabel is actually going to play. I mean, the Giants don't really have any everyday players, so... Yeah. It's kind of tough.

For the Yankees versus right-handed pitching, Oswaldo Cabrero was in left field, and apparently he will play a lot versus right-handed pitching. Also had four strikeouts in that game, so... Not the best opening day for him. Anthony Volpe was batting. ninth in his debut. For the Red Sox versus a righty, Alex Verdugo was hitting leadoff,

Masataka Yoshida was cleanup, and Tristan Kossis was batting sixth. I did want to mention for Yoshida, who went two for four with two singles, right? So he didn't, it's not like he showed a lot of power, but exit velocities for him were, hang on a second.

Do I have the right? 97.9.99. point eight, 100.5, and 108.4. There you got. There you go. So the lowest

exit velocity of his four batted balls was what? 97.9. There you go. That's the stat I was looking for. Thank you for the assist.

So that's, you know, Masataka Yoshita clearly has some raw power. I don't know if he's going to elevate the ball in the most optimal way to make good on it,

but that was an encouraging first sign. The Cubs were up against a righty, and Miles Mastroboni hit 9th. Tray Mancini was at T.H. No Edwin Rios in the lineup. Tigers against the lefty, Matt Veerling hit leadoff. Austin Meadows was batting sixth. For Tampa Bay versus a lefty, East Hawk Parades hit third in the lineup. Brandon Lau was down at seventh.

For the Cardinals against a righty, Brendan Donovan hit leadoff. Lars Neubar second. Nolan was the DH batting seventh. Jordan Walker bat eighth, and Tommy Edmund was. Ninth. Admin 9th is kind of significant. I mean, I still think like he's a pretty good player.

And if he plays every day and hits 9th, he'll have decent numbers. But like, there is a huge difference between the number of played appearances. You get hitting lead off or second or whatever and batting ninth. I mean, you're talking about generally in most lineups, you're talking over the course of the season,

about 18 to 20 plate appearance difference for each spot you go down in the lineup. So like first to fourth, not a big difference. First to ninth, huge difference. I mean, you're talking about potentially 150, 160 plate appearance loss there if it lasts for the whole season. Now, we don't know what it's going to look like. It's day one. Always worth remembering any discussion of lineups is a snapshot of one day in 162 game season. And specifically in Edmund's case, I did see talk at the end of spring training that they probably

would still bat him lead off against lefties. So that would help mitigate some of the loss there. But yeah, if you invested in Tommy Edmund, it's not an encouraging sign. And considering how much Brendan Donovan and Lars Neupar got on base at 1 and 2 today, I doubt the Cardinals are second guessing it yet. For the Marlins against a righty, jazz chisholm was batting cleanup. Brian Dela Cruz was seventh.

For the White Sox against a lefty on the mound, no Oscar Coloss. Gonzalez hit ninth and was in right field. Colos came off the bench and hit a 109.4 mile per hour single sure did that was a screamer I saw it live was like whoa who hit that Oscar Coloss did for the Astros against a righty Jeremy Payne hit leadoff Yainer Diaz hit was the DH and was batting sixth Maricio Dubon was at second with Framber Valdez on the mound regarded as the better defensive second baseman for the Rockies against the lefty Ellie Harris Montaro was at third base batting fifth.

Ezekiel Tovar hit ninth. For the Padres against the righty, Trent Grisham hit leadoff. Matt Carpenter was sixth. Hassan Kim was batting eighth. For the Diamondbacks against a lefty, Kyle Lewis was the leadoff hitter. He was the DH as well. Corbyn Carroll was down at seven,

and Jake McCarthy hit ninth. I have a feeling against righties. They'll probably use Carol as a leadoff hitter, but at least for now, going to be a little bit lower against... Can I add one? Sure. Donald Varsho hit cleanup for the Blue Jays.

It was against a Ritey, and he's someone who has pretty substantial platoon splits. But for a guy who's catcher eligible, who figures to have a significant edge on most catchers in playing time, batting cleanup for the Blue Jays could be pretty big. He had a double. It was, I believe, the hardest hit ball of his major league career. It was 112.5 miles per hour. He had never had one over 111. So that was interesting sign.

