Fantasy Baseball Today - Players We Couldn't Stop Drafting & Early MLB Storylines to Watch! (3/27 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: March 27, 2024

Frank Stampfl, Scott White and Chris Towers were LIVE on CBS Sports Network and kicked things off with the players they've. drafted most (2:20)! ... Which players are we most excited to watch this season (11:25)? ... What are the top Fantasy storylines early in the season (22:30)? ... Let's run through some season-long player props (37:28). ... We wrap things up with award predictions and our World Series picks (44:10)! 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 Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: https://sptfy.com/QiKv Get awesome Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: http://bit.ly/3y8dUqi Follow FBT on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fbtpod?_t=8WyMkPdKOJ1&_r=1 Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @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

Happy opening day Eve and welcome in to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. Frank Stample joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. We've got a fun show plan. Let's call this our 2024 season preview. All of our fantasy drafts are done. Who are the players we've drafted most? There's so much talent in the game, which players are we most excited to watch this season? Plus, we'll talk some player props, award predictions,

and our World Series pick later on in the show. Let's jump right in. Look at you, Scott's studio all to yourself. I love it. Why don't you kick us off with the three players you've drafted most in your fantasy baseball leagues? All right, Frank. I'm going to start here with Mike Trout. Now, I feel like the pushback on Mike Trout has been a little too much. I understand he's not a first rounder anymore. But he's dropping to like round. He was dropping to round like four or five back when people were drafting. And I think it's, I think it's gone too far. He is injury prone. Last year, though, it was a broken hand that he missed. time with just a freak incident and he was still very productive he was still one of the top power hiters you look back two years ago on 119 games still hit 40 home runs in it so even

factoring in some of the time Mike Trout is going to miss with injury it's still likely he delivers a stud outcome and potentially at a discount at a position by the way outfield where things thin out really fast so I was happy to accept the discount a lot of my drafts and go ahead and take Mike Trout for the big run RBI and home run production. Okay, Alex Bregman was another player I drafted a lot of third baseman for the Astros, of course, and he was somebody who, first of all, in points leagues with the great plate discipline. You got guys like Rafael Devers at the position, Austin Riley. They don't have particularly good plate discipline, but Bregman does, and that made him just as good as those in that

format, even though he was drafted later. And then if we're talking to Rotel League, the run and RBI production in the round 7-8 range where you could get him, a big difference, maker. Run an RBI production was something I paid extra attention to this year because I don't think it's necessarily true that just by balancing home runs and stolen bases, you're going to do well with runs in RBI. Also, Vinnie Pasquantino, Vinnie Pee, baby, right?

A long-time favorite of mine. And even though last year was a disappointment for Vinny Pasquantino, it was because of a shoulder injury. And for the first 38 games, he did exactly what we wanted him to do. He had 298 with a 922 OPS. And then that's when about the time the shoulder started bothering him. He tried to play through it for a while.

Ex of velocity's plummeted. It wasn't good. But he did what we wanted for those first 38 games. He's healthy now, and I think he'll get back to doing it again. He was a great value drafted outside the top 150 this year. Again, Scott's most drafted players, Mike Trout, Alex Brighman, and Vinny Pasquantino. Chris, I did want to get you in here and talk a little bit about Mike Trout.

Now, 32 years old, has not played more than 119 games since 2019. Do you think Trout has a bounceback season here in 2024? Classic Chris moved, muted myself during the podcast. Everybody who watches knows. Yeah, that's a, there are definitely some red flags in Mike's profile. He's missed a lot of time over the past few years. He had that back injury two years ago. You all know about that.

There have been some plate discipline changes. He's swinging and missing a lot more. The strikeout rates gone up, but he's still an elite athlete, 96 percentile in sprint speed last season. I think under Ron Washington, the Angels might run a little bit more. They've certainly talked about it.

So I could see not just a bounce back in terms of the staying healthy, which we hope he can, but also maybe we get 10, maybe we get 15 steals. He stole a base in spring training. That's not necessarily something we expect Mike Trout in games that don't matter. So yeah, I think as a third, fourth, fifth round price where you could get them in drafts this year, betting on a Mike Trout bounceback makes a ton of sense.

How about this? In spring training, the Angels had the second most steals as a team, 44 steals under new manager Ron Washington. So you might be on to something there. Hopefully they do run a little bit more this season. Chris, let's stick with you. Make sure that the mic is not muted. And give me your three most drafted players in fantasy this season.

Nick Castellanos, Jaron Duran, and Cabrion Hayes. We'll start with Nick Castellanos, who I don't know what this guy did to fantasy baseball players to justify an ADP outside of the top 100. When I drafted him, I drafted him in five of my 13 leagues. My ADP for him was 105.4, so I actually drafted him lower. He just kept falling, and I don't quite understand it. He had one down year in 2022, his first year with the Phillies. Other than that, this guy has been one of the best RBI sources. in the at the outfield position.

