Fantasy Baseball Today - Players We LOVE in 2026 Fantasy Baseball Drafts! (2/13 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: February 13, 2026

The hitter Chris loves is UTIL-only but still has a bunch of upside (2:52)! ... Frank is seeing red with the hitter he loves (10:08). ... Scott has a hitter he loves but the price is too high so instead he pivots to somebody cheaper (18:30). ... The pitcher Chris loves only made eight starts last season (29:00). ...  The pitcher Frank loves is on the same team (38:20)! ... The pitcher Scott loves is complicated (43:05). ... Who are some players we really like but don't necessarily love (58:40)? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Download and Follow Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sptfy.com/QiKv⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow our FBT team on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@FBTPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CPTowers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@CBSScottWhite⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Roto_Frank⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join our Facebook group at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Sign up for the FBT Newsletter at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/newsletters/fantasy-baseball-today/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Kokomo Friday and welcome in to fantasy baseball today on February 13th, a happy Valentine's Day Eve to all. I am Frank Stamphill, joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, you know what it is. Players we love for 2026, and we will not waste any time. We're going to get right into it. First, we're going to serve up the appetizer. Chris, you are the appetizer.

Then we'll get to the main course. Scott White. I know nobody's here for me I understand Yeah we can just we can just rush through our analysis I understand my point I understand my role in this The problem is

I have a feeling That my pitcher might be the same as Scots Ooh It won't Okay All right well we're starting with hitters anyway Okay If that's all right with you guys

I'm pretty sure my hitter is my own And It's a guy who's been around for a while well-established, not a new kid on the block. Probably not a backstreet boy either. My hitter that I love this year, the guy who I'm just going to draft everywhere if he's available, is Yordaun Alvarez. Maybe I'm not telling you anything new about Yordaun Alvarez, but people may have forgotten just how freaking good Yordaun Alvarez is at the game of baseball. his OPS from 2022 to 2024, 1019, 990, 959.

He is third in weighted runs created plus since his major league debut, among all hitters. Last season you might look at it and say, ah, 9-797 OPS. He's dealt with a lot of injuries. Maybe he's not as good as he once was. He had one bad month. That's all it was with Yard on Averas last season. He had a 708 OPS in April. one when your bad month is a 708 OPS you're pretty good he came back from that misdiagnosed hand

injury put up a thousand OPS for uh over the final months of the season this is I don't think there are more than certainly not more than five hitters with a 300 average and a 50 homer upside it might just be three frankly and Yordon Alvarez is absolutely one of the I know he's never had a 40 homer season. That's mostly because of injuries. Yorna Averaz hits the ball as hard as anybody. He makes a ton of contact. The contact he makes is excellent.

It's well directed. He hits the ball to the pull side of a ton. He hits it in the air a ton. He hits a bunch of line drives. Yordaun Alvarez is basically a perfect hitter. This is a guy who's been a second round pick for basically his entire career. And now you can get him third round, maybe four. fourth round in a 12 team league, you might just get Aaron Judge in the fourth round with Yaron

Averis. All he has to do is stay healthy. It's a big if, I understand. But I say it all the time. When the only thing that you can say about a player is that they need to stay healthy, that means you only need one thing to go right in order for Yordaun Averis to smash at his price. You look at some of the other guys in his range. He's going behind Catele Marte. Also gets hurt a lot. Also significantly older. I think you need more to go right there. Zachary Netto. He's at a deep position. You need a lot for Zacharineetto to go right to justify that third round pick. Yon Averaz just need him to stay healthy. That's it. And he is going to demolish his current price. There are not a lot of players in the

top 100 who I think have league winning upside. I think Jordan Averis has that kind of upside. The ADP, which you quickly reference here, 33.2 according to fantasy pros. And it's a pretty tight band across all the websites. It's between 26 and 36. Excuse me, 26 and 38. It is a little bit lower over at the NFBC. So you could wind up getting him in the fourth round. As you mentioned there, Chris. Also going behind James Wood, P. Crow Armstrong, some other hitters. that we have some questions about, you know? Yeah, and I understand he's got the util only thing. That hurts as well.

Kyle Schwerber's util only as well. And Kyle Schwerber is awesome. I am a big Kyle Schwerber fan. Kyle Schwerber is, what, four or five years older than Yon-Avarez? At least a couple years older. Sure, he doesn't have the injury track record. Yardon Averis does, but Yarnedan Averis could hit 50 points better than Kyle Schwerber. 60 points, 70 points, and that wouldn't shock me.

So I understand why people are wary of Yordon Averis. It is hard to justify drafting a Uto-only player this high. I think Yorna Averis is absolutely worth it. Except we do it for two other players, right? Right. Look, nobody's Otani, I get that. Like, sure, Otani's going to be a top two pick in every draft. That's totally fine.

But Schwarber, you know, he's a second, third round pick and a lot of drafts, maybe a first round pick in some head-to-ed points leagues. Alvarez, for whatever this is worth, if you play on Yahoo, who still has outfield eligibility. So there you go. Even better. I think it's 90% health and 10% DH-only status, the reason he lasts to round four,

which, look, is definitely a discount from where we're used to drafting him. But it's not an obscene discount, is it? When you're talking about these kinds of players, when you're talking about this high in the draft, I think 20 picks, which is about where he, you know, the difference between where he was last year

and where he is now, that's pretty significant. I guess the problem for me with Alvarez, not that I mind the cost so much, but just in round four, that's like first base. That is the round where I take, I fell first base because I know how ugly

that could get in Roto leagues, especially with that corner infield spot. and, you know, I think he's a better hitter than any of them, though. In theory, in theory, but, you know, the injury is pretty extensive. Sure, but I think you just stack up hitting talent. Your Honor is better than every single first basement of baseball right now. It's another thing like the shallower of the league, the easier it is to justify. Yeah.

Because, you know, like a Matt Olson, okay, Jordan Alvarez is better than Matt Olson. Matt Olson plays 162 games. And so you're just trying to keep pace in those counting stats without much to pivot to in a deeper league if it goes wrong. I just want to draw attention to something here. What an awful wingman Scott White is. I'm out here pouring my heart out. I know I don't do soliloquies like Scott. I know this is your show.