And yeah, if he hits cleanup all year, you know, Scott, you were talking a lot about Salvador Perez being like a clear edge in RBI. Varsho could get there if he's banned in cleanup all year. And playing regularly. And playing regularly. So he's got to, you know, be better against lefties especially than he was last year for sure. Just to recap the rookies, Frank here. So Corbyn Carroll hit seventh, Jordan Walker.

hit 8th, Anthony Volpe 9th, Ezekiel Tovar 9th, Oscar Coloss out of the lineup. So they're going to have to, they're going to have to hit their way up, it seems. Which is pretty standard. I'm pretty sure Gunner Henderson was in the middle of his lineup for

whatever it's worth. So I think he was... You mentioned Corbyn Carroll? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, 7th, yeah. Gunner Henderson was either fifth or sixth. He was the DH too. Kind of weird, just not playing the field. For the Guardians against the righty, no Oscar Gintalas. Okay. Will Brennan hit 7th

in the lineup. Gotta get Will Brandon in the lineup, you know. You gotta do it. It does have a little bit of prospect pedigree. Oh, man, there's a lot to get to. I'm just gonna kind of jump around a little bit, and we'll figure out what we want to do. Some fun hitting standouts from opening day.

Aaron Judge is very first at bat, 422-foot home run. New Year, same Aaron, Judge. Your first sock in a shoe of the season goes to Glaber Torres. One for three with an opposite field home run, also had a walk and a steal. It's a contract year. Maybe some extra motivation there for Glaver Torres And we are sticking with sock in a shoe by the way

I tweeted out Oh yeah People are pushing back Oh whoa whoa It's catching on You gotta get rid of sock and a shoe The streets are ablaze I don't know

I've been seeing it in places that have nothing to do with us It's this is more than just a bit now Can't stop this you can't stop this momentum You cannot Some people said combo meal But you know that's a shout out to the ESPN fantasy baseball podcast Back in the day So, you know, we wanted to come up with our own little thing,

and so we're going to go with that. Sock and a shoe. We mentioned Adley, Rutchman. CJ Crone, double don on the road? Okay. Four hard hit balls. After a spring where he was banged up and did not look good. Okay.

Did not see that one coming. Thai France went three for four with three RBI. Austin Meadows went three for four. Two of those hits coming off of Shane McClanahan. So left on left. Don't usually see good numbers for Austin Meadows there. maybe a little revenge factor against the Tampa Bay Rays. O'Neill Cruz, Chris, you love to see it.

One for two with two walks, two runs scored, a home run off of, and a very long home run against Hunter Green, basically his pitching counterpart. So, hilarious. Yeah, I mean, Hunter Green still looked like the not quite fully realized version of Hunter Green. He did not throw a change up today. So, you know, averaged 100.4 miles per hour with his fastball, This dude average 98.9 miles per hour with his fastball and it was up 1.5 mile per hour today.

But it wasn't great. So, you know, still still some work to do. But yeah, man, O'Neill Cruz, that was, that was impressive. That was just one of those ones where it was like, it was like chest high. And I don't think it got any higher as it went off the bad. It was just like chest high missile out to right field. It was incredible. And I am encouraged by the two walks too, because we only saw a 7.8.

percent walk rate last year from O'Neill Cruz. So I'd love to see that on opening day. No strikeouts. Yeah. Love to see it. Slobber knocker of opening day goes to the Blue Jays and the Cardinals. They combined for 19 runs on 34 hits. George Springer five hits in this game, all singles. All right.

Four runs scored and an RBI for him. Boba Chet went four for six. He had a double and two runs scored. We spoke about Brendan Donovan earlier. Tyler O'Neill, another one of our bus picks. He went one for four with the home run. Didn't get any tweets about him. If you want to send them my way, feel free.

What happened to the pitchers in this game? Miles Michaelis, 10 hits allowed, five runs, 91 mile per hour average exit velocity against. On the other side, Alec Manoa, three and a third, five runs, two home runs allowed, still had 12 swinging strikes. And his average exit velocity was actually pretty low. So maybe it was just, you know, he gave up the home runs and, you know, not really much else. but hey, I mean, two home runs, that'll do it. Yeah, that's what he said.

He just left a couple balls over the plate and gave up some home runs. I'm not really worried about Alec Manoa. It was a day where a lot of good pitchers had really bad starts. We talked about Austenola and Jacob de Gromber earlier, Alec Manoa. Aaron Noah. Yeah, Aaron Noah. Alec Manoa.