Pretty good bet for 30 home runs hit 29 last year, 272, so we won't hurt you in batting average. He even stole 11 bases, which is kind of surprising. He's got 18 stolen bases over the past two seasons. So Nick Castiano's five category contributor, if you can believe it. So I think he's just an underrated player. Jaron Duran, I love Jaron. I'm so excited.

There are some playing time concerns. It's a crowded outfield in Boston, especially with Sadan Rafael and making the roster, but they might play him in the infield a little bit. That would help Jaron Duran, but he's going to hit leadoff when he's in the lineup, but he's going to be in the lineup much more often than not. He sold 12 bases in 36 games as a leadoff hitter.

I think Jaron DeRan legitimately has 20 homer, 40 stolen base upside. Could score a ton of runs in a very good Red Sox lineup. And then moving on to Cabrion Hayes, who we've talked about him a lot over the past couple of seasons as someone who really talented player, the ball really hard, just didn't optimize his swing in the way that a lot of guys have over the past couple of seasons. Started to do that last season, came back from an injury, went down

on a rehab assignment and started working on his swing, hit 10 homers in the final two months of the season, put the ball in the air 41.5% of the time, pulled it 34.5% of the time. That's what we want to see. Now, we don't have data from spring to cover all of Cabrion Hayes game, so it's hard to say exactly if he kept that up. But hit 412, three homers, 1081 OPS, didn't strike out very much. I think he's a super talented player. I think 25 homers, 15 stolen bases is well within the realm of possibility for Cabrion Hayes. Yeah, I love the call on Cabrion Hayes as well. He had a monster spring training, 412 batting average, three homers. The only thing I worry about is that according to Fangraphs, a 61% ground ball rate for Cobrian Hayes this spring. So if he's going to tap into

that power, we need more fly balls, especially to. the pull side. Three players that I've been drafting most in fantasy leagues this year, Logan Webb is my most drafted player by far. I've often started my draft with three hitters. And then I usually snag Logan Webb as my SP1 in the fourth round. He doesn't have the gaudy strikeout rate, but he should provide quality innings and lots of them.

He led baseball with 216 innings last year. He finished second in the National League, Salyang voting. He did have a rough spring, but he's a veteran. I'm not overly worried about that with Logan Webb. Sayy Suzuki outfielder with the Cubs usually get him in round seven through nine as my second outfielder. He's shown flashes of brilliance so far in his career, but he's yet to put it together over a full season. Over his final 47 games last year, he hit 356 with 11 home runs, a 1089 OPS.

He hits the ball hard. He's got great plate discipline, and he's fast. Everything is there for a huge breakout season for Sayas Suzuki, who also had a huge spring. He hit 459 with six homers and two sons. stolen bases. The last one, and Scott kind of joked to me, every mock draft or every real draft we've done, I select Wilson Contreras, catcher of the St. Louis Cardinals. Not to be confused with his brother in Milwaukee, but it was a weird first season in St. Louis for Wilson Contreras. He had some issues with the pitching staff, but he got hot. He wound up doing what

he always does. He hit 264, 20 homers, six steals, an OPS over 800, which is really, really productive from a catcher in fantasy baseball league. So again, the three players, Wilson Gutreras with the Cardinals, Sayas Suzuki with the Cubs, Logan Webb with the San Francisco Giants. Let's hit a break. We've got the players we're most excited to watch this season. Up next on Fantasy Baseball today here on the CBS Sports Network. Welcome back into Fantasy Baseball today.

There's so much young talent in baseball right now. It could be overwhelming trying to figure out who to watch on a daily basis. Let's discuss the players we're most excited to watch the season. And Chris, why don't you get us started with three players you've got your eyes on heading into 2024. Yeah, I responded to the email first, so I'm just going to take the most exciting players. O'Neill Cruz, Ellie De La Cruz, and Victor Scott. O'Neill Cruz and Ellie De La Cruz, I mean, if we were having like a punt pass and kick competition for Major League Baseball, these are probably the two guys that you would want on your team.

Among infielders, none had a stronger arm than Ellie De La Cruz, average 95. miles per hour on his throws last season. In 2022, O'Neill Cruz had the strongest arm among all infielders averaging 93.9 miles an hour. O'Neill Cruz, nobody in the Staccast era since 2015 has hit a baseball harder. Though an O'Neill Cruz who had 122.4 mile per hour hit as a rookie, Ellie DeL.A. La Cruz last year, only 119.2 miles per hour. I think four players have hit a ball harder than that. Ho-hum. Ellie De La Cruz, arguably the fastest player in baseball. O'Neill Cruz as a rookie, he was 12th in average sprint feed.