This is your episode. So this is your big moment. You're in the spotlight. We'll see. We'll see. But for you to come here and before you say a word, I'm pouring my heart out about my, my bow, my boo. And you're like, hmm, she's a seven. Whatever. What I'm saying is he's not my Don, is your Don. Get out of here.

Get out of here with this negative energy from you in an episode about love. It's just starting, Chris. All right. You know what? I'm actually going to give the hitter I love, and then we'll take a break. I don't want to rush through Scott's monologues that we have coming up here. You guys are building this up way too much. You know what?

It's not us. We're not the only one, Scott. I have never seen people in the chat like four hours before an episode, but they were today, and they were looking forward to this. So the hitter that I love this season, I think it's very appropriate that on Valentine's Day, players we love, I am seeing red. That is Sal Stewart. As a minor leaguer,

Sal Stewart did everything you want to see in a hitter. He made a lot of contact. He kept his K rate below 18% at every level. He had a great eye at the plate. Career, 13% walk rate. Career 390 OBP. And he hit the ball extremely hard. 93.1 average exit velocity.

last year at AAA, which ranked in the 93rd percentile. Then once he got called up, 95.4 miles per hour, average exit velocity. That is the same amount as Aaron Judge. It is also a very small sample size, but he hit the ball very hard in the minors as well. He only played 18 games with the Reds. He hit 255, five home runs, 839 OPS. The expected stats loved him. 289XBA, 626XLug.

On top of all that, he plays in Cincinnati, great. Great ballpark to hit in. 30% pulled air rate. I mean, this dude just gets it. He knows what he needs to do. And on top, like, he hits the ball extremely hard. It's not like he even has to do the whole pull the ball in the air trick to make it work.

But it's just an added bonus there for Sal Stewart. And yes, the red signed a Eugenio Suarez. They also traded away Gavin Lux. So that, you know, opened up a spot there on their roster. I think Sal Stewart plays regularly at first base. I'm not worried about the playing time. I think Spencer Steer is somewhere in the outfield this season. Pie in the sky, I'm thinking long term about the hitter I love.

I think he could turn into a very similar hitter to his mentor, Mani Machado. That's what I'm seeing long term here with Sal Stewart. His ADP is 22nd first basement off the board. I have him ranked as my 18th first baseman. Scott, I think you actually have him one spot higher. So how much do I actually love South Stewart? You know, I can't say I love him Because I didn't pick him as the hitter I love

But I am infatuated To be fair, I didn't None of us knew anybody's picks before this episode So once I started talking about Sal Stewart I was like, oh crap, I hope I didn't just take Scott's players Yeah, that would have been pretty bad I had the thought I considered him, you know what?

It's the overbearing father The Terry Francona, not sure exactly How late he's going to let Sal Stewart stay out That, you know, I kind of back away when it comes to singling out the player I love. But in theory, a lot of in theory happening here. In theory, Sal Stewart is going to be a stud. I definitely see it in the data.

And he just needs the opportunity. I hope the Ehio Hennio Suarez signing doesn't mess it up. I got a little bit annoyed today. and this is my own issues with trust, I guess. But I saw a quote from Tara Francona where he's like, this is, Sal Stewart is one of the most advanced young hitters I've ever seen. And it's like, well, why'd you bench him all September then? Tito?

What's up, bro? Like, you think he's amazing. He has five home runs in a month and he's playing half the games down the stretch. What's going on? So that's my only concern. But, you know, you were making the. comp to Mani Machado. The one I was thinking that was like a right-handed Max Muncie at Max Muncie's peak, you know, where he was hitting for a ton of power, hopefully a better batting average

than you were getting out of Max Muncie. But the quality of contact numbers in the miners were so good. It wasn't just the small sample in the majors. He was 93 miles per hour, average X velocity at AAA, 114 max. Like, you're talking 95th percent dollar better across every quality of contact metric without really a ton of concerning underlying stuff. So, yeah, there's a lot to like about South Stewart. Also, just good-looking guy, great eye. Some of the best eyebrows in baseball. You know what?

He looks exactly like Super Mario in that Reds hat, and you cannot convince me otherwise. Yeah, that's right. I got a new sound drop just for that. Fair enough. If we're going to throw out comps, my comp for Sal Stewart is some midpoint. between Vinnie Pasquantino and Josh Naylor.

Yeah. If you could turn... At the position, it makes sense, yeah. Yeah, if you can... In whatever way, you make that into a stat line in your head. It's kind of a non-committal comp, but, like, somewhere in that range. Yeah, I don't think we're getting the 30 steals,

but I know, you know, 10 to 15 or something like that. Yeah, I mean, if Francona lets him run... Yeah, that's fair. He did steal a useful number of bases in the miners last year. 17 and 118 games last year. All right, before we hit our first break, again, it's Valentine's Day. If you love us, then like this video and subscribe to the YouTube channel if you haven't already. 40K by opening day.

Let's make it happen. We'll take that break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in fantasy baseball today. The players we love for 2026. As I mentioned earlier, Chris and I, we were just the appetizer. Chris, if you were an appetizer, what kind of appetizer would you be? Oh, that's a great question.

I think I would be a mozzarella stick. Yeah, I think mozzarella sticks are my favorite type of appetizer, although it depends, because you've got like, you know, some appetizers are actually just meals. Like wings will often be on the appetizer. Wings are a meal, and they are my favorite meal. Oh, gosh. Love a chicken wing. A buffalo wing? You kidding me?

Great job. Great job, Northern New York. Way to go. We can make you a buffalo wing. Let's do it. You're the Buffalo Wing. But Moss sticks are great. Love like an elevated dinner where you get a little barata.

Oh, barata's so good. I mean, I was just thinking bar food. You know, you give me the pretzel with the beer cheese or something. Like, yes, let's go. Let's elevate it, though. We've got to take it to another level. Well, speaking of taking it to another level, why don't we get to the main course? And that is Scott White.

