Fantasy Baseball Today - Ronel Blanco No-Hitter! Imanaga's Debut & Josh Jung Replacements (4/2 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

Astros starter Ronel Blanco just threw a no-hitter (2:30)! ... Add Blanco or Tanner Houck (5:29)? ... Shōta Imanaga had an impressive debut (14:53). ... Josh Jung has a fractured wrist (20:50)! Who are some replacements? ... News (29:14): Bo Bichette was out of the lineup for a second straight game. ... Add any of Sean Manaea, Reese Olson or MacKenzie Gore (35:20)? ... Drop Ryan Pepiot (43:37)? ... Ryan Mountcastle and Jose Siri should be rostered in more leagues (45:57). ... Cristopher Sanchez did some interesting things (51:15). ... Mike Trout blasted two huge homers on Monday (54:51). ... We wrap up with bullpen updates and streamers (59:20). Fantasy Baseball Today is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify 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

Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. Got a fantasy question, email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your lead. Now here's Frank, Scott, and Chris. Five days into the season and we already have a no-hitter. Welcome into Fantasy Baseball today on Tuesday, April 2nd. Frank Stamphill joined by Scott White and Chris Towers. Today on the show, Astro Starter, Ronella.

Blanco through a no-no. Shota Imanaga looked great in his debut, and third base is a mess. Looks like we're going to have to find some Josh Young replacements after having to replace Royce Lewis right after opening day as well.

Let's jump in. No, hitter! The 30-year-old makes magic on April Fool's Day. Great call, courtesy of the Astros TV broadcast right after the final out there for Ronell Blanco. and who wants the breadstick? I think it's Scott, right?

I'll take a bite of this breadstick, Ronel Blanco of the Astros, who I had. You know, I was kind of open-minded to him coming out of spring training. You may remember. I don't know if you guys saw what Ronel Blanco did in spring training.

In 15 and 2 3rds innings, he struck out 18. He allowed six hits in 15 and 2-thirds innings, and apparently preventing hits something he's pretty good at because here he is preventing them over nine innings. So I think the way I put it is he kind of has some like Christian Javier type qualities to him in that Ronel Blanco is a fly ball pitcher who has struggled with command at times, but has good bat missing characteristics.

And during his time in the majors last year, 15.7% swinging strike rate, which is very good. he had 20 swinging strikes on his 105 pitches in this no-hitter. So this isn't like the Reid Detmer's no-hitter a couple years ago where he got like, didn't he get sent down right afterward? I think very soon after. Two or three starts after the no-hitter, he got sent down. Yeah, he wasn't getting any strikeouts at all. It wasn't just that Ronel Blanco happened to prevent hits in this game.

It's that he has an arsenal that should excel at hit prevention, both because of the fly balls and the missed bats. And I don't see why he wouldn't deserve a major league roster spot with that profile. He is 30. And yeah, like I said, the control history there, the history of throwing strikes isn't great. It's not Joe Boyle level. It's like, you know, four and a half walks per nine over his minor league career. But I think maybe there might be some hesitance to buy into Ronel

Blanco, one, because he's 30, and two, because Justin Verlander is expected back in the Astros rotation soon. Well, J.P. France is also in the Astros rotation, and I checked, he does have minor league options. He's no great shakes, all right? I think Ronel Blanco, there's a lot more here to like, and I think, obviously, he made a big statement in this start, and I think he could continue to be interesting for fantasy. would I call a must add? You know, it depends how shallow the league is, I guess.

I don't know that in 10-team leagues, you're going to be able to drop your worst pitcher for him. But I would like to add Ronel Blanco if I can find a way to make it happen. I think the strikeout upside makes it worth doing. He's not, I think, a, like, he's probably not the highest priority pitching ad, even from today.

I think there is at least one starting pitch. sure I would add ahead of him. Do we want to get into that? Sure. Tanner Halk, I think, was really, really impressive today in ways that I think suggest a little more upside than Ronel Blanco. Obviously, I think part of that is maybe me being a little bit of an ageist, although I am six years older than Ronal Blanco. So I think that's an unfair accusation by whoever made it. But you made it. But I think how. The swing and miss stuff, I think, is probably a little more projectable for Howick. I think the overall stuff profile is a little more impressive.

But Blanco was very, very impressive. And it wasn't like Scott said, it wasn't a re-Detmer situation or even, remember Michael Lorenzen had a no-hitter last season right after he got traded to the Phillies? Sure did. And then completely fell apart. I think it was more impressive than either one of those. The change-up looks. really, really good and was a really good swing and miss pitch last season when Blanco was in the majors as well. I think the slider is the other pitch that he used a bunch and got a bunch of swings and misses.

And that also was a pretty good swing and miss pitch last year. I think Blanco's fastball is probably going to be pretty bad. And that's a limiting factor. Well, well, here's something that has to. So the fastball was the third most used pitch by him today. He threw both the change up in the slider more, is how, which is how you can survive without a very good fastball. And his previous two years in the majors, you know, he got a decent amount of time in the majors

last year, hardly any in 2022. But we didn't see the change up much at all those years. So this is kind of a new pitch for Ronel Blanco. And maybe it's what's helped bring it all together for him. So I would say that's another reason to be encouraged, even though he's 30. And you might be, normally it would be. right to dismiss a player who's getting his first big opportunity in the majors at age 30. And along those same lines, I think it's also just, it's a bet on an organization that,

in the Houston Astros, that gets a lot of these things right. And so I think that's another reason to be optimistic about Ronnell Blanco. That being said, Tanner Halk was also really, really impressive. 10 strikeouts and 6 innings, 16 swings and misses on 83 pitches, 9 on the slider. is nine on the slider that we know the slider for Tanner Halk is a phenomenal pitch. But I think the most interesting thing here was that splitter that he's been working on for a little while, but he threw it 20% of the time today. I think it was like a 10% pitch for him last year.

He got three swings and misses on that one, threw it in the zone a whole bunch and got good results on it. So I think Tanner Halk was a little more interesting. but that's not to say that Renau Blanco is not interesting. It's just that I would rather have Halk. I'd rather have Jared Jones. I think he's behind Garer Crochet if he's still available. But a lot of those guys may not be available in your league.