So these guys are just ridiculously ludicrously tooled up. They've got some holes in their games for sure because they swing real hard. They hit the ball real hard. And yeah, they might strike out a little bit. But if you're focusing on that, you're missing the fours for the trees. These guys, they might in the same game, steal two bases, hit a 400. 160 foot home run and maybe hit 98 miles per hour on the radar gun throwing over. And the thing about Victor Scott is, as fast and athletic as O'Neill Cruz and L.A.

Dela Cruz are, Victor Scott might actually be faster. This is an outfield prospect for the Cardinals. It took three injuries to center fielders on their roster to get him up there. It's not because he's not talented. It's because the Cardinals wanted to make sure he was ready. He hasn't played at AAA. But man, 94 stolen bases last season. an 87% success rate.

He even hit nine home runs. There's a little bit of pop there. 15% strike guy rate. This is a super talented player for fantasy. I think top 175 pick probably in any drafts that are remaining. Should be someone if he's out there on your waiver bar. You go make sure you add him because there's a chance that this guy leads the majors and stolen bases.

There is 70 steel upside here. If he sticks and could play gold glove level defense, I can't wait to watch him patrolling center field for the Cardinals as well. I saw Victor Scott in the Arizona Fall League. This guy is a blur on the base pads. He is ridiculously fast. Every time he was on first base, he was looking to run. Even when he was on second base, he was looking to run.

Lots of excitement around Victor Scott. Wide range of outcomes. He could be back in the minors in two weeks. He could lead baseball and stolen bases. So just keep that in mind with Victor Scott. Speaking of Scott, White, let's work you back in here. And Ellie Dealer Cruz, he's a very polarizing player. Chris and I drafted him on the team we shared last.

night in the second round. What are your expectations for L.A. D.A.Cruz this season? Well, first of all, I do want to say Chris took the two right answers to this question in L.E. Dela Cruz and O'Neill Cruz. I don't know about Tanner Scott, or Victor Scott, excuse me. I don't know about Victor Scott in 1980s called they want their player back. But L.E. Dela Cruz and O'Neill Cruz hit the ball as hard as anybody. They are setting stat-casts records this year for sure. Ellie de la Cruz, I feel like has the higher floor of the two because that stolen base upside is so significant

because he might deliver something like 40, 50, maybe even 60 stolen bases, even if he's struggling to hit like he did in the second half because the strikeouts are too high. And if he cuts down on those strikeouts a little, he raises the launch angle a little. I mean, we're talking massive power as hard as he hits the ball. Maybe somebody are drafting in round one next year.

So I think Ellie De La Cruz, I understand the concerns the batting average, but there's enough there that I think it can feel really confident he's going to deliver a high-end fantasy outcome. Scott, let's stick with you here. The three players you are most excited to watch here in 2024? The three, this is the B team, obviously, because of who Chris chose, but I'm going to go with Cole Regens of the Royals. Apparently, I'm a big Royals fan, I don't know.

Cole Regens, he was throwing the ball much harder for. like four miles per hour harder from the beginning last season, out of the Rangers bullpen. He got traded to the Royals and the eroldest Chapman deal, spent some time in the miners, worked a slider into his arsenal, came back in August, in the rotation, had a 270 ERA, 11.6K per 9. His fastball was peaking at 101,

and that slider turned into his best swing and miss pitch, really rounded out his arsenal so that he got a lot of strikeouts. Also here I got Tristan Kossus and Jack Centurio. We'll start with Kossis of the Red Sox. 305, from July 1st on, 305 batting average, a 996 OPS. This is a disciplined hitter. This is somebody who, a left-handed hitter who lives to the opposite field. Great power opposite way.

Seems like a great fit for Finway Park, right? I think based on what we saw from Tristan Kossis in the second half, you know, his line drive rates, his opposite field rates, I see like Freddie Freeman upside here from Tristan Kossis. exciting player and somebody I wish I drafted a lot more of but it seems like everybody was on to him in drafts this year. Finally, Jackson Chorio, rookie for the Brewers, top prospect, consensus top three, no matter what rankings you're looking at, power guy, speed guy, you look at the numbers in the minors last year, 282 batting average, 22 homers, 44 steals. That's great. Here's what people miss on Jackson Chorio though. The first half of that season in the Southern League, double A, they

were experimenting with a tacky baseball. Pitchers were getting incredible spin, strikeout rates were way up across the league. Nobody could hit. Once they ditched that in the Southern League in the second half, Jackson Chorio hit 324 with a 917 OPS. His strikeout rate, 13.4%. It would have been the eighth best mark in the majors

if he had done that. Not saying he's going to strike out 13.4% as a rookie, but this isn't at L.E. Dela Cruz situation. Jackson Chorio is going to make enough contact to get to his skill set, to get to his power, to get on base, to deliver some steals. I think there's a potential Julio Rodriguez-type rookie season here for Jackson Chorio. Jackson Churio, as you mentioned, Scott, the top outfield prospect with the Brewers.