Scott, who is the hitter you love this season? Love, the players we love. What does it mean to love? It comes in various forms. My thoughts of this first gentleman are only the most wholesome. Church bells, white dresses, horse-drawn carriages,

the holiest of matrimonies. And after the ceremony, our jaunt through the courtyard, what would a wedding be without rice? Ben Rice, to be clear. From the moment I caught a glimpse of his baseball savant page, all decked in red. I knew he had to be mine. The deeper I dug, the more Twitter-pated I became. The pull-air rate, pull-gad. The expected

stats promise even better tomorrow's. When you think of Rice, you think of Uncle Ben. And when you think of Uncle Ben, you think of great power coming with great responsibility. Rice brings the power, The responsibility is mine. The responsibility to have and to hold, to protect and draw near, to safeguard and control as admirers descend from far and wide. It's not going to work. I'm too selfish, too insecure. My love for rice corrupted by pure jealousy. But still, I pine every night.

been the two of us we look no more we both found what we were looking for with a friend to come I sing myself to sleep and there from deep in my subconscious springs a question so sublime that it relieves my love sickness instantly. The question, what's the difference between Waka, Waka, Waka, and just playing Waka? The answer. One is handled by Jim Henson. The other, by Carter Jensen.

But who handles him this unbridled stallion of potential? Who could? Those who laid witness to his 20 games in the majors last year, were astounded by a swing so forceful that the exit velocities rival those of Judge Schwarber and Otani. It was true at AAA as well. Between that, the chin strap beard and those bold piercing eyes

that tell balls from strikes. Rice may be simmering, but Jensen is boiling over. And competition, Salvador, Salvasnore. Old man is looking at DH like it's an AARP card. We already saw it for those 20 games late last year. The two can share. But I can't.

I have to make sure no one else steps in here. So I'm going to stay on Jensen Lake White on Rice. Very good. I'm doing it again, aren't I? I did not. Of all the things that I could have predicted that would happen on this episode, you singing Ben was not one of them. That reminds me actually

Aaron Cheney, great appetizer. Mm. Yes. No, no, no, no one Aaron Chini? It's a fried, stuffed rice ball. Oh, all right, yes. Okay. Great, I just know it as a great appetizer.

I just know it as a rice ball. I just know it as a rice ball. You brought it to my attention, Scott, and that's great. You ever had those Southwest egg rolls at Chili's? Oh, my God. So good. What the best thing on the menu? Honestly, maybe the worst thing about living in New York is that there's no Chili's here.

And I'm not exaggerating. I love Chili's so much. If Chili's wants to sponsor the podcast, hit me up. I could send you one, Chris. There's one in Queens. I know where it is. I've looked. I think it's like way out like near Long Island.

It's like way out there. It's a real bummer. I'm pining for a triple dipper. But that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about Carter Jensen. Yeah. We're talking about the hitters that Scott loves. So, Ben Rice, the ADP is 64.4.

But if that's too rich, you could drop down to Carter Jensen where his ADP is 234. That's too low. That is really low. It's too low. Yeah, I like to, I don't want to make it too hard, right? Like, I don't want too much competition, clearly. It's, it is, his prices rise.

It's 194 in NFBC drafts since the start of January, but it still puts him behind Kyle Teal and Samuel Bessio and Francisco Alvarez. He probably should be. Those guys have a lot of potential as well. I moved him up a couple spots ago when I was up a couple spots ago. I moved him up a couple spots a couple days ago. And I really wanted to move him ahead of Bessio.

He's shown more. Yeah, he's shown more. I mean, like, at the major league level. I know Basayo is, you know, consensus top 10, if not top five prospect. And was better at AAA. In some ways, there's really no topping the eggs of Velocities Carter Jensen. I mean, yes, Basayas were amazing as well, not trying to sell him short in that regard. But, man, I just, I put Carter Jensen 25th in my preseason top.

100 and I think it was too low. I think it was too low. I think he's... That's top prospects, by the way, for people wondering. Yeah, for prospects. As just a pure catcher in redraft leagues, he's 13th for me now. So he is in the discussion, even in one catcher leagues, I would say. I have Bessaya one spot ahead of him.

You know, if I'm more confident in the playing time for Jensen. So actually, he's 12th. No, he's 13th. Sorry. Yeah, he's 13th. I'm more confident in the playing time for Jensen. So. Yeah.

I'm 16th, but it wouldn't take much to jump him ahead of Kyle Teal. I think there's more upside there. And I just don't get Alejandro Kirk's price at all. It just doesn't make any sense to me. So I had Carter Jensen ahead of Alejandro Kirk for sure. That one's actually a pretty easy call. Mm-hmm. And we've talked about this a lot already this offseason,

but Kaufman Stadium, the dimension changes that they have there. pulling the walls in a little bit there and shortening the fences as well. And it was a really small sample size, but Carter Jensen did a good job of pulling the ball in the air while he was up in the majors last season. So I think he is one of many Royals that could benefit from more home runs this season as a result of that. I know Chris, you talked a lot about the batting average could drop for some of these guys, but I do think we are going to see power up across the board. Not a crazy amount, but maybe, you know, bump the projections up, you know, two, three, four home runs this season. for some of these guys.

I want to go back to Ben Rice for a second, Scott, because the price is very high in NFBC drafts. It actually has come down a little bit with the signing of Paul Goldschmidt, but we just learned that Ben Rice still going to play every day. That's what Aaron Boone just said. He's probably going to play against lefties at Catcher, so he'll take over for Austin Wells there.

He'll play against righties at first base. When would you actually feel comfortable drafting Ben Rice? Just because just because this ADP is 50 over at the NFBC, that's not going to be the case in every draft. No, it's not. And we're seeing that as some data comes out from some of the other sites, which is why I continue to make the breakout case for Rice, even though I know, at least in those NFBC leagues,

I'm going to be priced out of them. Maybe some others, too. The most on-trend leagues, I'm going to be priced out of Rice. I think that's fair to say. But I have them about 60th. It's another situation where I'm always looking to do something different. at that point in the draft kind of like I was talking about with Jordan Alvarez. And so, you know, that it's still higher than it needs to be for me to really claim Ben Rice as a player I love.