Certainly, I just looked in one of my leagues, and Blanco is the only one of Jones Crochet and Halk, who is available. I'd rather have Blanco than Sean Minia. How deep was that league? It's a 12-team Roto league. So, like, 350, 360 players. Yeah, something like that. I think seven bench spots plus unlimited IL, so probably 350 plus rostered.

I think I'd rather have Blanco than Reese Olson, who I do think is pretty interesting. I'd rather have him than Luis Heel, who, again, interesting, but didn't have a great start, would rather have him than Max Meyer. All of these guys are rostered in more leagues than him. And, yeah, so I don't... I don't think that's overreacting. I don't think it's underreacting. No, I think I agree with every one of those comparisons you did. The closest one for me is Tanner Hauk.

The fact he had 10 strikeouts and no walks, I understand it was at Oakland. And so maybe that diminishes it relative to Ronel Blanco throwing a no-hitter against the Blue Jays. The Bo Bichetless Blue Jays, I will add. But I don't think it's a situation in like a shallower league where you can be like, okay, Tanner Hauk's going to sneak by people. Yeah.

Because Ronel Blanco got the bigger headline today. And I don't think either of them is going to sneak by anybody. And so I guess I'd lean slightly toward Halk. Also, I mean, there is a chance Blanco does get sent down when Verlander's healthy, despite this no-hitter. I don't think that has to happen, but there is a chance it could happen. And Halk has more job security for that reason. Reese Olson

I might like him a little more than Blanco too though in that shallow league scenario I talked about I think there is a chance Olson you could just leave him out there and probably have another shot at him later less likely with Blanco so I guess it's like would you drop Luis Severino for Blanco

would you drop AJ Puck for Blanco? I don't think I could drop Puck for Blanco I am all in on Puck having a bounce back start and a breakout season. And I'm not ready to abandon that over what seemed to me like a black sheep event. But I don't know. Now is your only shot at Blanco. So maybe.

Yeah, that's the thing is between now and AJ Puck's next start, hopefully you won't have anybody else worth dropping. But something could happen and a roster spot could open up. And maybe AJ Puck is terrific in his next start and we're all racing out to add him if he's dropped, but you might be able to sneak that one through. So I don't know. That's a tough one. Yeah.

Certainly if it's like if you have Kyle Hendricks, can let sure. Yeah. Ryan Weathers. Yes. Trevor Rogers, Tyler McGill, J.P. Sears. Kenta Maeda. I'd be fine with it. Yeah.

I'd be fine with it too. I don't think anybody's beating down the door to add Kenta Mayada. Although he is facing Oakland later this week. Well, no, that's the, that's the thing is, I think, any of those guys you just mentioned could bounce back in their next starts and be someone that we're looking to add. But it's just you have to make a decision right now. I mean, I guess a lot of leagues you don't. You can't make ad drops until next Sunday, in which case, this is all kind of a moot point.

But for those of you in open, a minority of leads that are like that. For those of you in open or daily fab leagues, you could, you should, I think, drop any of those guys we mentioned, and weather's right I don't just rewind 20 seconds and hear the list and like

it may sound to some people like we're overreacting here with Ronel Blanco who is he got one mention during spring training on this podcast as far as I know but it's

it's it's less it's less a hard hitting baseball analysis take like here is my scouting report on Ronel Blanco and why he's for sure going to be awesome, then these are the realities of playing fantasy baseball take.

Like somebody in your league is going to pick him up and there's a chance. He could be a breakout pitcher this year. There's enough reason for optimism that you if you're trying to corral as many breakouts as you can, it's worth making a move for Ronel Blanco if you have

somebody you can justify dropping. By the way, a move I would not make, but Frank, you may disagree. I would not drop Logan Webb for Renau Blanco. No, I think I probably would, actually. If you watched Logan Webb Spring Training,

it was a pretty rough one. People might be wondering what the heck is going on. So Chris went out and tweeted, I thought this was just like a behind closed doors type thing. Absolutely not. Chris tweeted a little snafu, a little, you know, I warned everybody on yesterday's podcast, beware of April Fool's Day.

And then turns out, the joke was on me all along because Sunday, Easter, creating a rundown for three days worth of baseball, putting in FAB waiver claims. I accidentally dropped Logan Webb in one of my leagues. So don't do that. Thank you, Scott, for reversing the move. Obviously, I didn't mean to do that. But I woke up in a panic of emails from people making fun of me for dropping Logan Webb, which I obviously didn't mean to do. So what's funny is you didn't like text me about it. Like I just happened to see the other emails. I was like, did you not think I would reverse that for you? No, I texted you as soon as I saw it. And I said, you never got your text. So I definitely did not

mean to drop Logan Webb in Memorial Mag League. I meant to drop Will Smith. And then I thought, I was confused because you said, who did you actually mean to drop? And I was like, I just said, yeah, I never saw your text. Weird. So anyway, don't drop Logan Webb. Obviously, Blanco, no hitter. We're excited about him. He's 18% rostered. He's widely available. He is a spark if you play in points leagues. Also excited about Tanner Hauk. I think it's a clean sweep. I like both. I do slightly prefer Tanner Hauk over Ronell Blanco. Let's quickly hit on Shota Imanaga, who looked pretty awesome in his debut going up against the Rockies in Chicago, where it was like 45 degrees, super cold there. Six shot out innings, two hits, zero walks, nine strikeouts, 20 swinging

strikes on 92 pitches for Imanaga. 12 of those 20 swinging strikes on the splitter, five on the fastball three on the sweeper. He averaged 92.5 miles per hour on that fastball. He maxed out at 94. Was throwing it up in the zone. I watched a lot of this start. He looked really good. The one thing that I noticed, and this fits the profile, gave up some hard contact.

Eight hard hits allowed, 94.5 average exit velocity against Imanaga had three fly balls travel 350 plus feet. And if it was a summer day in Wrigley or the wind was blowing out, out, some of those might have left the yard. So I just want to be transparent and realistic with Chota Imanaga. I think he's going to be really good. I think there's going to be lots of strikeouts. But as we said, there might be some issues with home runs.