There were some good starts too, obviously, but a lot of bad starts. And I saw some chatter. about it being because the shifts were gone. More, you know, obviously more balls finding holes, more base runners. And is this going to have a more detrimental impact on pitching than we thought? It's way too early to have that discussion. Yes, I agree. And based on what we saw from spring training, I don't feel like there was a lot of evidence for that in spring training.

But I did happen to look into one thing that I thought was worth sharing. So how many home runs total were hit again? I'd have to recalculate. Let's just say leading into the four West Coast games, so the first 11 games today, the amount of runs scored per home run hit, I don't mean this many runs were scored on every home run. I just mean run scored relative to home runs hit was 6.4.

today. Last year, it was 4.0. So a lot of runs were being scored here on opening day that weren't home runs, a lot more than we're used to seeing over the course of last year. Of course, we're talking a sample of one day, but again, I thought it was notable. I don't think it's going to be an issue for pitching in general, but it was notable. The thought would be behind all the rule changes that Major League Baseball has implemented that the game would become less reliant on home runs for scoring. That's been the long-term trend is that home runs have made up an increasingly large percentage of the total run scored. And that would be what MLB wants.

But I still think like it's too early to have that discussion. I think, you know, I definitely saw multiple instances of guys hitting well-hit balls right up the middle that were still turned into outs because there was a guy standing. right behind the second base. So there was also the very funny, plenty of instances of not so hard hit balls just sneaking past two defenders, sneaking in between two defenders. I did see several things of that today

where I thought that might not have been a hit last year. The Royals did try the two outfielder defense against Joey Gallo with converted catcher M.J. Melendez effectively playing what last year would have been second base on the shift. And he got eaten up. by the ground ball and could not make it work. So that's, that's actually like an under discussed aspect of this is that like teams are

going to have to put guys who are not used to playing in the infield to play this, you know, the shift if they want to replicate last year shift. If they want to do it. Yeah. I don't want to do it that much. I think it's only really going to happen to Joey Gallo. I think it's just kind of like a big joke and everybody's in on it.

And we're all just going to keep trying to shift Joey Gallo. no matter what. I did want to say just on the subject of bad pitchers, too. The only one that really raised a lot of concern for me was Miles Michaelis, who had the worst start of any of them, five earned runs on 10 hits and three in a third innings. He had one start last year that was worse than this, actually way worse than this at Cores Field.

I calculated Michaelis's numbers if you took out that one bad start at Cores last year, and it's funny how good his final tally would have looked. but his velocity was down on the slider. He gave up 91 mile per hour average exit velocity, which isn't terrible, but it's definitely worse than we're used to see him from Miles Michaelis. And just the fact that he's not the same caliber of pitcher as most of the ones who struggled today as de Grom or Minow or any of them.

I'm not dropping Michaelis now, but if he has, like if he doesn't show signs of turning around within the next start or two, it's going to be a pretty short hook. He's a guy who needs to produce or else there's not really, like there's not enough upside to wait it out, you know? Let's quickly hit a few groups of pitchers

that I put together here. Studs being studs, Garrett Cole had 11 strikeouts against the Giants. Shane McClan, six shutout with six strikeouts against the Tigers. Shane Bieber and Luis Castillo

had themselves a little pitcher's duel. Bieber six shutout with only three strikeouts with Castillo, six shutout with six strikeouts on the other side. Shohei Otani, doing Otani thing, six shutout with 10 strikeouts.

Chris, anything that stood out with any of those? Otani, Bieber, Castillo, McClanahan, and Cole. Shane Bieber's velocity

continues to trickle down and he was still effective so I don't think we're worried about it. But, you know, I do wonder if at some point there's going to be a breaking point with Shane Bieber, but I don't think we're there.

It wasn't down a ton. It was half a tick on the fastball, a little bit more on the secondaries. His opposing pitcher, Luis Castillo, was down a mile per hour and a half. So, like, between the two of them, Beaver lost less velocity on a 54 degree day in Seattle. Luis Castillo famously hates the cold weather. Yeah. That is true. And usually a slow starter in terms of velocity.

He kind of builds up a little bit. Cole was inefficient early on. The fact that he ended up getting six shutout innings was kind of remarkable because I think he was at like 46 pitches through the first two innings. He was kind of wild. He was missing up a lot with his fastball, but it was also a really effective swing and miss pitch for him. So he's awesome. He's a really good pitcher.

These pitchers are not quite studs, but they were very encouraging on opening day. I know Logan Webb gave up four runs, two of those being home runs. Career high 12 strikeouts in that game. His slider velocity was up 1.7 miles per hour. Marcus Stroman had eight strikeouts over six shutout against the Brewers.