But I would be willing to do it potentially. And I was, you know, it's been kind of whiplash for me with Rice in my rankings the past couple weeks. Because the Goldschmidt signing, it was like, all right, we got to, we got to move him behind Shea Langaleers. like this is clearly going to be a platoon concern again, despite what they were saying all off season. Why bring in Goldschmidt if you're not going to play him against lefties? But Aaron Boone seems to genuinely value Rice to the extent that he should. And I think what's going to end up happening,

it seemed far-fetched at the time, but just kind of reading between the lines of what he's saying, trying to figure out how it's all going to work, is when Goldschmidt starts against First Bay, to take advantage of the splits against lefties, Rice is probably catching at least a lot of those games. Yeah. And it's good news long-term, too,

because if we can get catcher eligibility for 2027, that would be pretty awesome for Ben Rice as well. So we did a 15-team rhodo mock draft earlier this week, and Scott, you and I were actually picking back-to-back. I took Ben Rice in the fifth round of that draft at pick 63. If he was there, one pick later for you, would you have taken him? Who did I take? Do you have it pulled up?

I think it might have been Perdomo. Yeah, I mean, I rank Perdomo higher. That's the thing is, you know, we talked on the shortstop preview about how Perdomo is probably going to be the shortstop I most invested in just because I'm so much higher than the consensus. So I am probably about with the consensus on Rice, but ahead on Perdomo. Yeah, you took Perdomo. Nine times out of 10, if they're both there, I'm taking Perdomo. Fair enough. All right, let's transition over to the.

pitchers that we love this season. And Chris, why don't you kick us off? The pitcher you love, 2026. I was a little worried Scott was going to go with the same guy, but I don't think he is. So hopefully I've got some pivots if I need to. But I'm going with Chase Burns. Go Reds! Who was the top pitching prospect in baseball when he made his debut last June.

And despite a somewhat ugly. 457 ERA. I don't really think we saw any reason to be worried about Chase Burns, at least from a talent perspective. He looked every bit the part of a dominant starting pitcher in the mold of his teammate Hunter Green, who similar to Chase Burns has a very big fastball. Chase Burns averaged 98.7 miles per hour with his fastball. He also has a wipeout slider that he threw 34% of the time with a full.

44% whiff rate. Chase Burns had very good results on both the four seamer and slider. He occasionally threw a changeup that got decent results actually. Limited hard contact when it was hit, 33% whiff rate. Maybe that turns into a little bit more of a weapon as he develops. But Chase Burns might actually just have the ability to dominate with that four seamer and slider the same way Hunter Green has. And I will point to a stat that has been referenced many times on this podcast and I don't care about repeating it because I think it's really impressive. Last season, Chase Burns was one of just 13 pitchers in the entire league to have at least 10 strikeouts in four or more starts.

He did that in the span of five starts, which is impressive enough as it is, but I was reminded the other day by our friend Nick Pollock that the one start out of those five when he didn't get 10 strikeouts, he got two strikeouts in one inning and then the game. got rained out. It was that game at the NASCAR track in Bristol. He had four straight starts with double-digit strikeouts. Then he got hurt. I've looked into this injury and I, look, every pitcher has injury risk. He throws 99, 100 miles an hour. There's risk here. But Chase Burns, let me find the exact timetable because I think it's very illustrative. Chase Burns

goes on the IL, I think, on August 13th or something. Yeah, all right. August 8th, Chase Burns strikes out 10 against the Pirates. August 11th, there's an MLB.com story. Reds met with Chase Burns to discuss limiting his innings. August 15th, Chase Burns is placed on the aisle with a grade one flexor string. August 18th, Chase Burns is already throwing.

So three days after he's, placed on the IL he's throwing. I think that was a phantom IL stent. I'm not going to say there's no risk with Chase Burns. I'm not going to say his elbow wasn't hurting at all, but we go from- Your elbow a little sore. Everybody's elbow, my elbow is sore. Isn't it hurting a little bit, Chase?

Yeah. Like, so, yeah, I don't think there's much more risk with Chase Burns than there is for any young pitcher, which means there's a lot of risk. But in his case, I think there's just so much. much reward. This could be a guy who has the highest strike guy in baseball. I really think he has that kind of upside. He's going not cheap in drafts, but not so expensive that it's all downside. You know, you are talking about a price. Let me make sure I got it. 110 in the month of February at NFBC. He's going behind Spencer Shrider. That's usually the range that we see these

kind of like breakout hopefuls go. So. So it's not anything crazy. He's going a full round behind Nolan McLean. I think Chase Burns is just significantly more talented. He's going 15 picks behind Nick Povetta. Yeah, give me Chase Burns over Nick Povetta. He's going behind Spencer Strider and Blake Snell still. Chase Burns every time over both of those guys.

So, yeah, I even like he's ahead of one spot ahead of Brandon Woodruff. Again, Chase Burns every time. I'm not sure any of those guys. the upside that Chase Burns has, and there's similar risks. So, yeah, I will take Chase Burns. I think he has the potential to be talked about as a top 10 starting pitcher. I know we don't talk about Stuff Plus very much on this podcast,

partially because there are just many iterations of Stuff Plus, but the one that's on Fangraphs, Chase Burns had a 115 Stuff Plus last year. If you look at qualified starting pitchers last season, only two were higher. Terek Scoobel and Gare Crochet. Those guys are pretty good. Just saying, just saying.

Like, we know this stuff is absolutely filthy for Chase Burns. Yeah, and I do really like Chase Burns. I can speak to every draft we do, every draft. When Chase Burns is drafted, I let out a groan because I know it's another draft where I don't have Chase Burns. And, you know, Chris gave one stat to demonstrate the strikeout upside. My favorite way of putting it for Chase Burns is he had more double-digit strikeout efforts in eight starts than Paul Skeens has had in his entire career. That's a pretty good one, too. That is pretty wild.

He also, you know, if you incorporate the pitching plus metric on fan graphs, which incorporates location of the pitches as well, only Jacob Mizorowski and Hunter Green were better than Chase Burns, too. So, yeah, he's in rarefied air by any advanced metric. The only metric that didn't like him was his 457 ERA. And we got 110 innings out of him last season. Yeah, between miters and major teams. Yeah, between the minors. So, like, I think we get 150, 160 innings out of him without any limitations.

