Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Grayson Rodriguez ETA & Matt Mervis Hype (9/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 11, 2022

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else podcasts are found. When might we see Grayson Rodriguez and Mark Vientos, if at all? Matt Mervis continues to crush it in the minors. Could Andrew Painter be the next top pitching prospect?  'Fantasy Baseball Today in 5' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection 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

Could more prospects be on the way? Let's discuss on fantasy baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5. As always, make sure to follow and treat us on Spotify. Today is Saturday, September 10th. I am, for example, joined by Scott White. Five prospects on the verge. Grayson Rodriguez with the Orioles,

Mark Vientos with the Mets, Sal Freelick with the Brewers, and Manuel Valdez with the Red Sox, excuse me, and Justin Dearden with the Astros. All right, Scottie. Who do you want to talk about? Well, maybe we need to talk about what on the verge even means this time of year because we've seen a whole slew of call-ups here in the past couple weeks.

It seems like the new CBA has incentives built in that encouraged teams to go ahead and promote their biggest guys in September. And that's been happening. and we're kind of running out of guys who I think can make a real contribution and fantasy the rest of the way who haven't been called up. Grayson Rodriguez I have on here, but he's still building back up after missing three months with a strained lat. He went, I believe, two innings in his most recent rehab starts,

so he probably has at least two more rehab starts before there's even a chance. He joins the Orioles rotation. But there's a chance that he could make three starts at the end of the year, Shane Boz did for the raise last year, and considering Grayson Rodriguez is the best pitching prospect right now, that would be worthy of, that would make them worthy of consideration of fantasy. So that's fine.

Mark Fientos hasn't gotten called up yet, which is kind of disappointing, considering Brett Beatty's out for the year now. But Eduardo Escobar has come off the IEL and looked as productive as he has all year. So the bets are giving him another chance to hold down everyday duty while Mark Viantos continues to slug away at AAA. Viento is kind of a defensive liability too.

So that factors into their thinking, no doubt. And Sal Freelick of the Brewers, I was a little surprised that they decided to call up Garrett Mitchell instead of him. Freelick has looked like more of a finished product. in the minors, especially since getting to AAA. He's had a good lengthy on-base streak going. He's good of getting on-base. Good contact hitters, some speed,

kind of like Stephen Kwan profile here for Sal Freelick. And they could use help in the center field. It's not going great with Garrett Mitchell. Their alternative, Tyrone Taylor, he's nothing to write home about either. So I still think there's a chance Freelick could end up solidifying that role for them as they push for, for the third wild card spot in the NL. All right.

The five prospects on the periphery. These are names that are just doing something of late that you need to know about. Matt Mervis, a first baseman with the Cubs. Andrew Painter, a starting pitcher with the Phillies. Aaron Zavala, an outfielder with the Rangers.

Miles Mastroboni, a second baseman with the Rays. And Nathaniel Hickey, a cash shirt with the Red Sox. Now, can any of these potentially make an impact this here, Sky? Are they just names to know for Dynasty Leagues? Matt Mervis potentially could.

I think it's a long shot. He's been at AAA for a while now, but he began the year at High A. So it's been a quick climb for him, dominated at every stop. He and Alexander Canario have become the first Cubs minor leaguers to hit 30 home runs in a season since Chris Bryant in 2014. And Matt Mervis hasn't gotten a lot of hype

in most prospect. for most of the traditional prospect sources, but that's beginning to change the Cubs director of hitting recently compared him to Anthony Rizzo, left-handed hitter with the power, of course, but he makes a lot of contact for having as much power as he does. So he's at an age and he's at a level where the Cubs could give him a shot here to close out the season,

audition to him for an everyday role next year. Obviously, they don't have a clear plan at first base otherwise. So Matt Mervis is somebody to keep an eye on from that. context. The rest not so much, but Andrew Painter, I got to say, this 19-year-old drafted out of high school just last year, he's already made it up to AA. He's just moat minor league hitters down, and he continues to dominate at that level that's still widely considered to be, you know, the kind of the real proving ground for minor leaguers. If they can handle double A, then they should be able to handle AAA and the majors.

And Peter's doing it as a 19-year-old, just shutting everybody down, going deep into starts. Like, once Grayson Rodriguez gets promoted, Andrew Painter has a case, I think, to be the top pitching prospect in baseball. Looking really good. Aaron Zavala is an on-base freak for the Rangers

who recently moved up to AA and is doing even better there than he wasn't the low minors. Miles Mastroboni is a utility player for the Ray's pretty good hitter, some pretty good speed, kind of like a Jake Croninworth light where the race keep developing these guys and they have too many to

actually play. So hopefully Master Bloni gets out of their organization this off season. I think he'd be a minor league free agent. And if he does, there's a chance he's just some team's utility player next year. And then Nathaniel Hickey, great on-base guy

for a catcher in the Red Sox system. 22-year-old has suddenly gone on this power binge recently, and he earned high marks for his raw power, but it's beginning to translate to production and with his great-a-based skills, Nathaniel Hickey could quickly begin to rise the prospect ranks. Two quick additions here, Scott. Matt Mervis, just looking at his profile,

reminds me a lot of another one of our favorites, Vinnie Pasquantino, who so far, the results have been mixed, but he was coming around before getting hurt. So it doesn't walk as much. much as a Vinnie Pasquantino, but I am intrigued by Matt Murbius. I've written about Matt Mervis so much this year. He finally got added to the CBS player pool. So you can actually pick them up now and not use a write-in for him or whatever. Last note, Andrew Painter,

just 80-grade name for a pitching prospect. I mean, it doesn't get much better than that. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Stitcher, your smart speakers, or anywhere else podcasts are found. And thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today in five. We'll be back again on Monday morning. Bye-bye.