Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Stash Brett Baty; Pay Attention to Parker Meadows (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Starting point is 00:00:02 Which prospects should you be stashing? Find out next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5. Today is Saturday, April 8th. I am Frank Stanful, joined by Scott White, and let's talk top prospects. Five on the verge. These are the ones that you need to be stashing.

Starting point is 00:00:22 Francisco Aver as well. If you're listening to this on Saturday, then he's already up with the New York Mets. Sal Freelik with the Brewers, Brett Beatty also with the Mets. Brendan Fott with the Diamondbacks and Edward Julian with the twins. What do we have on these, Scott?

Starting point is 00:00:38 Well, I guess we should get into Alvarez, even though the time to stash him is probably over coming up for the Mets because Omar Norvarez is out for the next one-third of the season, basically, with a calf injury. And because it's such a long absence, Alvarez is going to have to play. They're not going to call them up for that length of time just to waste away on the bench just to be an emergency starter behind.

Starting point is 00:01:02 the plate. His offense is known to be well ahead of his defense, and so maybe most of his playing time will come at DH, but they're probably not going to want to hinder his development too much behind the plate. So maybe half the time behind the plate, maybe half the time at DH, occasionally on the bench. But enough at bats that Francisco Alvarez is going to be a worthy fantasy option, particularly in CBS Sports Leagues where he's already catcher eligible. and some other platforms will have to regain it. He'll be DH only to start out. Sal Freelick,

Starting point is 00:01:38 we've recently found out Joey Weimer is ahead of him in the pecking order. After finding out late last year, Garrett Mitchell is ahead of him in the pecking order. I'm in on both Mitchell and Weamer, but I'm still surprised by both those decisions because Freelick seems like a finished product and a can't miss prospect,

Starting point is 00:01:55 plus contact skills, plenty of base stealing potential. It's going to happen sooner or later, and I think he'll be a useful fantasy option right away, Freelick, particularly in those five outfielder leagues. Brett Beatty is off to a hot start at AAA. He did recently leave with a thumb injury, in the same thumb where he had season-ending surgery last year, actually,

Starting point is 00:02:21 but it was ruled to be just inflammation. He's day-to-day, should be fine. Eduardo Rodriguez off to, I mean, Eduardo Escobar, off to a slow start at the major league level. and clearly not a long-term option for the Mets. So hopefully Brett Bady can bust open that door sooner than later. Fott was knocked around in his first start at AAA. AAA Reno in the Diamondback system.

Starting point is 00:02:46 Really tough place to pitch. Last year, Ryan Nelson had an ERA over five there. Jameson, Drey Jameson, had an ERA over six there. So I don't know that we should assess FOT so much on performance. For what it's worth. Last year, once he got to AAA Reno, he had a 264 area. So he blew Nelson and James in a way. Also had a good spring, did Brandon Fought.

Starting point is 00:03:08 So I would presume he's the next one up should an opening emerge on the Diamondbacks rotation and considering Zach Davies is in their rotation. It'll probably happen sooner and later. And Edward Julian, who you mentioned, between spring training and the World Baseball Classic, Edward Julian hit 417 with five home runs. So he's showed he's like ready to go against advanced competition. After reaching base at like a 440 clip the last two years in the mines, that's the thing he does best.

Starting point is 00:03:42 Not a great defender at second base, but right now the twins are having to make do with Nick Gordon there. Jorge Polanco apparently just started a rehab assignment, so maybe he'll be back before he get a chance to see Julian. but at some point, I think Julian's bat's going to force the issue. Maybe not at Polanco's expense, but at somebody else's expense. All right, the five prospects that are on the periphery. These are names that are doing something of note as of late and names that you probably should know.

Starting point is 00:04:11 Tyler Soderstrom with the A's, Matthew Liberator with the Cardinals, Parker Meadows with the Tigers, Addison Barger with the Blue Jays, and Nolan Jones with the Rockies. Scott, is there one or two names here that you'd like to highlight from that group? Yeah, so Matthew Liberator, you may remember he came up for the Cardinals last year, looked awful, had an ERA near six, but he was a top prospect for several years leading up to that, basically from the time he was 19. He's still 23 now, so it's not too late for Liberator to figure it out. And his velocity was up this spring. He had a really impressive start, his final spring start, And his first start at AAA was great two, five innings, nowhere and runs seven strikeouts.

Starting point is 00:05:00 Cardinals pitching staff has been knocked around, getting knocked around so far. And Liberator might be able to help and might be a better help than we expected if he continues to go down this path. And Parker Meadows, Austin Meadows brother, actually, another outfielder in the Tigers organization. From June 4th on last year, he broke out, cut down on the strikeouts at 305 with a 902 OPS, and then this spring he was clearly the better of the Meadows brothers hitting five home runs. Great defender in center field, too. He has totally flown under the radar in prospect rankings, has Parker Meadows. But there appears to be plenty of power there, some speed.

Starting point is 00:05:44 Again, like I said, he's a good defender. So if he stays hot at AAA, he's somebody who could. turn into a pretty good dynasty asset. 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.

Starting point is 00:06:05 Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today and Five, and we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.

Fantasy Baseball Today - Prospect Report: Stash Brett Baty; Pay Attention to Parker Meadows (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

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