I think the potential for Chase Burns to come out and just absolutely dominate is so high. I'm really excited about him. He's also just so fun to watch pitch. And that ERA was one bad start against Boston. Yeah, he got destroyed. I think it was like eight runs in two-thirds of an inning or something. Yeah. You mentioned his NFBC ADP on Fantasy Pros, so on other sites as well,

it's 118 as the SP-34 off the board. So might go even later in some of these home league drafts. If you play on Yahoo, CBS, ESPN, places like that. Again, SP-34 on Fantasy Pros. For reference, Chris has him SP-23. one spot ahead of Yuri Perez. I found that interesting, Chris. I know you like Yuri a lot too.

Yuri was on my players I love shortlist. I think the pure stuff for Chase Burns is better, although Yuri has a more diverse skill set and obviously a better home park. And he's saying it as a Marlins fan, folks. I love both of them. I think there's over under 0.5 career sayungs for the two of them. I'll take the over.

Put it at 1.5? I might take the over on that one too. I think they're both that talented. I'm going to move Burns up. I'm tired of missing out on him. I'm going to move them up to 22. One spot ahead of you, Chris. Wow.

Take that. Take that. I'm going to corner the market on all the players we love. One spot ahead of my South Stewart. One spot ahead of your chase praise. Unbelievable. All right.

Let's take our final break when we return back into the pitchers we love for this season right after this. Welcome back in Fantasy Baseball today. A happy Valentine's. Day Eve players we love for 2026 and I will give out my pitcher before we get to scout once again and I did not expect this to just be a full-on Cincinnati Reds preview slash love fest but here we go the pitcher I love is Nicolidolo the breakout just happened but based on his ADP nobody seems to

care his ADP is 138 he's the SP 41 off the board right now 3333.33 E4.3.E. 333.E. A 108 whip about a strikeout per inning. He showed the best control of his career, 1.8 walks per nine, a sub 5% walk rate. He made a tweak to his pitch mix in the second half where he threw more curveballs, which is far and away his best pitch, less fast balls during that time. And we saw his strikeout rate spike during that time. 10.6K per 9, 30% strikeout rate in the second half of last season. That curve ball is devastating.

213x Woba, 40% whiff rate. I think his changeup is a solid. pitch. Four-scene fastball actually gets good whiffs to 25% for a fastball. It's actually really, really good. And among starting pitchers with at least 150 innings pitch last season, Lodolo ranked 14th in K-minus walk rate, 17th in X-FIPP, 13th in Sierra, 17th in XERA, 14th in Swainting Strike Rate.

He just performed like a top 20 starting pitcher by a lot of the metrics that we look at and analyze pitchers all the time, but again is being drafted outside of the top. 40 starting pitchers this season. So he is my pick to be this year's Christopher Sanchez, this year's Brian Wu, it's that mid-round starting pitcher, that guy in the 100 to 150 range, that he just performs really well once again, does it over a full season, and then everyone realizes, wow, this guy is really good. And we're talking about him as like a top 15 starting pitcher drafted next year. So I have him as my SP 26. Again, the ADP is SP 41. I don't think he need to draft him at SP 26th, but if you want to, you know, ensure that you get him, I guess

you could do that. I will say draft with confidence as your SP3 or SP4. He has dealt with some injuries in his career, but it's been calf, groin, blister on his finger. It hasn't been elbow related, thankfully. I don't think he's had an arm injury in his major league career. I didn't look at to the minor leagues. Like, maybe, I don't.

I just assume every pitcher has had at least one Tommy John surgery at some point in their life already. But yeah, it's kind of just been nagging, weird. lower like things and you know look blisters can always pop up i totally get that but uh it hasn't been arm related this was a top prospect so here we go cincinnati reds man we are all in i really really like nicodolo and scott's player he loves is brady singer so we're all in uh yeah so i nicodolo is one that when i took a second look at my initial look at him this offseason i had him ranked pretty modestly.

And then I saw how much higher he was showing up in other people's rankings. And I was like, I need to take a second look at this. There may be something I missed. And the reason I ranked him modestly, it was only a strikeout per inning, which is pretty ordinary by today's standards. His ground ball rate went down. It used to be really good. It was pretty average last year.

And I was kind of concerned. But what opened my eyes to Nicola Dolo, and you kind of referred to this, already, Frank. July 1st on, final 11 starts. You mentioned he increased his curveball usage. His swinging strike rate

in those 11 starts was 15.7% which would rank second among all pitchers with 100 innings or more. Obviously, that's not his full season swinging strike rate, but that's the kind of leap it made. Only Terrick Scoobal among pitchers with 100 innings had a better

swinging strike rate than that for the season. in. So even though it was just a K-per-9, like obviously, um, Lodolo showed that there's still a ton of strikeout potential there. And I think it's pretty affordable. So, I mean, it's a range of the pitcher rankings where there's a lot of, a lot to be interested there. So it's hard for me to kind of single out Lodolo the way you've done. But I get it. Yeah. So I mentioned I have them SP 26 in my rankings. that's just ahead of Woodruff, Glassnow, Nolan McLean, Traga Savage,

Kams Schlittler, that whole group. And again, you don't really need to draft him that as high as I rank him. You can get him in 12-team leagues as your SP-4 pretty comfortably, or if you're playing a 15-teamor as your SP-3. I've seen that pretty regularly in the drafts that I've done. So, draft with confidence, Nick Ladolo.

All right, Scott, let's go over to you. The pitcher you love this season. You've seen the meme about, brads haven't you how there's never been a brad who wasn't hot well fortunately for my jealous heart this one is only bradish kyle bradish to be exactly i figured that's where you're going yeah surely he's not a hot commodity surely his time lost to to tommy john the past two years was effectively a dear john letter to the fantasy baseball playing world only six starts last year i can fix them.

13.2K per nine in those six starts. Yeah, I can fix them. The quietest top five Sy Young finish in history the last time we saw on pitch a full season. Trust me on this. I can fix them. Oh, you think you can too?