He is 20 years old, which is crazy to think about, but he signed a record-setting eight-year extension this off-season. He brought up the numbers, 282 batting average, 22 homers, 44 steals. We're looking at a potential massive season here from the rookie Jackson-Turio. Speaking of rookies, the players that I'm most excited. excited to watch this year. The rich get richer. You see the hat? The Texas Rangers. They won the World Series last year. Now they're adding one of the top prospects in all the baseball to their opening day roster, Wyatt Langford. He was just drafted last year. He crushed every level of

the minors. Then he showed up this spring and he did the same exact thing. He hit 365, six homers and 1137 OPS. Sounds like he'll mostly DH, but will rotate into the outfield as well for Texas. I think it'll hit for some batting average. He's got big power. Adds a little bit of speed. as well. The two other names on this list, we have starting pitchers, Terrick Scuba of the Tigers, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto with the Dodgers. On Scoobo, among starting pitchers with at least 80 innings last season, scuba ranked fifth in ERA, sixth in K per nine, second in K minus walk rate, and sixth in swinging strike rate. So he gets lots of strikeouts. That's what you need to know with Terik Scoobel. He gets ground balls, has great command, he limits hard contact. Last year,

he averaged 96 miles per hour from the left hand side, showed up to spring. he's hitting 97, 98 miles per hour with that fastball. Watch out for the Detroit Tigers this year. They have lots of young and exciting starting pitchers. Last but not least, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. I mentioned the name. He signed with the Dodgers this offseason and landed the largest contract ever for a starting pitcher.

12 years, $325 million. He had a rough first start against the Padres in Korea. But let's look at the resume here. He won Japan's version of the Sayung Award and their league MVP, three years in a row. He's only 25 years old. He throws in the mid-90s with a fastball.

He has a wipeout splitter, great control. Chris, I did want to ask you on Yamamoto because it feels like maybe after seeing that first start, some of these rough spring outings, there has been a little bit of hesitation, a little bit of pullback here on Yamamoto. Are you worried at all about with what we've seen so far from Yoshinobu Yamamoto?

I mean, you threw in at all. And yes, at all. Yeah, there's a lot. little bit of worry there. How could there not be? His last three starts in spring, his first start of the actual season did not go great. The Korea start, everyone seemed to be struggling with their command. Tyler Glass now was bouncing all of his curve balls. Joe Musgrove had a couple of walks. So I can't say I'm too worried there. But yeah, there might be an adjustment period. Remember, Kodai Senga made the jump from Japan last year. And it took him until about June. Once he got,

once he figured it out, Kodesing was really, really good, was a top 12 starting pitcher in fantasy, arguably. So I wouldn't be surprised if there was an adjustment period and maybe the way to view Yoshinamamoto is, if he's not on your team right now, maybe you start putting some offers in

in May if the ERA is above four, because I do think the talent level, the stuff is legitimate ace level quality. It just might take a little bit to get there. All right, let's hit another break. Up next, we have some fantasy questions, what to watch for early in the season. This is Fantasy Baseball today on the CBS Sports Network.

Come back, Fantasy Baseball today with Frank Scott and Chris. A lot has happened this spring, which means we have questions early on in the season, specifically ones that will affect us in Fantasy Baseball. Let's talk about the aforementioned Wyatt Langford, one of the top prospects in the game, will be up on opening day with the Texas Rangers, flying up Fantasy Baseball draft boards

as high as the fifth or sixth round in drafts. The talk is that he will open the season as the team's DH and will rotate into those outfield spots. How much will he play early on? That is the question, Scott, I'll throw it over to you. People are drafting Wyatt Langford like he's going to be an everyday player. You see it playing out like that. Yes, the Rangers do have a full outfield already. But that was why Wyatt Langford might not make the team.

That he's already made the team. I don't think there's much question about his playing time. They decided to have him on the opening day roster because they decided they couldn't live without his bat. So they're not going to live without his bat. The DH spot is open. Now, how they manage their outfield, because I don't think they just want to confine Wyatt Langford

to DH forevermore, they want him to continue to develop as an outfield. So how they rotate players through that spot is going to be interesting to see. But Langford's going to play. He's going to play every day, and I think he's going to play well. He was getting drafted inside the top 100,

and signed the top 80 by the end of draft season. And that's about as high as I think could be justified. But given his performance in the minors, he was drafted just last year, but hit 10 home runs in 44 games in 1157 OPS, just completely steamrolled the entire minor league system for the Rangers. I think he's the real deal. Chris, do you think this could affect anyone else on the Texas Rangers