And I think today was a little bit foreshadowing for that. I think there was a single ground ball off of Shotaimauga in this game. If I'm looking at the, if I'm reading the chart correctly, I'm just looking at the the exit velocity, but only one batted ball with a launch angle below 10 degrees in this start. And he had, what, eight batted balls over 95 miles per hour. So yeah. Yeah. I think in different circumstances, perhaps against a lineup with more than one player who could actually punish you and that guy's lefty. Yeah, it might have gone differently. But he looked awesome either way. You know, like, 14, sorry, five swings and misses on the four seamer, 12 with the splitter.

That looks like an absolutely devastating pitch. Three on only 10 sweepers is very good. I think my expectations for Shodaymanaga are very similar to what they were coming into the season. ERA, it could be pretty ugly. I could see Shodaymanaga having a good season and still having like a high threes ERA. Yeah. I think everything else is going to be really good, though. I think he's going to get a ton of strikeouts. He think he's going to win some games.

I think the whip's probably going to be pretty good. I think it's just a question of, can he be a one, one, one five whip guy and a three nine ERA guy? I think that's actually within the realm of possibility, which is a hard thing to pull off, but would still make Emanaga a very, very good pitcher. And look, it's possible that it's more like a mid three ZRA, in which case, he might be a top 25 starting pitcher. I would bet against it. Oh, I would absolutely bet against it. Yeah, I'm imagining and put out of your mind that I've called Joe Ryan a big bust this year.

Just Joe Ryan what he's been so far in his career. That's what I imagine Shoda Eimanaga's stat line looking like. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think somewhere in the mid to high threes, you know, a good whip and a really, really good strikeout rate. That's what I would be expecting here from Imanaga. but a very successful debut. Shout out to those who actually started him, not like me, where I mentioned I did bench him in one of my leagues, unfortunately.

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on Spotify. Let's take our first break when we return. We'll talk about this injury to Josh Young and we'll do that right after this. Welcome back in. Third base has been dealt a few blows already. First, we got Royce Lewis, who is going to miss at least a month

with a quad-strain. And now Josh Young, if the guy didn't have, what's the saying? If he didn't have bad luck, he wouldn't have any luck at all. Geez, man. He's been diagnosed with a fractured right wrist

after getting hit by a pitch. obviously not his fault. He's dealt with a few kind of freak injury type things already in his career. So it sucks. We haven't been given a timeline. My guess Chris, did you look into what the timeline is for? I'm gonna look it up right now if you want to stall for time. I will continue talking then. In the meantime, I think Ezekiel Duran makes sense as the replacement there. Perhaps the Rangers promote their prospect Justin Foskew, but I would still bet on Duran just being the guy for now, he's 13% rostered, has third base shortstop and outfield eligibility on CBS.

There's a little bit of power. There's some speed. Obviously, it's a great lineup. Scott, any interest in adding Ezekiel Duran, 13% rostered as a replacement. I mean, I'm more interested in the twins replacement at third base, Willie Castro, if he's still out there, especially in Roto. But I don't think Duran is going to be a good points league player either because the walk rate's so low. Maybe the lineup context makes him a little better, probably in points leagues, it's shallower anyway, so you probably have better choices. And Roto, yeah, I think Ezekielderon's of some interest, if he really is the one getting the everyday bats.

Willie Castro, by the way, 27% rostered on CBS. He has third base and outfield eligibility stole 33 bags with the twins last year. So definitely could be a source of stolen bases. Maybe he could be for you what Estuary Ruiz was. going to be for somebody, at least for the next two months while Royce Lewis is out. Maybe, maybe, you know, you got, if you lost Josh Young and those rotolese, you got competition with the person who lost Estuary Ruiz. I will say that.

Not that he was injured, but he got sent down. Yes. And, uh, I mean, look, we can mention it now while we're talking about it. Estuary Ruiz. At first, I thought this was an April Fool's Day joke. It was not because it came out from multiple A's beatwriters that Ruiz was sent to AAA to make room for Tyler Nevin, whom they

claimed off waivers. Ruiz is still 76% rostered. Are you guys holding onto him in five outfielder roto leagues for now? I mean, that's the only kind of league you hold on to him in, but I think you are because he's a one-of-one sort of

player and didn't really deserve this demotion. I mean, he was off to a good start for the amount he had played. It's going to be a short one, I think. That was there's a direct quote pretty much from the ASGM. David Forst who told reporters that Ruiz was having better played appearances during the spring is the justification for sending him down.

They're going to play him at the leadoff spot every day at AAA. Quote, and I'm hoping it's not a long stay for him down there. Well, that's your decision. I always find it funny when GMs and managers are like, I hope he comes back soon. It's like, well, hold up. Like, who gets to make that call? My guy, it's you.

You're the one who decided to send him down. You're the one who can call him up whenever you want to. But that's beside the point. I think this is a very dumb decision, even if Ruiz has obvious flaws and limitations as a player. By the way, there are a lot of different ways that a fractured wrist can go. Max Muncie came back in about 15 days when he fractured his wrist back in October. of 2019. Eli White missed the final 115 games of the 2022 season.

Jake Croninworth missed the final 37 games of last season. Gary Sanchez missed the final 25 last year. Orlando Arcea only missed 23 last April. So it can really go a lot of different ways. Trevor Story in 2022 missed 45 days. I haven't heard them use the word like hairline, you know. with fracture. I think the best case scenario is probably

something like three weeks, but it could very well be a month, multiple month. As a general rule, I would say it takes six weeks for a broken bone to heal. The absence, you know, it would depend if there's surgery needed. It would depend how big the bone is that's broken.

But like if it's a, I think six to eight weeks, if you're away for the official diagnosis, but if you just want a ballpark estimate, right now I'm thinking six to eight weeks for Josh Young. It's so annoying, man. Like, he broke his thumb on a weird, like, it was like a,

I think it was just a line drive that he caught and it broke his thumb last year. He injured his shoulder weightlifting in 2022 when he was about to make his MLB debut was probably going to break camp with the team. It's just been awful. awful luck and like two broken bones especially is just dreadful. Three players got hit by a pitch in the same inning from the same pitcher as who hit

young. Bill Naiton was on a rampage. He's the only one who even left the game. I'm so annoyed. He had a massive game too before he left. Three for four with a sock and a shoe. He's really good. First stolen base, he had four RBI.