He's the 22nd pitcher drafted on average. He's, yeah, yeah, you know, he's too good, too pure. I need a bad boy. I need somebody just so unbelievably broken that there could be no denying that I mended the pieces of his broken heart

when what to my wandering eyes should appear but Chris Boobich no I'm actually not going to touch that one what to my wandering eyes should appear but that old heartthrobs Spencer Strider now a pariah but with pure masculinity still oozing from his upper lip his back emblazoned with the digits of Ricky Vaughn himself

the ultimate bad boy Oh, the gifts of Spencer, how they sit astride, the mound. Rocking back and forth, quads bulging, he lets out a grunt and sends his fastball screaming. It dots the top and perfect crescendo. I can see it in my mind's eyes so clearly that I can't help but make excuses for him. Gee, he doesn't look right after surgery. His issues are mechanical, mechanical, I tell you. he threw that fastball only 95.

He would never do such a thing. Boy, he seems to be giving up lots of hard contact. The only hard contact is going to be this fist to your mouth. Well, at least he still has a slider. You would, oh yeah, yeah, that's exactly what I'm talking about. He does have that slider with a 48% whiff rate. He did have a swinging strike rate that would have ranked seventh among qualifiers. There was a nine-start stretch mid-season with a 291-ERA, 11-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1-1.

I'm going to say it. I can fix them. Put them in the lab. And while you're at it, grow another. I'll have a whole closet full of striders before we're through. I'm doing it again, aren't I? My corrupted heart has forgotten how to love this Valentine's Day. So in lieu of love, I say, let your eye wander.

Go with what's convenient. Settle like you're in Catan with a herd full of sheep. It's the only way to make it in this modern world, where everyone knows too much. And mark this time, 2026, as the year Dark Scott was born. The Scott who no longer believes in love, it's just not worth it anymore. So nobody? Nobody.

Wow. I don't love any pictures. Wow. Interesting. You know what? I respect it. Just take the value, man. Just take the value.

Be honest. Okay. I was really worried you were actually going to go with Spencer Strider. I was going to have to walk off. Yeah, it's going to be like, oh, man, I don't want to crush this. I mean, the thing, here's the thing. I genuinely do love Spencer Strider. So, and for a lot of...

As a dude? Big fan. Spencer Strider is one of like three baseball players with the same music taste as me. Him and I would get along great. No, I'm saying the Spencer Strider, I remember, the one in my mind. that I referred to there. I love him. And so I am worried, you know, a lot of people, especially like it, it wasn't true so much like the first 15 years of my career, but like the last three or four, I get accused of homerism a lot. And I don't, I don't think it's true. But I may have

trouble being objective with Spencer Strider. Kind of the reason I put him there is the lack of great alternatives. Part of it was it was easy to write about. him and part of it was I it was my way of saying I don't know that you can trust me on Spencer strider right now I haven't ranked in line with the consensus I have not drafted him yet so I think that probably counts for more what I do probably counts for more than what I say about him I'm concerned I do think there is a world where he fixes it Absolutely. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I'm kind of, I, I, I, I'm kind of, give, granting strider the benefit of the doubt that people would always grant Joey Votto whenever he had a downstretch, basically.

Yeah. Yeah. And maybe he doesn't deserve that. Time will tell. But I, I, there is. a genuine love there that is hard for me to be objective about I will admit for Spencer Strider in particular now if you want some pictures I'm excited about

but didn't really care to write a soliloquy about Bubba Chandler is one Brandon Woodruff I'm always a little disappointing when someone else drafts him obviously ended the year on the aisle with the lat stream but was so effective.

I mean, he'd been an ace in fantasy for a long time, and it was arguably the best we've ever seen him, even with the loss of three miles per hour in his fastball, introducing that cutter, just somehow magically made up for all that lost velocity.

So I think, I think basically Braddish, I can't tell you how many times I've drafted Braddish as my ace this year, and I think he'll be a true ace. I think he'll be contending for the Cy Young like he did the last time he was healthy for a full season. Except he's significantly better now.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's the little bit we've seen him pitch since then, the strikeouts have been up a lot. So I'm fine taking him as like a really cheap ace. And if I got Woodruff as my number two, I'd be happy with that.

Yeah. The thing with I like your callouts to both Ben Rice and Kyle Bradish, everybody loves them. That's the thing, right? We spoke about the ADP for Ben Rice and how high it is. It isn't as egregious for Kyle Bradish.

The ADP is 82.4 SP22 off the board. You know, that might surprise some people to see him rank that high, but he's been really good. The last two years combined when we've seen him pitch, Kyle Bradish has made 14 starts with a 265 ERA, a 105 whip,

12.6K per 9. during that time. And obviously last year it was up over 13. I've made this comp before. When Terx Scoobel first came back in 2023, he made 15 starts, and he was amazing. But people pointed to, well, it was a really tough schedule. The next year we didn't know exactly how to value him.

And I'm not saying that Bradish is going to go on to win back-to-back-to-back to Cy Young Awards, but it was just kind of that indecision of like, do we trust this small sample size for a guy who looks like he's an ace? And Scoobel's ADP was actually higher. It's like inside the top 50 the following season. And now we get Kyle Bradish, who has similar numbers in his last 14 starts, as Scoobled did back in 2020. But we're getting him around ADP 80. So I actually, I haven't wound up with him yet either.

I keep taking him. That's true. I would be willing to take him as my SP too, but everyone's excited and trying to get him in every draft. So it's tough. Yeah. I want to throw a couple things about Strider out there. One, just want to highlight the point again. This is a dude who uses his spreadsheets to keep track of his favorite albums.

Like, come on, me and Stratter would be best friends. I do that as well. Two, I don't know what to make of this, but it doesn't make me feel great. He spoke with reporters today explaining what he worked on this offseason. One of it was didn't track velocity because he wasn't doing much high intensity throwing. I mean, that's kind of the whole thing for me with Spencer Strider, is I want to know if he can get that fastball back. So I would prefer if we were worrying about that a little more. But I understand that's, you know, it's the process that you're trying to get to.