He had 15 swinging strikes. and four of which came on a slurve pitch and he threw that slurve 26% of the time they didn't have anything like that in his baseball savant pitching from last year and the spin rate on that pitch was better than anything he threw last season even better than his slider. It was up like 150 RPM

so I thought that was interesting. He's a constant tinkerer. He's one of those guys who has big into like the pitch pitch shape and pitch I don't know what the term would be, but just building your pitches from the, from the pitch details up. And so,

you know, he's, he's one of those guys who could unlock something with that tinkering. But I think the track record's long enough to suggest that he is what he is, but it's worth monitoring. I thought Logan Webb pitched outstanding today. The results didn't really show it. They did the dumb thing where I think he was at like 78 pitches to start the sixth inning.

So they brought him out. He gave up a wall. I think to start the sixth and then they pulled him. And I always hate that. Like letting a pitcher started inning and then just like there is no margin for error. You're going to pull them immediately if anything goes wrong. It's like, you know, have some faith in him. So that was kind of frustrating.

That inherited runner scored. The Yankees kind of opened it up in that inning. But I thought he pitched really, really well. A few duds that we already mentioned. Aranola and Jacob deGromb they both stunk in that same game. Zach Gallen in one of the night games. he gave up five runs over four and two-thirds against the Dodgers. Sandy Alcansara, uncharacteristically, bad control, at least compared to last year.

He had four walks in his start against the Mets. Scott, anything worrisome with those names? Nola de Grom, Gowan, Sandy. So it was a 54-degree day in Los Angeles where Gallen was pitching. So a little on the cold side for baseball standards. The reason I bring it up is his fastball velocity Was down one mile per hour On average

13 whiffs on 89 pitches That's a pretty good number Especially for gallon I don't think there's a lot to make of it yet And the others I don't have any concerns at all Okay do we care about these pitchers at all Zach Granky against the Minnesota twins He allowed two runs over five and a third

His sinker was up 1.3 miles per hour, his curve nearly two miles per hour. Kyle Mueller was solid against the Angels. Five innings pitched one run allowed, three strikeouts, and then Hermann Marquez turned in a quality start at the Padres. Six innings, two runs, five strikeouts, zero walks. Any interest there? Granky, Mueller, Hermann Marquez.

Not right now. Yeah. I would say Marquez was interesting because, like, he, he was better in the second half than the first half last season. he kind of turned his season around. He wasn't great. It was like a four-ish ERA in the second half. And it was a lot with his sinker and his curveball being his primary pitches.

And that was not the case today. Now, that could just be a course field. You know, he throws the sinker and curveball more kind of situation. But something to keep an eye on. He pitched well. And,

you know, he's never going to be a great fantasy option because of course field. But he could get himself back into the, hey, he's away from course field. Let's stream him discussion, which he was kind of out. of last year.

So that's one to keep an eye on. And then I don't know, it would be awesome if Zach Granky had a little bit of a bounce back. His velocity was up. Gosh, I don't know the last time, at least for a season, his velocity hasn't been as high as it was today since 2017. He averaged 90.7 miles per hour with the fastball. I'm not sure he may have had a starter two since then.

But, you know, it would be, it would certainly be fun. if this was the start of a little granky sants, I guess we'd call it. Scott, why do you give us a few week two sleepers? I know that you'll have articles out on the site by Friday. Let's start off with a few pitchers here that you like for next week. It's always awkward turning around and writing the week two sleeper hitters and pitchers when week one has just started and you have no new information. But Hunter Brown is in line to make two starts, one against Detroit.

So he's my favorite sleeper pitcher to the extent he's available. Hayden West Nesky, who is one of the big risers of spring training. He's at Cincinnati. Tough place to pitch, but a good opponent, you know, bad lineup he's facing. Kyle Braddish is in line for two starts. Another big spring riser. Matchups are tougher at Rangers versus Yankees. But, you know, if you're looking on the waiver wire for pitchers to stream right now,

you're a beggar and beggars can't be choosers. You say Kukuchi. I mentioned him earlier for the extra long 11-day scoring period. Well, both of the starts he's making are during the final seven days of those 11 days. At Kansas City, that's the good one. At the Angels, that can be tougher. He had a lot of strikeouts this spring. Martine Perez gets the Cubs in his season debut.