because we know Evan Carter has had some issues with splits against left-handed pitching in the minors. I believe he didn't have a single extra base hit against lefties last season. Do you think maybe this could affect Evan Carter's playing time at all, Wyatt Langford being on the opening day roster? I think if Evan Carter and Wyatt Langford hit like they're supposed to, it's not going to be them who are losing playing time. What will happen is like this Sunday, one or maybe both of them will get a day off

and everyone will freak out because that's what we do. But I think these two guys are basically everyday players. If Evan Carter can't hit lefties, that problem solves itself because they will likely bench him if it's becoming a detriment to the team. But as long as these two who are top 20 prospects in baseball, now obviously Evan Carter already proven at the major league level was hitting third and fourth in their lineup when they were making their World Series run. I think as long as these two guys hit, they're going to play pretty much every day. It's one of those like it'll figure itself out. Maybe Ezekiel Duran doesn't play as much. we don't really care that much about that though, you know?

Yeah, and looking at the depth chart right now, it's not like they have a ton of options on the bench to take Evan Carter out of the lineup, even against lefties if they wanted to do that. So I'm an agreement here. I think Langford and Carter will all play. Obviously, they have Adolos Garcia. Leoti Tavaris expected to man in center field.

He's a great defender, and I think they want that defense and they value that very much so in center field. Scott, we all know you're a Braves fan. You're rocking the Braves jersey in studio. So Spencer Strider led baseball with 281 strikeouts last season. The next closest, Kevin Gosman with 237. The problem for Strider is that he had a 386 ERA. He showed up this spring.

He's been showing off a new curveball that he's been using. The results have been awesome. Do you think there's another level that Spencer Shrider can get to this year? Yes and no. I think he can get to the level he should have been at last. year if that makes sense so you mentioned he had the 386 ERA well that's compared to a 309 expected ERA a 285 FIP a 292 X FIP all the ERA estimators had him around three the actual ERA was closer to four and so what I think this curveball is

going to do for Spencer Strider is just limit some of the predictability there that caused him to have these runaway innings at times last year where he would be just unhittable for five six innings and things would kind of fall apart and that's why the ERA ended up so high. I don't know that it's going to improve his strikeout ability. He was a distant first this spring in strikeouts, but the actual K-per-9 rate was identical to what he had in 2023. I just think it's going to give him a different look,

a different velocity band that's going to allow him to sustain that elite level deep into games. Chris, we know the injury bug pops up every spring training, and that was the case in multiple bullpins this year. The Diamondbacks, the Brewers, and the Minnesota Twins. For the D-backs, Paul Seewald has an oblique injury, and he's going to be out probably the first four to six weeks. For the Brewers, Devin Williams, All-Star Closer, will miss three months with a back injury.

And for the twins, Yohan Duran also has an oblique injury, probably going to miss the first month or so there. Run through each bullpen here for me. Who do you think is next up for the D-backs, the Brewers, and the twins? Yeah, I mean, the Diamondbacks last year, it seemed like every episode of the FBT podcast. We were talking about the Diamondbacks bullpen and who the closer was going to be

until they traded for Seawold. Now it seems a little more clear because Kevin Ginkle did, you know, separate from the pack as the season went on. He was really good as a setup man in their own World Series run. So I would guess it's going to be Kevin Ginkle. The problem with this discussion, though,

is the most valuable situation for fantasy is also the one that we just have no idea. And that's the Milwaukee Birds. Devin Williams, I mean, I think they're probably the worst of these three teams in terms of their quality. But this is a team that's had a lot of save opportunities over the past few seasons. They've really stuck with one guy. But it's a new manager and it's a wide open situation. There's, there's Yoel Paiyamps, who was the primary setup man, the primary high leverage guy behind Josh Hater last year.

But he doesn't get the strikeouts that the other guys do. Abner Uribe has incredible stuff, hits triple digits routinely. Also doesn't necessarily know where the ball is going all the time. time. And then Trevor McGill's kind of viewed as the dark horse, but I was reading an article on Brewers.com by David Adler, one of their beatwriters. And he thinks Trevor McGill might be the guy to get the first save for the brewer. So it's a wide open situation. It's super frustrating. I think the problem is all three of these guys are more than good enough to hang on to a closer's job. So it might just be whoever gets that first opportunity, just takes the

opportunity and runs with it. My money's been on Joel Paiamps, but I'm kind of waffling on that with the longer we go without them naming him the closer. And then for the twins, Griffin Jacks versus Brock Stewart, I think they're both fine options. I think they can both get the job done. I'm kind of leaning towards Brock Stewart. The strikeout upside he showed last season, I think he was above 12 per nine in his return to the major. So I think that's the way I would go. But it certainly wouldn't shock me if Griffin Jacks was the closer for the twins.