I understand that. So I'm not going to necessarily hold that against him. But he is one of the players this season in spring training that I really think we need to watch as. close as possible. I want to say the Braves were the only team in the Grapefruit League in years past that did not have Stackcast data. Is that right Scott? I feel like that's something you might know. I don't know. I remember because he made that start against Boston last year The only start he made in the spring and there was no stack cast data for it Well this year every grapefruit and cactus league game will have stack cast data. That's something that Mike Petriello from MLB.com announced the other day great I'm so excited about that.

Yeah, that's true. I shouldn't have taken this long, but it's good. I hate having the only thing in incomplete data. Yeah. Their spring venue last year, the Braves didn't. Yes. I don't think they didn't. You're right.

I do know that, but they weren't the only one. I think all the Cactus League ones did, but. I thought it was great. I thought all the Florida League did. Yeah, I think it was all the Florida League and then Cactus League didn't have it. Yeah. Except for the Braves? Yeah.

I don't remember. It was pretty... All of the Eastern League, or now the Florida League... I thought the Cactus League did because of the Arizona Fall League. I could be wrong. No, but there were some Arizona Fall League venues that didn't have Stackass data either, yeah. Okay. Yeah, I think it's just the ones that are used for low A or high A, whichever is in Florida,

did have Stackass because that's the only other level besides AAA that has it consistently. But either way, we will have full StackS data this year. And that's important because we're tracking. We need to see what Spencer Strider looks like. We heard today that Garikohl might pitch in Grapefruit League games. That'll be huge. I need to see what he looks like. Zach Wheeler sounds like he's going to pitch in some grapefruit league games.

We need to see what he looks like. George Kirby is a guy out in Arizona that I need to see what his arm slot looks like and whether he's throwing that splitter and change up again. So there's a lot that I want to see this spring. I'm very excited that we're going to get that data. The only thing worse than incomplete data is no data, but incomplete data is much worse than complete data. So I'm a fan of that.

And Strider, I just, I need to see that fastball shape back. I need to see that velocity back. Or look, maybe the rest of the arsenal is better, or he starts throwing a sinker or I don't know. More curveballs. Curve on a nice whiff rate in my... Yeah. But if he's just four-seamer slider like he's been,

then the four seamer has to be significantly better than it was last year. It was a bad pitch last year. Yeah. So I just wanted to follow up, and it was like five minutes ago that you talked about at this point. But I did watch the whole press gaggle where he talked about not tracking velocity this offseason because he wasn't throwing at that intensity. And I believe he said the reason he didn't do it is because he's learned that that, I forget exactly how I phrased it. but like it does more harm than good. Sure.

And with he, the main emphasis from him was fastball shape, that he worked on mechanics to improve his fastball shape. And I think that's, I think that's what I want to hear from him. Now, the shape is more important than the velocity, but they are kind of linked, right?

Like, you get more leeway with one. The better shape you have, the lower your velocity can be and still remain effective and vice versa. Right. And, you know, just the, also the faster you throw it, the less likely it is, it's not going to have as much time to drop. Yeah.

So there is a link there that you can't completely separate the two. But it's the shape that made the fastball more so effective even more than the velocity did. If he just had the velocity without the shape, it wouldn't have been that effective. If he had the shape without the velocity, it might have still been effective. I don't know if there's a world where he can get the same shape without the velocity, but I am encouraged to hear that his focus was more on shape. He seems to recognize that that was off. And I do think that's something that can be helped with tweaking the mechanics.

I'm pulling for him, man. I'll always root for Spencer Strider. We could also call him the quad god. I know Ilya Malin is the big quad god right now, but Spencer Shriver's got a case for it too. Yeah. I think part of the problem with trying to buy back in on Spencer Shrider, if you so please, is that his ADP, well, not anywhere near what it's been in the past when he was an ace, it's inside the top 100, it's SP 27. And, you know, Scott, he's going right around Chase Burns. So it's like, you know, you got to make that decision is, you know, do I take the young upstart and Chase Burns or the bounce back potential of someone like Spencer Shrider? And it's not an easy decision. I'd take Burns. I think he's just better right now. And the problem is,

if Burns goes out this spring and pitches like he did last year, I could see his price rising. Oh, crazy. Crazy helium. If Strider starts looking like he used to, he's going to get pushed in the top 60, right? Like if Spencer Strider's out here pumping 97, 98 consistently... It was happening last year, Chris.

Yeah, with one start. With one start with no stackass data. So I just think there's a better chance that if you if Strider gives you a reason to be excited this spring, that price isn't going to stay static. It's going to shoot up. Yeah. And that's the big issue is that you just, I don't think Strider, like, if Strider goes out and looks good this spring, I might feel good about taking him around 100. That's not where he's going to go, though, you know? So that that's the thing that I really struggle with with him.

And I will probably make a point to draft Spencer Strider on one of my teams. But he's just, he can't be a target for me, unfortunately. There's too many pitchers going after him with plenty of upside themselves, with fewer question marks, unfortunately. So that's the struggle with Spencer Strider. Chris, any other names that you wanted to rattle off here? I know Scott mentioned a few that, you know, just missed the cut. You mentioned Yuri Perez earlier.

Were there any other on the short list of players you love this season? Yeah, Yuri Perez for sure. He was the only other pitcher. I thought about Sandy Alcantra. he's adding a sweeper this offseason, but I just think he was himself in the second half. He's going to throw a ton of innings. I think he's going to be great.

The rest are all hitters, but I've got Luke Keishel, obviously. I've talked a lot about how much I like him this offseason. I think he's a legit 40 stolen base guy with a little bit of pop. Francisco Alvarez, again, a guy I've talked a lot about, but I really think he figured it out after he got sent to AAA. It was like 20 homers in 50-something games after he got sent to AAA. if you include AAA, even if you don't, it was a 900 plus OPS after he came back from the minors.

I really like Kyle Manzardo. I've talked a lot about him. I think he's a 30 homer guy. I think he's the cheapest 30 homer guy in baseball. And one that I haven't talked much about, but I think is being underrated for fantasy, and that's Justin Crawford. We don't really bring him up in our discussions about like top prospects.