It's just a one-start situation for him. But, you know, not a bad way. to try and prove his last, to start his campaign to prove that last year's 289 ERA was legitimate. It only gets worse from there. It's hard filling out a list of 10 for this week, considering, you know, the highest quality pitchers are generally going in this first weekend

and not likely to make multiple starts next week. Matthew Boyd's a two-star pitcher. One of them is against the Astros, so that feels pretty dangerous. But the other's against Boston. Zach Eifflin goes against the A's, if you don't mind a one-star guy. Ross Stripling against the Royals. I mean, Ross Stripling got pummeled this spring,

so I don't even know that I want to risk that. But he is going against the Royals, and he was pretty good last year. So those are some pitchers. Let me pivot to hitters now. So the Rockies at the end of next week will be at home for the first time, and they'll be facing the Nationals pitching staff for four games. So that sounds like a pretty sweet deal. Ezekiel Tovar is somebody to start.

Elehiros Montero, who of course homered opening day. Somebody you could start. The Reds matchups aren't so great, but they're not so bad either. And I just feel like Jake Fraley, who I've been talking up a lot lately, of course, and Spencer Steer, who had that long home run on opening day. I just think they're two of the more under-rastered hitters right now. And so just from that perspective, I'd call them sleepers for next week. The Rangers are facing the Orioles and Cubs, not a lot of good pitchers between those rotations.

And so Josh Young is somebody you could consider starting coming off a good spring. We'll see how his weekend goes if the strikeouts get too high. But as of now, I think it could be a good play. And I'll mention just two more here, Adam Duvall, Pirates and Tigers are the pitching staffs, the Red Sox are facing. Three games at Fenway Park where Duval's swing is perfectly suited. And Elvis Andrus is the other one. Three lefties on the schedule for the White Sox.

He had 283 with an 827 OPS against lefties last year versus 236 with a 662 against righties. So a bunch of lefties on the schedule. It's usually going to be a good time to use Elvis Andrus. All right. Well, we're going to go a little bit longer today. Opening day, lots to talk about it. I want to get to a few bullpen updates here for the Nationals. Kyle Finnegan pitched in a ninth inning down four to two.

He gave up three runs. Two of those earned. So not a great start there for Kyle Finningin. For the Baltimore Orioles, Felix Bottista entered with a three-run lead. He gave up two runs. One of those was earned. He struck out two, but did pick up the save. His fastball was down 1.8 miles per hour compared to last year.

Let's watch that with Felix Bautista. For the Cubs, they had a four-run lead. Brad Boxberger was used in the 8th, and Michael Fulmer pitched in the 9th. For the Pirates, David Bednar struck out two for his first save. For the Cardinals, Ryan Helsley entered with a one-run lead. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk.

He wound up taking the blown save and a loss. On the other side, Jordan Romano pitched a clean ninth inning with two strikeouts, picked up the save, and a cool note that I received from a listener on Twitter. The Blue Jays are the first team to allow a go-ahead run in the 6th. sixth, seventh, and eighth innings on the road, and yet still win the game since the Red Sox did it back in 1938.

Wow. Thought that was pretty cool note. I love that about baseball. So many. But there are so many games and yet there can still be things that haven't happened in nearly 100 years. I love that. It's crazy. For the twins, Jorge Lopez pitched in the seventh inning with a two-run lead.

Griffin Jacks was used in the eighth. Yohan Duran walked one, but picked up the save there. For the Mets, two-run lead, Drew Smith in the seventh, Brooks Raleigh in the eighth, David Robertson struck out two in the ninth for the save. No Adamadovino, seventh or eighth. Kind of interesting there for... Yeah, I have one league where I drafted Paul Seawald, Kendall Graveman, and Adamadovino.

Just hoping maybe two of them would be the primary safe source for their respective teams, not looking good after game one here. I will just plant the flag and say that, like, I do not have any faith that Reinaldo Lopez can hold down a closer job. That might be unfair, but that is my position. And also worth noting, like, if these teams are sincere in saying it's a committee, and certainly in the Mariners case, we have reason to believe they would prefer a committee, then there's no reason to assume that the guy who gets the first save is going to get.

Someone's got to get the first one. Right. But, but a lot of times committees become not committees. Someone's got to get the first one. You would rather that someone be the guy you were taking a flyer on. Exactly. For the White Sox, speaking of which, Kendall Graveman pitched in the eighth inning with the game tied at the time. The White Sox took the lead.