You know, Rocco Baldelli, the twins manager, before he really settled on Yohan Duran last year, he was about as committed to the committee as any manager could be. So of the three situations, Diamondbacks Brewers' twins, the twins is the one that I'm least confident. We'll see them settle on one eventually. By the time Brock Stewart or Griffin Jacks emerges, Yon Duran's probably going to be ready to go again. So I would be the least invested in that closer situation of the three. This next one is a Chris Towers special. John Carlos Stanton, he's come in. He's slimmer in spring training, which is good.

Hopefully it takes some of the pressure off the legs. You know, last year it was tough just trying to watch him run around the bases. And we know that he's dealt with constant injuries. He does have a three home run game this spring. They all came against Marco Gonzalez. So maybe a little asterisk next to those home runs. But Stanton has basically been left for dead in fantasy baseball drafts. The ADP is 223.4.

Chris, did John Carlos Stanton's offseason work pay off? I knew we couldn't get through a Chris Towers provided segment without a discussion about John Carlos Stanton. Chris, get over him already. I will never get over John Carlos Stanton. Look, the thing about John Carlos Stanton is as much as he has regressed as he's hit his 30s and he's become a really, really poor athlete. This guy still hits the ball harder than basically anyone in baseball as consistently as anyone in baseball. The problem for John Carlos Dan, the last couple of years in particular, has been the batting average has just been really, really low. Defenders know they can step almost back to the infield, or outside of the infield dirt and still throw him out if he hits a grounder. So the batting average has been really tough. And that's what he focused on this offseason. He was doing yoga, working on flexibility and trying to just get a little. little bit more of that athleticism that he's lost as he's aged. He looked noticeably slimmed down when he arrived at camp. So I'm not saying we're going to see another MVP season from

Giancarlo Stanton. But with how hard he still hits the ball, I think there's still one more like 40 homer big season left. It might come with a 240 batting average. But in that Yankees lineup, I think that upside is still there. And it's easier to bet on when it costs you nothing. I mean, I guess that's true, but we've heard all this before, right? I mean, last off season, it was him flipping tires for his workout, right? Oh, this is going to be what gets him back to the John Carlo MVP level that we all remember. And I don't know, maybe these, this conditioning work that he did is going to be the key to unlocking it. But, you know, one three-homer game in spring training, we already knew he hit the ball hard, like you said.

But I don't know. No evidence. I'm a world. I'm a world weary. No evidence. Just vibes. Just vibes. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, I don't know.

Consider me a Stanton skeptic at this point, I guess is all I'm saying. Let's wrap up this segment with the Tigers pitching staff. And mentioned earlier, Terrick Scouble. We'll talk about him a little bit later on as well. Lots of hype for these pitchers right now. Velocity is up in spring. training. Terrick Scuba being drafted as a top 15 starting pitcher in fantasy. Jack Flarity signed a one-year deal this offseason. He's looked great this spring. Casey Mize,

a former top prospect and first overall pick. We haven't seen him pitched since 2022 because of Tommy John surgery. His velocity is also up. Just had another great start yesterday in spring training. Scott, talk to me about this Tigers pitching staff. Can they live up to the hype? Well, I think Terrick Scuba certainly can after he returned from injury last year, through 80 innings among pitchers with at least 80 innings. He was far and away. The leader in expected ERA and FIP, great strikeout rate, great walk rate,

great stuff all around. Spoiler alert, we'll get to it later. He's my Cy Young pick for the AL. But what about the rest of the Tiger staff? So Jack Flaherty has been an ace in fantasy before, and his velocity's way up, as you said, Casey Mize, former number one overall pick. His velocity was way up.

Matt Manning, who didn't he, even make the team because they had so many pitchers performing well this spring. Another highly regarded prospect once upon a time he didn't live up to it, but his velocity was up. I know Mize, Casey Mize worked on a slider that that was emerging as a swing and miss pitch this spring. The Tigers have a pitching coach. Chris Fetter, young guy, seems to be a rising star among pitching coaches. It's been getting a lot of good pub. And based on the way these guys look this spring, the Tigers might be a surprise. this year. If they can keep it up, if it isn't just a spring mirage, I think they have enough

options to turn to if one falters that could be exciting, could be exciting. I've been especially excited about Jack Flaherty lately, given his history as a fantasy standout. The fact that he's throwing as hard as he did in 2019 when he placed fourth in NL. Sy Young voting, it's been a long time since we've cared about Jack Flaherty and fantasy, but it may be time to start again. I love the Tigers hype. Scott, I make it. or may not already have a future bet in on the Tigers to win the AL Central. So I'm hoping that comes to fruition. Let's take another break.

We, up next we have season-long player props here on Fantasy Baseball Today. CBS Sports Network. Welcome back into Fantasy Baseball today. We will have season-long player props coming up in just a bit. But some breaking news regarding opening day, the Phillies and Braves, the Mets and Brewers have been postponed. And they will play on Friday. so I hate to be the bearer of bad news.

