Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Christian Encarnacion-Strand Coming Soon? (4/29 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 29, 2023

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Audacy App and wherever else podcasts are found. We're holding on to Jordan Walker and Taj Bradley who were recently demoted. Christian Encarnacion-Strand could be coming soon. When might we see Matt Mervis with the Cubs? Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 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 in 5 on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 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

Let's talk prospects. Up next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and Five. Today is Saturday, April 29th. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White, and let's take a look at the five prospects on the verge of getting the call and a few recent demotions, unfortunately.

Jordan Walker with the Cardinals, Tage Bradley with the Reyes, Brandon Fott with the Diamondbacks, Matt Mervis with the Cubs, and Colton Couser with the Orioles. Scott, what's the latest on this group? Well, I mean, obviously Walker was the big news this week and being abruptly sent down after all the fanfare

about him making the opening day roster, immediately a 12-game hitting streak. And very quickly after that, the Cardinals cool on him. I still think he's the top prospect to stash, clearly. There are some things they wanted to work on, elevating better. But I think the main reason he got sent down It was just a roster crunch. They had too many other outfielders they were wanting to play.

And I do think there were legitimately some things they wanted him to work on, but they would have been willing to let him kind of work through that more if there wasn't also a roster crunch. He'll be back soon enough. And I still like his chances to make a good, a sizable impacted fantasy this year. We know Tash Bradley's going to be back soon too. The story there is the Rays want him to get used to a five-day schedule. I don't know why I can't get used to that in the majors,

but he was so good in his first three starts. Was it three starts he made? Yeah. Four getting sent down. Yeah. That, you know, they're going to need him sooner than later. Brandon Fott, I think, is the interesting one because, okay, so the Diamondbacks have released Madison Bumgarner,

and they sent down Dre Jameson. They got a lot of off days coming up, so I don't think they're going to need FOT until the week after next and maybe they'll call Dre Jameson backup, I don't know, but FOTS looked good at AAA. It's a tough place to pitch so you gotta, you know, you gotta take

the actual numbers with a grain of salt. For the most part, he's good, and you think he's more talented than Dre Jemison. So I think you need to make sure he's rostered. Matt Mervis is, you know, doing Matt Mervis things at AAA still while Eric Hosmer is doing very little in the majors. Colton Couser I have on here

he's been hot at AAA for the Orioles just a really well-rounded offensive player power speed good on base skills should hit for average too the strike at rates kind of high sometimes Austin Hayes has been banged up I don't think that's necessarily

going to be the empathist to bring Couser up but like the Orioles could use him anyway and you know they're looking like at Tenders this year he was their first round pick a couple years ago and it's showing he belongs I'm gonna throw one bonus one at you This is a FBTN5 exclusive.

Christian Incarnacion Strand, who's just coming back, I think it was a back issue he's coming back from, just made his 2023 debut a few days ago, five for six with two home runs on Thursday. And the Reds just had to put Will Myers on the IL. So by the time you're listening to this, Christian Incarnacion Strand may be up.

Guy put up huge power numbers in the minors and was the talk of spring training for the first couple weeks because of the way he was obliterating baseballs. So you need to get him on your radar, if not on your roster. Absolutely. I mean, he was amazing during spring training. We were all upset when he got sent down, so 100% agree on Christian Ancarnacion Strand.

Five prospects on the periphery. These are prospects doing something of note recently. Jordan Westberg, a shortstop with the Orioles, Justin Henry Malloy, a third baseman with the Tigers, Drew Gilbert, an outfielder with the Astros, Nick Frasso, a starting pitcher with the Dodgers, and Patrick Monteverde, a starting pitcher also with the Miami Marlon.

Scott, any names on this list that can make an impact this season? I mean, the most likely would be Jordan Westberg, shortstop, who hits for power, has some speed, you know, doing great at AAA. and, you know, if they ever wanted to upgrade from Adam Frazier or Ramona Rias, he's right there waiting, ready to go. Also, Justin Henry Malloy of the Tigers was with the Braves last season, had a breakout season there.

Good on base skills. He's actually entering Thursday. He was reaching base better than a 500 clip this year. Wow. Hit 17 home runs last year, but the power profile is questionable, especially since he'd be playing his home games at Camerica Park. Still, like, the Tigers could use any injection of offense. And Justin Henry Malloy seems like, you know, he could provide that, potentially.

I do want to highlight Patrick Monteverde, too, real quick, because he's just interesting. His minor league numbers so far, like the strikeout rate is off the charts. He's been untouchable, basically. You won't find better numbers from a minor league pitcher right now than Patrick. Monteverde, but he's 25 years old. He throws like 90 miles per hour. It may just be that he's relying on guile to pick on kids four years his junior.

You know, like it may be a total fluke situation, or it may be another Alex Wood situation. I mean, that was kind of Alex Woods profile in the miners, soft tossing lefty who put up amazing numbers in spite of it. He had, you know, a really deceptive delivery, and maybe Monteverda has something like that. like that going on. He's interesting, if nothing else. All right. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage,

listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today and Five, and we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.