Rinaldo Lopez pitched in the ninth. gave up a home run, a very long home run, to Yoron Alvarez, but did pick up the save. Chris, I don't disagree with you. Your skepticism on Lopez. I just don't think Kendall Graveman's very good either, so I don't know what the answer will wind up being there. He has been good in the past. He wasn't so good last year. Yeah, Lopez was good as a reliever last year.

I just don't have much faith in him. That's fair. And for what it's worth, like, pitching the eighth in a tie game, that's not necessarily like he's not our closer situation, you know. Yeah. Yeah, it would not surprise me one bit if Graveman is out there in the next save opportunity. What about the Astros?

Ryan Presley entered with the game tied in the night that he gave up two runs. The ESPN broadcast kept pointing out that Presley was shaking his arm, kind of like he might be dealing with some kind of muscle or some kind of related. Roger Clemens was on the broadcast. Obviously, knows a lot about

what a pitcher might be feeling when he's doing that. So I thought that was really interesting, just you know, speculating there with Ryan Presley. And he didn't. Velocity was fine for what it's worth. He didn't look very good, yeah. But alas, for the Angels,

Jimmy Hergut was used in the seventh inning in a one run lead. And then I believe it was Ryan Tepera who came in in the eighth and he blew the game. He gave up two runs on the other side for Oakland. Trevor May pitching the eighth inning down one run at the time. His fastball and slider down nearly two miles per hour each. And then Danny Jimenez came in for the save once they took the lead. His velocity.

He was way down. Fastballed down 2.9 miles per hour. A slider was down 1.3 miles per hour. And last year he dealt with a shoulder injury. So, I don't know. I don't really feel great about that for Danny Jimenez. Yeah, I agree. But he is somebody who was basically not drafted anywhere.

So if he goes and gets another save next time the A's have a chance, regardless of whatever concerns we have about him, he'll probably get a lot of attention on the waiver, off the waiver wire. Danny Jimenez, only 19% rostered on CBS right now. And then for the Mariners, Paul Seewald pitched in the eighth inning with the game tied.

Then they took the lead, and Andres Munoz pitching a ninth. He got the save. He did give up two hits. No strikeouts. But again, using a ninth inning there. Let's wrap up with to stream or not to stream for the weekend. How else would we wrap up, Scott White's birthday? Right. On Friday,

David Peterson at the Marlins. It was fine. Yeah, it's a pretty good one. Nick Martinez against the Rockies. I like that one. Yesterday we said, Scott, do not take the Hunter Gaddis.

If you find it on the ground anywhere at a music festival, don't do it. At the Maritors. On Saturday, Clark Schmidt versus the Giants. I'm interested. I'm not going to say

that I would stream him for sure, but he's definitely someone I'm keeping a close eye on. So, yeah. Josiah Gray versus the Braves. Don't like it versus the Braves. Rends.

but not against the Braves, yeah. Shintaro Fujidami Saturdays against the Angels. Preferably not against the Angels. Team Kramer at the Red Sox. No. Spencer Turnbull at the Rays. Nah.

Zach Eflin versus the Tigers. I could do that one. I wish you showed us a little more in spring training, but it's a good matchup. I'm not a believer, but it's fine. Tyler McGill at the Marlins. I think it's fine. Michael Walker.

I prefer David Peterson against the Marlins. I don't know why, but I too. I might shy away from Miguel. Michael Waka versus the Rockies. I don't have a lot of faith in Waka. It's a pretty good matchup, but I'd rather know. And then on Sunday, we've got Johnny Brito, not to be confused with Johnny Bravo,

versus the Giants. Nah, too risky. Cole Irvin at the Red Sox. No, that's the best. combination in that stadium. Yeah. Tanner Halk versus the Orioles. I wouldn't.

Jared Schuster at the Nationals. Sure. Yeah, I think so. Major League debut, which is risky, but really good match. Scott, you're kind of going robot on us here. I would say, hey, jump out and jump back in, but we have like 30 seconds left. So I don't know my answer is for this next one. Yeah.

Graham Ashcraft, do it. Versus the Pirates. You know Scott is in there. Christie's last two, Seth Lugo versus the Rockies, falter at the Rangers? I would pass. Lugo, if you need one of those two, but I would pass.

All right, we're going to wrap there. Opening day in the books. For Scott and Chris, I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning in to Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. We'll be back again on Monday. Bye-bye.