So, yeah, just really unfortunate. Some other replacements that could be out there. These are the most added third basement on CBS. Matt Chapman is up to 72% rostered. Colt Keith, 60%. A. Eugenio Suarez, 56%. Michael Garcia is also 56%. And Michael Bush is 41%.

How would you rank that group of five? Chapman, Keith, Suarez, Garcia, and Bush? I might go Garcia won. Actually, I know he's less rostered than Keith and Chapman. Keith hasn't shown us much yet, but he also hasn't struck out very much. I think it's two and 14 plate appearances or three, something like that. So not too concerned there, but Garcia is someone who we talked about coming into the season, having 91.8 mile per hour average eggs of velocity last season, but only a 2% barrel rate or something like that.

He just did not hit the ball hard and in the air at the same time. Well, he's got a couple home runs already, and he's hitting lead off, and he can steal some bases. I think 15 homers and 25 stolen bases is well within the realm of possibility for Michael Garcia with a useful batting average. So I think he's just under-rastered even without the young injury. Yeah, I like him best for categories league. Maybe second best of that group for points leagues. I might move Michael Bush to the top for points leagues. He's just got to show us something.

I agree. I agree. I lobbied to make sure he was included in this segment, but he just hasn't done anything at the major league level in any regard yet. It's very small samples. I think it's still less than 100 total plate appearances, including last year. But I saw it done it. Yeah. I saw a couple people tweeting me their options from a points league and like Jake Berger was out there. Oh, wow. They tend to be shallower. Yes. Points leagues aren't Burger's best format anyway. But if you have a higher end options, like that, then obviously you don't have to mess with these other guys. And then in deeper leagues, J.D. Davis is up to 21% rostered and a gentleman named Trey Lipscomb from the Nationals. He's up to 7% rostered. He has started

three games in a row at third base with Nick Zenzel on the IL. Back-to-back multi-hit games, he had a home run on Sunday. He stole a base on Saturday. He's 23 years old. He's a third round pick from back in 2022. Did have some prospect standing in interest. I mean, we're talking pretty deeply.

like 15 team roto Anna only type stuff, but Trey Lipscomb of the Nationals. Yeah, I can't say I have any interest. All right, let's move on to the rest of the news and notes. We already mentioned what's going on

with Estuary Ruiz. Bo Bichette has missed two straight due to next spasms. Ernie Clement started at shortstop for the Blue Jays. Blake Snell will make his Giants debut next Monday, April 8th, against the Nationals.

Justin Verlander threw a three-inning, 52-pitch simulated game on Monday, and came out of it without any issues. His next step is expected to be a rehab assignment. Jordan Montgomery is scheduled to make a start at AAA Reno on Sunday, and he said he's aiming to make his D-BACs debut on April 19th. Brian Wu has begun a throwing program. He was shut down for a little over a week with right elbow inflammation.

He is 25% available in CBS Fantasy League. So that's one that if you have a roster spot to play with, obviously won't make an immediate impact, but if you don't need a starting pitcher right now, I think I'd rather have him than how... Ronel Blanco. And Ronel Blanco probably. I think there's more long-term appeal there,

even if he's less likely to make an impact at this point. I mean, if you have free I.L spots, it's a no-brainer. But I think if you're in this sort of shallow league where Brian Wu might actually be available, I think I'd go with the headline grabber right now. Take my shot on Ronel Blanco or Hauk, while I still can't. That's fair. Jordan Romano is set to throw a bullpen session Tuesday.

He's on the aisle due to right elbow inflammation. Alec Manoa will pitch a three-inning simulated game with minor leaguers on Tuesday. He only made one spring outing, one spring start due to right shoulder soreness and due to just being bad. He has to show a lot. in a minor league rehab assignment to be worth even a speculative ad, I think, at this point. But I think it helps that Bowden Francis was pretty bad today against the Astros. So if he continues to pitch like that and Manoa looks okay, he could get called back up.

Or Ricky Teeteman could be an option, again, if Bowden Francis continues to struggle. Eloy Jimenez is day-to-day after undergoing an MRI on his left adductor. Kenley Jansen was available to pitch on Monday after dealing with back tightness the previous two days. He wasn't needed because the Red Sox crushed the Oakland days. Braxton Garrett will throw a three-inning end-or 50 pitch-simulated game at extended spring training on Tuesday. Alec Thomas was placed on the I.O. with a strain left hamstring. Jake McCarthy was recalled and started in right field.

Scott, this is who I was thinking about as a deep league Ruiz replacement. McCarthy has 49 steals over the past two years. So it's only a deep league option, but it could make some sense. there. Sure. He could get back to Mattering with that stolen base ability he has.

He didn't hit at all in the majors last year, so I'm pretty cold on him right now, but if you're in a deep enough five outfielder league and speed is

something you desperately need, then McCarthy has the profile for it. Tyler McGill was placed on the 15-day IL and won't throw for the next five days before beginning his ramp-up process.

It was due to a shoulder injury. The most likely replacement is one of Jose Buto or Joey Lucchasey, but... They don't need a fifth starter for like eight days. Okay. So I wonder if they just don't

have one. Yeah, that's possible. I mean, I was going to speculate... Christian Scott is a prospect of the organization who's, I think has a decent amount of upside. I just don't think that they're going to rush him. So it's probably going to happen later on

in the season for him. Jason Hayward was out of the lineup due to back tightness. Teoska Hernandez was in right field with Chris Taylor in left, and Mike Clevenger agreed to a contract with the White Sox. Last year, a 377 ERA 123 whip. The underlying numbers did not really line up with any of that. Chris, any interest in Clevenger Deeper Leagues? I'm an AL-only labor,

and I would have to drop someone to pick him up, like someone in my starting lineup, and I have less than zero interest in doing that. All right. Some quick prospect notes. Orioles top prospect. Jackson Holiday started his minor league season with back-to-back multi-hit games. His first at bat was actually a home run off of a lefty.