The good news is that we will have day baseball on Friday. The bad news is that we won't have a game on opening day until 305 p.m. Eastern Time that will be between the Angels and the Orioles. Let's lock some player props. And this is tough because, A, the baseball season is so long. And B, health is such an important factor. I've got 10 names picked out.

We'll see how many of these we can get to. We'll do a little rapid fire and start things off with O'Neill Cruz. We mentioned them earlier. the over under for home runs this season, 24 and a half. Chris will start with you, which are you going with O'Neill Cruz? I think you got to go over. It's kind of similar to what we saw early on in draft season when O'Neill Cruz was a real discount because he was coming off.

Last season where he only played nine games, had that fractured ankle. It was, you know, his price was a lot more reasonable that it ended up being. And I think this is a situation where because we haven't seen a full season from O'Neill Cruz, it's hard to know exactly what to expect, but his 162 game pace over the course of what he's done so far is 32 homers. He's got plenty of raw power.

He's got 45 homer raw power. So it's just a question of how much contact does he make? How healthy does he stay? As long as O'Neill Cruz is there, I think he's going to get to 30 homers. Scott O'Neill Cruz has 19 career home runs in 98 games. Are you going over under 24.5? Going over.

All right, let's slide over to Juan Soto, who is now with the New York Yankees. The over under is 35 and a half home runs. He's coming off a career high, 35 home runs last year. And he's been healthy. He's played 151 plus games three years in a row. We know Yankee Stadium has that short porch. Juan Soto typically sprays the ball to all fields. Scott, over to you, over under 35 and a half home runs for Juan Soto.

Yeah, this is a closer call, but given the upgrade-in venue, I mean, you kind of go more from one end to the other than Petco Park to Yankee Stadium, particularly for a left-handed hitter, even though he's braised it to all fields. I think he's going to set a career high in home runs this year, so I'll take over. Chris, where you going? Juan Soto, 35 and a half home runs. You know, we say that the Yankee Stadium's a better park for home-run hitters than Petco Park, and for most players, especially most lefties, it should be. Using expected home runs on baseball savant, though, he would have 53 home runs if he played every game at Yankee Stadium. He'd have 61 in Petco.

So that's kind of surprising. I'm going to go under here. I think Wantsso is going to have an incredible season, 250 plus combined runs in RBI, all that stuff. I think it's going to be more like 34 homers, though. All right, Ronald de Cunia, last year led baseball with 73 stolen bases. His previous high was 37. We do know that there were new rules in baseball,

which helped enhance those stolen base totals. And the over under here is 53 and a half. Scott, which way are you going? Ronald Acuna. Yeah, it seems pretty generous. I understand there was the meniscus injury, but he was cleared. He's better now.

It shouldn't be something that plagues him. He relished the new rules to encourage more stolen bases last year more than any other player. I think he'll take advantage again. Taking the over again. Briss, over to you, 53 and a half stolen bases for Ronald Acuna.

what are we thinking? I'm taking the over, but this one's a little iffy. He didn't attempt to steal in the spring. You know, it was only 12 games, so who knows? It's not like Ronald Ocuna Cunia

has to prove anything. But I do feel like it might be, you know, 73 is probably not going to happen again. That's asking a lot. It might be closer to 50, though. I'll take the over, but it's a little tenuous.

Spencer Strider, last year led baseball with 281 strikeouts, 13.5K per nine or higher each of the past two seasons. He gets tons of swinging strikes as well. Chris, pitcher season-long props are a little bit tougher. There's so many injuries to pitchers every single year. The number 245 and a half over under for Spencer Shrider's strikeouts. I mean, how many innings would he need to hit 245?

Like 150? Is that being too generous? I think you absolutely take the over on this. Any pitcher can get healthy or can get hurt. Obviously, once you throw 99 miles an hour, especially can get hurt. But everything we've seen. seen is this is arguably the preeminent strikeout pitcher in baseball history. You're talking about 38, 37% strikeout rates. That's elite closer numbers. So yeah, I think you take the over here.

Scott, got the Braves jersey on? Are we going with the Homer pick over? I mean, I agree over. The only reason you bet under is you're betting on him to get hurt. And that doesn't seem like something I want to bet on. Let's hit one more here. Pete Alonzo of the New York Mets, 41 and a half home runs is the number. He's coming off 46 home runs last year. He hit 53 as a rookie back in 2019, entering a contract year, which kind of changes some things.

Maybe he's traded midseason if the Mets are out of it. Scott, over under 41.5 home runs for Pete Alonzo. Yeah, I mean, just looking at his history, it seems like another case where if I'm not expecting him to hit 42 home runs, it's because I'm expecting him to get hurt. I don't know. It's probably the right over under.