And I think the reason for that is that for real life, Justin Crawford is an okay prospect. he's a top 100 guy, but like I think the baseball prospectus guys have talked about, they had real debates about whether Justin Crawford should still be a top 100 guy. And it makes sense. He is a corner outfielder probably in the long run who probably doesn't play great defense and doesn't hit for power. I understand why that guy would be ranked pretty low in real-life prospect rings.

For fantasy, I think Justin Crawford could be awesome. I think he could be a better version of Chandler Simpson, not as high of a stolen base potential, But I think he's locked in as the starting center fielder for the Phillies, unless he's just an absolute disaster this spring. He makes a lot of contact. He hits the ball hard. He started elevating a little more last season. It was still like a 55 to 60 percent ground ball rate, but...

A lot of ground balls. That's better than it was in the past when it was like 65 to 70 percent. He's got latent pop. He makes a lot of contact. He's an aggressive hitter, but he makes a lot of contact. And you know what? For his profile, hitting a lot of ground balls is not necessarily a bad thing. It limits the power upside. But I think Justin Crawford could be a real standout in batting average. I think we could be looking at a 285, 290 hitter, and that's not the ceiling here.

I know he plays a different position, but it kind of feels like Xavier Edwards, right, where it's, you know, three to five home runs, but, you know, 30 to 40 steals and a good batting average. And Chris hasn't been one who's gravitated toward the Xavier Edwards, Chandler Simpson type, So I presume the distinction for him is that Justin Crawford actually hits the ball with authority. For him, it's more of a, you know, he just, he just, he hits the worm burners, you know, and so gets a lot of singles. And I mean, that's exactly who he's been in the minors. He's been a guy hitting 3.30 with a bunch of steals. And that's who his dad was at first.

I think the comp is it is it's eerily it's kind of eerie how similar they are father and son in a way it makes sense but it's just like almost like a clone you know also I mean obviously he looks just like his dad too yeah I have his minor league baseball page pulled up right now he looks exactly it's like wild how much he looks like his dad Carl Crawford by the way if Carl Crawford yes who who started out the same way, batting average in steals, but as he grew up in the majors, he started to deliver 15 to 20 homer power, and that made him a first rounder in fantasy.

Yeah, he was elite. Now, that was how many years ago? 20 years ago? In 2006, he hit 305 with 18 homers and 58 steals, Carl Crawford. It's a very different league. And so, first of all, just because Carl made that leap with the power doesn't mean Justin Will. Second of all, I don't know that that version of player can excel in the modern league the same way.

Defensive positioning, defensive priority in general is much higher now than it was then. So that's why I think skepticism, I think more skepticism is warranted for Justin Crawford than the average prospect. And that's why his ranking is so different depending where you, look. I know baseball prospectus, for instance, really doesn't like him. But I am heartened by the success Xavier Edwards and Chandler Simpson have had because it wasn't so long ago when it didn't seem like their profiles would work either. And it does seem like that kind of players making a comeback, Justin Crawford should be better than either one of them. Yeah, it was 18% strikeout rate, 12% walk rate last season. He's got a good approach to play. It makes a lot of

contact. 43% hard hit rate is 74th percentile. That's 88 mile per hour average exit velocity, 111 max. Yeah, Justin Crawford statistically looks like a slap hitter, but he might only be a few tweaks away. And I was reading an article the other day. I can't remember where it was. It was one of the Phillies blogs.

Sorry, I can't remember. But he was hitting more fly balls in August. I think he got hurt. September, so he didn't finish the season. But I think in August and July, he was starting to elevate the ball a little more, too. And so I don't think Justin Crawford is going to be a power hitter. But I think you get 10. And I think the batting average is going to be really helpful.

And there's a lot of speed. And I think the playing time is really safe. It's not guaranteed because he's unproven at the major league level. And he might just flop. That's entirely possible. But if he's just okay, the Phillies really don't. have any other options. They've kind of backed themselves into a corner here. They need Justin Crawford to be really good. And they just released Nick Cassiano's. Yeah, they finally released

Cassiano's. The details on that one are wild, bringing a beer into the clubhouse. What a, or into the dugout during game. What a, so funny. So yeah, those are the players that I like a lot, but maybe don't love. Justin Crawford's ADP in February, by the way, is 286 as the 68th outfielder off the board. He's going after some names like Evan Carter, Willie Castro, T.J. Friedel, Jason Dominguez, who doesn't have a starting job right now. So, yeah, he's going pretty late in drafts. Scott, were there any names you just wanted to rattle off that just missed the cut?

I know you mentioned some pitchers, but were there any hitters? Yeah, I think I gave you all the pitchers already. Other hitters that I considered, but not that strongly, really. Sal Stewart, who we already talked about. Jonathan Aranda, who's kind of permanently there for me. Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley. I don't think that's homerism. I don't know where the idea that you're a homer came from, Scott.

Honestly, it's just... It seems just... It's unfair. I am not alone in thinking a lot of Braves underachieved last year. It's just I happen to be... What's really funny is on the mailbag that we recorded earlier today, we had this whole like 15-minute conversation about this. Not about you, but about us and our rooting interests and biases.

So it's just, it's, it'll be a nice contrast. I hope I can jump on a mailbox soon. Those are always fun. Bryce Terang, I thought about Cosimo, Okamoto. I'm surprised nobody mentioned him, actually. He's one of my options here, players that just missed out. Can you tell that we podcast together? Because four other names, Kyle Bradish, Ben Rice, Okamoto, Chris Bubbage.

Those were four that just missed the cut for me. I really do like Chris Bouch, by the way. I just thought that would go down a dark path. Scott, it was right there for you, man. All the puns you could have done with Chris Boobich, come on. It's a little too easy. He doesn't want to work blue. He doesn't want to work blue.

Yeah, yeah. The only other name that I had on this list that I don't think you guys are as in on as I am is Michael Garcia, who I spoke about on the third base preview, who I buy the breakout from last year. I love a lot of the underlying numbers, and I do think there's a chance that he takes another step forward this season. So, yeah, those are some of the names that just missed for me as well. We are going to wrap there for Scott and Chris.

I am Frank. Thanks as always for tuning into Fantasy Baseball today. Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.