So if he keeps that up, I think we're going to see him pretty soon. Pirates top prospect, Paul Skeens, through three perfect innings with five strikeouts in his first start at AAA. And the unfortunate news, Ray's top prospect, Jr. Camerro crushed a home run. That's not the bad news. But what happened after that is he left the game with a quad injury and then he was placed on the IL on Monday, which I think could delay his promotion.

I did see a quote that they're hoping it's more or less a minimum stay. The seven-day IL is what they have in the miners. So no guarantees there, but that was one thing I saw. So fingers crossed. All right,

let's take our final break. When we return, we'll get into the rest of Monday's waiver wire pitchers, and we'll do that right after this. Welcome back in. Let's continue on with Monday's waiver wire pitchers. We already spoke about Ronell Blanco and Tanner Hauk.

Sean Manila looked pretty great in his Mets debut against the Tigers. Six shutout innings. One hit, two walks. Eight strikeouts with 13 swinging strikes on 88 pitches. And Reese Olson on the other side of that game at the Mets. Five and two-thirds shutout, three hits, two walks. Three strikeouts with 13 swinging strikes. He just threw the kitchen sink at the Mets.

He threw six different pitches between 6% and 20. percent usage in this one. Scott, would you take Reese Olson or Mania over either of Tanner Halk or Renel Blanco? Well, we kind of did talk about that earlier, and I think I decided that in the leagues where Reese Olson is available, this start, good as it was,

is more likely to slip by people than the Ronel Blanco and Tanner Halk starts. So it's kind of a contradiction, because I have more faith in Reese Olson, being a satisfactory pitcher in the majors, but I think it leaves where he's available, there's a better chance you'll get more chances at him. It doesn't mean you can't pick him up

if somebody beats you to Blanco or Hauk. I was encouraged by this start for Reese Olson, and in particular, I was encouraged by the change at Buse because that was his fourth most thrown pitch last year, and it was his most thrown pitch in this start. and when he began featuring the change up more last September, his production improved quite a bit. So I think that's an encouraging development for Reese Olson.

I'm not sure why he faded the slider so much, which is his best pitch, but the fact that he could throw five and two thirds, three hit innings without throwing the slider that much, I think is to be encouraged in and of itself. So overall, I'm impressed by what Reese Olson did here, but I understand you can't pick up everybody. And we're not taking any of the pitchers we've mentioned so far over

Jared Jones, Flaherty, Gavin Stone, Gary Crochet, right? Agree, not doing that. Okay. Not even, not even Blanco. WaiverWire pitchers part two. Luis Heel came one out away from qualifying for the win at the D-Backs, four and two-thirds. One hit allowed, one run, six strikeouts with 10 twinging strikes on 84 pitches.

and the last time we saw Luis Heel get an extended look was back in 2021. He was mostly fastball slider then, and he mixed in his change of 20% today. I thought that was interesting. The velocity was up to. He averaged 97.7 miles per hour on the fastball. Max Meyer looked pretty good against the Angels, five innings, two runs, four strikeouts in that one.

Dane Dunning turned in a quality start at the raise. Six and a third, three runs allowed. Seven strikeouts, 18 swinging strikes. I don't think that was very. really like a Dane Dunning thing. It might have just been Tampa Bay strikes out a lot kind of thing. And then McKenzie Gore, who Chris, I know you have a lot to say

here. Interesting outing because on paper it doesn't look that great. Five in a third innings, three runs, six strikeouts, but he had 14 swinging strikes. The velocity was up. He changed the pitch makes he added in this change up as well. He's 68% rostered, so

he's already kind of rostered in a good amount of leagues, but I thought the start was pretty interesting. What do you think about McKenzie Gore, Dunning? Meyer and Luis Heel. I think McKenzie Gore is by far the most interesting of this group, and he's the most widely rostered of that group. So that's not surprising, but nothing that Heel, Meyer, or Dunning did, I think was enough to bridge the gap that already existed between them.

Meyer, obviously, because he's a top prospect, has some intrigue, but I tend to think unless Puck has another start like that, or Rogers and Weathers are just disaster. I would guess Max Myers probably the first one out of the Marlins rotation when Braxton Garrett or Edward Cabrera, probably Edward Cabrera first are available. So that's my hesitation with him. Gore, though, like you said, I think the discussions always start with the fastball with him. And it was up two miles per hour in this one, 97 miles per hour. That's really, really hard for a lefty.

And it's a fastball that he's always gotten good results with already. But then he kind of changed up the. rest of the pitch is the slider. He's throwing it harder with less vertical break. So, presumably more like either a gyro or a even a cutter, perhaps. He averaged 92 miles per hour with it. And then the changeup went in the opposite direction. That's what I think is really interesting about McKenzie Gore's performance today because he's really always been just fastball slider curveball. And he's never had that fourth pitch to round out the arsenal give a different look. And And in this one, the velocity on the changeup was down 1.8 miles per hour.

The spin rate was down 282 RPMs. And that's a big thing for a changeup. He has a high spin changeup to begin with. And that's kind of the opposite of what you want. You tend to want your changeups to have not much spin so they die when they get closer to the plate. Hopefully getting a little bit less spin off of it, a little less, a little more velocity separation helps the pitch play up. He did get three whiffs with it. He threw 17 of them.

That is the most he's ever thrown in a start. So it doesn't necessarily mean McKenzie Gore is suddenly an ace. He didn't pitch like one today even. But I think it's one of the more interesting pitching performances by anyone. And if I have a roster spot to play with, I think a low dollar bid for McKenzie Gore tonight makes a lot of sense. Gore Blanco. Um, if you have to add one, I think it would have to be Blanco, just because who's adding

McKenzie Gore after this start? Nobody except for me, I guess. It was an okay star, but yeah, I agree that that I would take Blanco or Halk over. But I think the likeliest outcome is Gore is a better pitcher the rest of the way. It's just trying to play that game of who do you have to add right now. I don't know that Gore has proven any more than Tanner Howcast. I mean, he had that better prospect pedigree coming up, but I don't know how much that matters to me anymore at this stage of their careers. So I don't even know that I could confidently say.