I'll take the under just because I said over for all the others. But I'm taking the under as then he hits 41 homies. How about that? Briss, as somebody who already bet the over on this, I'm pretty excited about Pete Alonzo this season. What do you think? Yeah, I think this is an easy over for his career. It's taken him about 149 games to hit 42 homers for his pace.

So I think we're in line for, I think, a 50 homer. season from Piedelon. So that's the flag I'm planting. Yes, yes, good news for me. Let's take our final break. On the other side, we have our award predictions and world series picks right here on Fantasy Baseball today, CBS Sports Network. Welcome back into Fantasy Baseball today. Let's wrap up the show with award predictions and our World Series pick. First up, we've got the rookie of the year. Chris, why don't you get us started? Yeah, I was like last year at our season predictions. Corbyn Carroll and Gunner Henderson were the chalk picks.

And guess who won rookie the year? Let's not overcomplicate it. Let's not overthink it. We've got an AL hitter who has just put up like 1170 OPSs at every single level since he was a sophomore in college. Wyatt Lankford's the AL rookie the year. And then we've got a pitcher who some people might say, oh, he doesn't count as a rookie. He counts as a rookie. He just got the biggest contract in the history of baseball for a pitcher.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the NL rookie of the year. Don't overthink it. All right, well, my NL pick is Jack Centurio, who I already talked about, but I think he's being overlooked relative to Wyatt Langford. Those two are similar in terms of upside. I'm going with Evan Carter for the AL over Langford because I think he brings more defensive value and his on-base skills. In addition to that are going to lead to a higher war, I think, than Wyatt Langford. So even though Langford will be better for fantasy, I'm guessing Evan Carter edges him out from a real-life standpoint. Chris, love the picks.

We're in agreement. in the American League, Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the National League. Let's move over to Sai Young. And Scott, you've already alluded to your American League pick. Who you got? Got Terrick Scoobal. Supposed to be a surprise, but it seems like I'm not the only one picking him in Spencer Strider. I think he's going to be the best pitcher in baseball by a long shot.

You could argue he was last year for fantasy, but I think it'll be even clearer this year. Yeah, I'm right with you on Spencer Strider. I think the ERA is going to come right back down to three. He's going to have the most strikeouts in baseball. It's an easy pick. AL is a little more difficult, but I am going to go with Corbyn Burns who got trade to the Orioles. It's a great home park,

a big improvement from where he was pitching in Milwaukee. Orioles pitchers, since they moved the fences back, have a 377 ERA at home compared to a 411 mark on the road. So I just think Corbyn Burns, we could see a 2-5 ERA and probably the second most strikeouts in baseball. I think I'll still take Spencer Strider. but Corbyn's going to get a whole bunch of them.

All right, well, I agreed with Chris on my rookie of the year pick. Sy Young, I agree with you, Scott. Terrick Scoobble in the American League spoke about him earlier. Very excited to watch him this season. In the National League, I did want to change it up a little bit. I'm going to go ahead and take Zach Wheeler, who has a 308 ERA and a 108 whips since joining the Phillies back in 2020, has one of the most dominant fastballs in all of baseball,

and he's added a splitter this offseason. I do like Zach Wheeler. I like the Phillies, more on that. just a second. Let's move over to the MVP and Chris you can kick us off here. Yeah, the easy pick is the chalk in the National League. Ronald Cunia, I think he's in that Mike Trout range where it's going to take something historic from someone else to knock him off. In the American League, I'm going with Juan Soto. Who is the betting favorite? I wish I had the courage to go with Jose Ramirez though. I think AL MVP is wide open. Hasir Ramirez's

Gardens, easy division. They've got a whole bunch of young talent. I kind of wish I had the courage to go with him. But I'll stick with Juan Soto. We're New Yorkers. In complete agreement here, Juan Soto, AL, Ronald de Cunia, NL. Yep, for me, MVP, I'm going to go with Julio Rodriguez in the American League. Mookie Betz finished second in the NL MVP award voting last year.

I think he gets it done this season with the Dodgers. World Series, Scott, I think we know who you're going with. Got to go with the Braves. I'm not going too far out on a limb there. And then Orioles, this is who they're going to beat. Dodgers over Astros for me. And for me, I mentioned the Phillies. Zach Wheeler, I think wins the Cy Young.

I am taking a rematch of 2022. The Phillies get it done this time. Phillies over Astros in the World Series. You can follow all of us on Twitter. Follow Scott at CBS Scott White. Follow Chris at C-Tower, CBS. I am at Roto underscore Frank. That'll do it.

Opening day is tomorrow. exciting times. Thanks to everybody for tuning in. For Scott and Chris, I am Frank. Enjoy the baseball season and good luck with your fantasy teams.