I think he'll be the better pitcher the rest of the year. Obviously, Ronel Blanco is the biggest wild card of the three. Like, we know Gore has a rotation spot. We know howlke has a rotation spot. But I don't know. I'd put Gore probably behind the two of them as far as potential pickups go. And I don't want to like gloss over what Luis Heel did here because he had a very strong spring. He throws 100 miles per hour with good swing and mischaracteristics on that fastball.

And it carried over to the regular season one start in. He allowed one hit, you know, four and two thirds innings. Okay, we need to see him work deeper into games. I think if he continues to have success, he obviously will. he's pretty interesting as a potential pickup too but behind basically all the other guys Yeah the problem is I think there might be like

10 pitchers who've pitched so far that I'd rather who are somewhat available that I'd rather add than Louis Heel And if you play in a league with quality starts or a points league where you get a bonus for quality starts I don't know how often Louise Heel is going to qualify for those and it's not just because this start but I think he could be effectively wild

at times and maybe a little bit inefficient and just not going to go as deep into starts as a result of that so I like him but probably more so for a Categories League with Louise Heel and I want to say it I'll say it a few times until we really get used to saying until he really becomes a regular part of the fantasy conversation

Heel is spelled G-I-L Yes I do want to ask you guys an overreaction question here from Monday's action. And Ryan Pepio, he got hit pretty hard going up against one of the better lineups in baseball with the Texas Rangers, five and two-thirds innings, six runs aloud, four walks to three strikeouts. He had five walks total all of last season with the Dodgers,

42 innings worth of pitching, five walks, and then in this first start, four walks with the Tampa Bay raise. He's 89% rostered, he's RP only on CBS to start the year. would you drop Ryan Pepio for any of the names we've mentioned today? I don't think it's an overreaction to ask that at all. That doesn't necessarily mean I think the answer is yes, but like he was my 256th ranked player coming into the season in Roto League. So you aren't drafting him.

That's a pretty easy player to drop. Yeah. I think I have him in one points league maybe. So that's a pretty easy drop. It's harder in a points league because he's RP eligible. And you may have, as I did in a few leagues, built your entire pitching staff around having as many RP options as possible or SPARPs. So, you know, I want to give him more time.

But yeah, the track record for success here is very, very limited. Ryan Pepeyo has always been a guy that fantasy baseball players like more than real prospect folks. So, yeah, I think it's perfectly reasonable. So Ryan Pepio was the on average drafted around 180, even though you had him quite a bit lower in your rankings. And his last couple starts in spring training were outstanding. Obviously, he struggled with control in this one, and that's a little unnerving because he has a history of bad control.

Major turnaround last year became an elite control guy, and that helped to key his breakthrough for walks all spring. So the control was there in the calendar year 2024. And I think the upside for Pepio, particularly now that he's being handled by the raise, is too high for me to consider dropping him for anyone we've talked about. More like Ryan Pepepe, ew, am I right? Pepe, yes, is what I'm saying. All right, Scott's sticking with him. Chris, maybe not.

Weirwire hitters, should any of these hitters be rostered in more league? than they already are. Brendan Donovan, three for four with his first home run of the season, three runs, two RBI. He is 70% rostered, has let off all five games for the Cardinals. Ryan Moutcastle went two for four

with his first home run of the season. He's off to a nice start. He's got six hits, seven RBI. He's only 58% rostered. That seemed a little bit low for Ryan Moutcastle. Jose Siri had another big game,

two for three with his first home run. He attempted another steal, but was caught, unfortunately. 29% And that comes after picking up three steals this weekend. Michael Conforto stayed hot, hit his third home run of the year, and he is 53%. So yeah, Canforto 53, Siri 29, Mountcastle 58, Donovan 70. Should any of those percentages be higher?

How many, what percentage of leagues are Rodo, do you think? Roto or just any categories. Stolen bases are important in those leagues. I think probably higher than 29%. 50 to 60% maybe? Jose Siri should be rostered in more than 29% of leagues is the point that I am building towards because yes, he was caught stealing.

He attempted a fourth stolen base. He only attempted 15 all of last season. Now, I will point out something that I wrote about in, I think, my column on Monday about, oh gosh, I'm making a mess on my desk. I'm sorry, hold on. Something's falling. Oh no

I want to get you I want to get you one of those cameras that looks down on your hands like while you're typing so we can just see everything that's happening. All right so if you've noticed you're probably hearing my keyboard less over the past couple weeks I switched to acquire a keyboard

but I keep my other keyboard just like I throw it on top of a pile of stuff on my desk and I tried to grab something below the keyboard and everything came tumbling down. Oh gosh. So it was kind of a mess. I lost my train and thought. Jose Siri,

the point that I will make is, do you guys remember Ramon Luriano in the 2021 season? Who doesn't remember Ramon Luriano in the 2021 season? Stole five bases in the first four games, I think eight in the first nine, had four steals in the final 79 games of the season. Dikes. Running a lot early on in the season

does not necessarily mean you will continue to run. And I guess if Jose Siri gets caught a bunch, he will likely slow down. but it's all to say that he's an elite athlete 98th percentile sprint speed. He hit 25 homers last season. I think there's a chance he's like a 25, 25 guy this season and is not that different from what I expect from like Lane Thomas. So, yes, I think Jose Siri should be rostered in all categories of leagues right now.

Batting average a problem. Siri set a goal of 30 deals this spring, which, you know, doesn't mean he has to follow through on that goal, but stolen bases are largely a matter of intent, and he seems to have the intent right now. Anything else on those other names? Any enthusiasm? Donovan, Mountcastle, Conforto?

Mountcastle, what did you say the percentage was? 58%. That's pretty low. I saw Jose Abraeu was 84%. Like, yeah, I'd rather have Mountcastle than Abraeu. Yeah, I might go Mountcastle over him. I think probably

there's some points league hesitation on Mount Castle because the plate discipline is not very good. And I understand that. There's a lot of points leagues on CBS sports leagues. But yeah, it's off to a great start and deserves to be rostered more than a brave. I agree with that completely. Two names in deeper leagues. Richie Palacios of the raise, one for three with a walk, a sock and a shoe.

It was his first hit of the season. He's only started three of five games so far for Tampa Bay. He's 2% rostered. and Tyler Freeman, who is on the Guardians, one for four with his first home run. He has started four or five games. He's got a homer. He's got a steal.

I was looking into his fan graphs, projected grades, prospect grades, and he was supposed to have like a 70 hit tool, 55 speeds. There might be something there. Deep League stuff, but anything on Richie Palacios or Tyler Freeman? Yeah, not. if Tyler Freeman begins running a lot

I think he'll be of interest I don't think there's enough power otherwise for us to care about him in fantasy but he is the one you know there was a lot of talk this spring about Chase DeLotter and the big performance he had and when they DFAed Miles Straw

oh is this is this clear path for DeLotter well it seems like they were getting rid of Miles Straw to clear path for Tyler Freeman because they had a bunch of shortstop prospects, and Freeman, they've transitioned him to the outfield. So they seem to like him. And yes, there is supposed to be a pretty good hit tool, but he's going to have to make a pretty big speed contribution, sort of like Stephen Kwan does for us to, for him to be of interest in fantasy, I would say. Agreed.

All right. Let's get into the rest of the leftovers, and we'll start with the pitchers. Charlie Morton was solid at the White Sox 5 and 2 3rd shutout innings with six strikeouts and 12 swinging strikes. Velocity was down in this game, but it was 46 degrees, as I mentioned earlier in Chicago, so that might have affected some of the velocity for Charlie Morton. Christopher Sanchez pitched well against the Reds, five innings, two runs, eight strikeouts to one walk, 13 swinging strikes on 85 pitches. Sinker was up 2.2 miles per hour.

The changeup was up almost three miles per hour compared to last year. And James... I, if I can go ahead and interject. Go ahead. I am relieved. I am relieved as somebody who was heavily invested in Christopher Sanchez. I liked it to begin with, but I became increasingly invested as his price fell because of his terrible spring training where he wasn't getting strike. It wasn't doing anything right.

He was throwing much harder. And there was some concern that maybe that was compromising his command because he gained such good command last year by throwing softer. Well, best of both worlds. in his season debut. The velocity was way up still. He threw two-thirds of his pitches for strikes and walked one batter. Struck out eight. So very encouraging performance here for Christopher Sanchez.

And I continue to believe he could be a big-time breakout this year. Great. James Paxton in his Dodgers debut was wild but didn't give up any runs against the Giants. Five shutout, four hits, five walks, five strikeouts. Swinging strikes on 97 pitches. The velocity was down here for Paxton. Fastball was down 1.5 miles per hour. The cutter down 1.6 miles per hour,

but it was a, I guess, a fine start. Chris, anything to add on Paxton or Charlie Morton? Paxton and Morton are both like 90% rostered in CBS Fantasy Leagues. I find that kind of surprising. I was surprised to see Paxton as rostered as he is. Yeah, because I was like, oh, maybe I'll write about Charlie Morton for the waiver wire portion of tomorrow's newsletter.

Nope. He is almost universally rostered. I think both are probably too high, even though they were like decent today. I, well, I do think they're fine to have a round. That's the points league influence on CBS roster rates. I mean, there's no points league where Charlie Morton is going to be, given the team he plays for in the number of innings he throws.

Yeah, I guess. And he was like, Morton, I don't even think was like a 400 point player last year, though. He was, even though, even though, he threw a bunch of innings on a good team. But you know how deep we go into the pitcher

rankings in those points league drafts. Yeah. I get what you're like Paxton especially because his grip on a rotation spot has to be so tenuous

given all the Dodgers options and his health history. But Morton I get why he's that rostered. Yeah. I kind of feel like I'd be okay.

jettisoning either of those guys for whatever interesting pitcher de Jure is available. Ronelle Blanco, Tanner Hauke, Reese Olson. I'd drop those two guys for any of those guys.

Paxton, absolutely, regardless of format. Morton, I think I could do that in a categories league. I'd be hesitant in a points league, but I think I agree with you for categories leagues. Some hitting standouts also. and Riley is on the board with his first home run, two for four with four RBI. Bobby Witt,

two for four with a sock and a shoe, his second home run of the season, his first steal. He had four hard hits in this game, three over 109 exit velocity. That is Bobby Witt. Mike Trout, Double Dong, one of which...

Oh, my God. 475 feet. I was watching that game, and it was the fifth longest home run that's ever been hit in Marlins Park, and it was to a part of the park. I had only ever seen John Carlos Stan reach. It was like,

yeah, I had to stop what I was doing and just marvel at it. Like, just hit repeat a few times. It was so impressive. I, yeah, just stay healthy.

He could hit 40 home runs this year with 60 RBI. That might actually happen. I think the Angels had four solo home runs today. Yeah, that sounds right. Kyle Tucker. Wow, I'm seeing this.

I'm watching this now. It's, that is so far. You don't see baseball's land there in Marlins Park. It's over that M, like that was behind where the home run sculpture used to be, into the concourse there in front of the windows. Yeah, that's impressive. Check it out. Kyle Tucker, two for three with a double dong for RBI.

His teammate, Yiner Diaz, two for four with a double dong as well. Jaron Duran, more like Duran, Duran, Duran, three for five with three steals. That's right, not one, not two. But three, the A's are so bad, by the way. Five errors in the first three innings of the game. You just can't even make that stuff up. To Oscar Hernandez hit a three-run homer. That's his fourth already.

And I was just thinking more about the Dodgers lineup. And if you're a pitcher trying to navigate the Dodgers lineup, you would kind of think, all right, in the second half, maybe I can let up a little bit. And you can't. Like, to Oscar Hernandez is betting sixth or seventh in this lineup on most days. it's, he's just going to have so many pitches to hit this year. He could really have a massive season.

Anthony Volpe went 4 for 4 with two doubles, and he has looked really good so far as well. I've watched almost every inning of every Yankee game, and he is very poised at the plate. He's very disciplined so far. He's not chasing. It just looks like a different player. We'll see if he can keep that up.

Spencer Steer, two for five with a grand slam, his first homer of the year. Seems like the Reds are going to run wild again this season, by the way. They had five steals on Monday. L. L. Dela D. Cruz. 14 attempts and four games, I think.

For the Reds as a whole. L.A. D.A. Cruz picked up a second. Stuart Fairchild still two bases. Bubba Thompson picked up his third. Yeah, you know who leads the team in steals? Bubba Thompson, who has three steals and zero play appearances. Oh, gosh. This is, it's been too long since the days of Terrence Gore.

That was exactly the name. I'm happy that we're having someone like this back in our lives. That was exactly the name. I was thinking up too. Will Benson picked up his first stolen base as well. Shout out to the Pirates who are 5 and O for the first time since 1983. They've somehow opened their season against five straight lefties. I wish,

I don't know how to look it up, but that is wild. Like, when was the last time a team opened against five lefties in a row? I don't think Connor Joe is going to be there every day league off there. He's let off every game, but I think that's just because they face lefties every game. I think so too.

I think against Ritey's it's probably going to be O'Neill Cruz, but we just haven't seen that yet. Brian Reynolds, go ahead, Scott. They should have a string of Ritey's coming up. I believe this McKenzie Gore here was the only lefty, the pirates are scheduled to face this week. So look out for Jack Swinsky. Let's go. Brian Reynolds, off to a nice start, multiple hits in three of five games. He has eight RBI, Henry Davis, two for four with two doubles in this one, one of which one 11.5 exit velocity.

one more start of catcher and he gains eligibility on CBS and Michael Taylor had himself a nice game three for four with two runs and an RBI he did steal a base over the weekend another name for really deep leagues NL labor

NL only or like 15 team five outfielder leagues All right here's the next lefty the pirates face Terrick Scoobble Ooh tough break for Connor Joe there Hey hey Connor Joe's off to a nice start too

I don't want to hear it Some bullpen updates. Speaking of those pirates, a roll as Chadman entered the game with two outs in the ninth inning, two runners on, and an eight four lead. He got the final out for his first save. David Bednar pitched on Saturday and Sunday,

so my guess is he was unavailable. The pirates have four saves, none of which have gone to David Bednar. Which is just, there's nothing there. It's just weird timing. I think two of them have been extra innings. It's just been a weird start.

I think one of them was a multi-inning save when they were up by like four. I'm not. No David Beddard concerns. For the Orioles, Craig Kimbril got the ninth inning with a one-run lead. He gave up a single to Kyle Isbell and then pinch runner Diron Blanco. Stoll second and third base. He scored on a sacrifice fly, so it was a blown save for Kimbril.

He wound up with the win because, on the other side for the Royals, Nick Anderson, got the bottom of the ninth at the game tied. He gave up a walk-off home run to Jordan at Westberg. For the Marlins, round and round we go. Where we stop? Who knows? Tanner Scott was called upon in the eighth inning with the game tied to face the top of the Angels lineup. He walked the first three batters he faced.

He somehow only allowed one run. Anthony Bender then started the ninth inning. He gave up, I think it was two runs on two hits. Somebody asked this on Twitter, I don't think it's crazy. The chances that AJ Puck could wind up as the Barlin's closer again. Yeah, I mean, when they announced that he was going to be in the rotate are going to try to be in the rotation at the beginning of spring training. I wrote my relief pitcher preview and I chose him as my sleeper for relief pitcher.

And I said, it's pretty unlikely that this works out and he is a good starter. I soften my stance on that as spring went on. But I also said, if it fails, he could still be the closer at some point. So I do think there's a chance that that happens. All right. For the Tigers, Jason Foley pitched in the ninth inning with the game tied. He gave up a hit. did strike out two.

And then for the Mariners, Andrus Munoz entered in the eighth with a two-run lead to face the heart of the Guardians lineup, three, four, and five. He gave up a solo homer to Josh Nailer. Ryan Stannick, then got the ninth, and he picked up his first save.

It kind of looks like maybe Munoz is just their highest leverage for leader. Wow, this is the way Scott's service has always handled things. Even after Paul Seawald was traded last year, remember there was a lot of this going on with Andres Munoz then and when Paul Seawald was still there. At times, he would work an earlier inning.

So Scott's service has been playing the leverage game for a long time at relief pitcher. Munoz is still obviously the guy to roster from the Mariners rotation, or bullpen. But it's going to be frustrating at times. There's a history of that for Seattle closers. And we will wrap up with Scott's favorite segment to stream. or not to stream. That's right. I thought we were going to go away from this.

Come on, Scott. We got to help out the daily lineup leaguers out there. So the way this will work is at the end of every podcast, I will present some starters pitching on the day of the podcast and the following day, depending on the league format that you play in. But give me your two or three favorites from Tuesday. I'm not going to run through the entire list,

but you could see them here on the screen. Casey Mize, Javier Assad. and Reynaldo Lopez. Revenge game for Ronaldo. Yeah, I would take Rinaldo Lopez over Assad, but I agree those are the top three. Mises at the Mets.

Assad is against the Rockies. And as you said, Frank Lopez against the White Sox. And then on Wednesday, does A.J. Puck bounce back? He faces the Angels. I mean, I... I'm not...

Dropping him, but do I really want... want to start him after that six walk start, I'd rather, I'd rather see what happens with him on my bench. Having said that, this is kind of the problem with the streaming section. There are never good options. And he might be the best of these bad options. I, I think I'd throw Chris Paddock out there, but I've been a little more optimistic about Paddock than you guys. So that, that's the one. Yeah, and I think that's a good disclaimer, Scott. Just because we're recommending these names, doesn't necessarily mean they're good

or that we even really like them, but these are the names that are rostered in less than 75% of CBS League. So if you're looking for streamers, these are the best available. You are asking us to make chicken salad out of chicken crap. And you can't be surprised

if the crap goes to crap. That being said, Logan T. Allen, Logan Taylor Allen. I remain interested in him as a sleeper-ish, And I wouldn't start him against the Mariners if I could avoid it, but don't mind having him on my roster along with Paddock and AJ Puck to see what happens. And I can't imagine someone being desperate on a Wednesday in the second week of the season. But if for some reason you are, I could imagine, I could see Jose Cantana against the Tigers.

Yeah, that's another one that's working out well. Yeah. All right, we're 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 race. on Apple or Spotify, and we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye.