Fantasy Baseball Today - Ross Stripling Joins The Show! Mailbag Questions (04/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

Frank and Scott are talking to Dodgers All-Star pitcher Ross Stripling and he starts off with his thoughts on the latest proposal from MLB (4:13). ... Ross then tells us about the park factors that come with pitching in Arizona (6:16). He reveals how pitching in Arizona is actually similar to pitching at altitude in Coors Field. ... Was there a juiced ball in 2019 (9:05)? You didn't hear it from Ross Stripling. ... What went into his breakout 2018 campaign (12:28)? It was a combination of factors but he likes to start! ... We end the interview with some rapid-fire FBT related questions (21:20). ... Adam and Chris join the show and we're answering your questions (32:45). How do park factors change specifically in Arizona and Florida? ... Who do we trust more between Mitch Keller and Dylan Cease in a H2H points league (41:10)? ... Scott often mentions 50-homer power but who are those players (49:00)? Of course this is an opportunity for Chris to defend Giancarlo Stanton. ... Email us at [e-mail]. 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @CBSFantasyBB, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday 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/ Download our printable Draft Kit from CBSSports.com/draftkit! 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

Hey, everybody, we have a fun show plan for you today. The first half of this podcast is an interview Scott and I did with Dodgers pitcher, Ross Stripling. Then in the second half of the episode, Chris and Adam jump in to help us answer some of your questions. Thanks as always and enjoy the show. Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, hit the wall. This is magnificent.

Got a fantasy question? Email Fantasy Baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank Scott, Chris and Adam. Frank Sample and Scott White here from Fantasy Baseball today, and we're joined now by All-Star pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Ross Stripling. Ross, thank you so much for taking the time.

I hope you and your family are staying safe with everything going on. How are you holding up? Yeah, you know, in a time like this, all you can ask for is your friends and family to be healthy and safe, which knock on wood, mine are. We've been able to all kind of do the social distancing thing. But I'm a little stir crazy. I'm not used to being home this time of year. You know, I'm used to be in, heck, 20 games, 25 games into our season by now already.

So holding on as best we can, but definitely ready for some sports to be back soon. Yeah, so on the subject of normally pitching right now, are you doing any throwing on the side? Like what sort of things are you doing to stay in shape? Yeah, you know, the CDC probably doesn't want to. hear it but I think most of us are still working out as if it's a normal offseason, you know, as if it's January 1st. Like I'm still able to go into the gym. We're just doing it in smaller groups, you know, when normally you might work out in four, five, six at a time and the off season right now we're working out two at a time. So I'm still able to put on, you know,

and keep the strength up that you have, you know, heading into a spring training and kind of keeping a normal off season as if it's January 1st, kind of took a few weeks off from throwing on the mound and now have kind of started that build up process back. And, you know, so really, there's no excuses, at least for me and the guys that I'm around as far as staying in baseball shape, because we have every opportunity. It's just the rest of the day, it's been trying to pass the time. That's where it's difficult. So since you say it's kind of like turning it like the offseason January 1st, does that mean that you'll need a normal, like if the season were to, a date was to be announced, the season is starting

this date. How much time do you think you'd need to get ready for it? Would it be as long as a normal spring training or less than that? I think it'd be less, especially with the circumstances that we have, but it's all about starting pitchers. And that's really why spring training is even as long as it is still. You know, I think a lot of players have come out and been pretty open about spring training not needing to be, you know, 30 games. But in a time like this, we could certainly shrink it. But at the end of the day, we got to build starting pitchers up or else you're going to abuse your bullpen. Guys are going to be much more susceptible to injuries if they're not built up and that kind of stuff. So, you know, starting pitchers need probably three weeks, three or four outings to get

three, four, five innings in and then at a place where they can at least get to 75 pitches. That way, on opening day, it's not, you know, bullpen's having to cover six innings a game for those first few weeks. So you're talking like starting pitchers may be needing three starts, four starts? Yeah, I think, uh, yeah, I think, uh, you know, there'll be, I think there'll be a big, uh, I can't think of the word, but like a, a big group of starting pitchers that get ready beforehand. Like let's say a date comes out and it's fourth of July, just to be conservative. I think June 1st, starting pitchers will start building up on their own, getting to where they can comfortably throw two or three innings heading into spring training. I think teams and coaches

and stuff will try and get that initiative going. That way when spring training 2.0 starts, hopefully most starting pitchers are built up to comfortably throwing two or three innings. That way those first few outings, you can already go two, three, maybe three, four, five, and you don't need four or five outings in a second spring training to get built up. You already have a little bit built up in there before you even show up to wherever the second spring training is. We're here with Ross stripling Dodgers pitcher, and NLB's latest proposal, Ross, includes teams playing in just three states. This came out just the other day. It would be Arizona, Texas, and Florida. Obviously, there are a number of factors in play here, but, you know,

what do you think of this scenario? Because we've already heard from people like Mike Trout, even your teammate Clayton Kershaw. There's been a little bit of pushback here on this. Now, what say you when it comes to this latest proposal? Yeah, there's certainly some quick pushback, one there from some big names in the baseball world about leaving your family for four and a half months. I don't think guys wanted to do that. You know, the one of getting everyone in Arizona, I think when I first read it just seemed impossible. To live a quarantine life for four months, no family. All you're doing is busing to and from a hotel to the field. You know, it just doesn't seem possible. We're sitting in the stands in our uniform.

That's not baseball. Like, why not wait another month, hopefully, where it's a little safer, not as many cases and we're kind of past the coronavirus stuff and then, you know, put the real product on the field. As far as the new one, I think it's doable. You know, you talk about indoor stadiums and all those states. All of them are pretty good weather states. Not going to have a lot of rainouts, especially since most of the stadiums are indoor anyways. And we're still spread out a little bit and then, you know, you can kind of cycle teams through those states, right? So like 10 teams go to one and then you get five out to another state and another five. come in. That way you can, you know, play different people. I think it makes more sense than that

initial proposal of everyone going to Arizona, but it still, I mean, it still seems a little far-fetched, and when you start talking to baseball players and staff and telling them, you know, you're going to be away from your family for possibly months, you know, guys are going to struggle with that. But at the end of the day, if that's what we have to do to play baseball, I'm sure most guys would get on board with it. It sounds like you would be on board with it, if nothing else, right? Well, at first, I was super back and forth and now well into April and getting a little stir crazy. If that's what it takes to get baseball back, I'm certainly on board. So in either proposal, well, I guess we don't really know yet,

but it sounds like several of the proposals, it sounds like you guys would still be playing in Arizona like you do in spring training. And so you have some familiarity with that environment already. How is it different from like the major league environment? And I'm not talking about like fans. or crowd size, I mean, or anything like that. I mean, obviously, there might not be crowds at all. But just in terms of, like, how the parks play,

what makes it different from the MLB environment? Sure. Well, for one, Arizona in the middle of summer is going to be 120 degrees. So you're going to have the kind of the physical toll on your body that that's going to take, especially if, you know, if we have a bunch of teams in Arizona, you're going to be playing doubleheaders. The Diamondbacks are the only team that has an indoor stadium there. So is that their stadium?

Do we get to all cycle through that stadium? If you draw the short end of the straw, are you playing more day games at 1 o'clock in the middle of the summer than some other teams? So there's a lot that goes into that for sure. And then when the ball, when the weather is hot, the ball flies, as we have seen. And, you know, you didn't hear from me,

but the balls have seen juice the last few years. So now you put juice balls in the middle of a 120-degree summer. There's going to be some homers. You know, and it's, I don't know if Arizona's necessarily at altitude. I've never actually checked, but it has some Colorado feel to it where your curveball doesn't curve as much. Your sinker doesn't sink as much. Your cutter will sink sometimes.

I don't know if it's thin air or what, but it definitely takes some getting used to pitching there. And, you know, some teams might battle with. Obviously, we spring training there and we play there three times a year, so you get used to it. But, yeah, there's some challenges with playing in Arizona. I would say the heat is the biggest one and as a pitcher of the ball flying, but we'd get used to it quickly.

Okay. Yeah, that's actually the first I've heard. Somebody talk about Arizona kind of having that Colorado effect where the pitches don't move as much. And I mean, obviously looking at the spring numbers, it seems like they're always so high in the Cactus League, but of course we're working a month at a time at that point and pitchers don't have their full arsenals or whatever else.

But you're saying it's actually, a difficult place to pitch. Like you would expect offense to be up for any team playing in that Cactus League environment. I would, yeah. And this is me talking and guys in the locker room talking. I don't know what it could. It could just be dry heat.

It could be a mixture of things. Because it doesn't seem like Phoenix sits at altitude. So it doesn't seem like an altitude issue. But it definitely, it's different. It's not as drastic as Colorado by any means, but it certainly has a difference. Ross, I wanted to touch on the baseballs that you mentioned a little bit. We didn't hear it from you, but we've heard it from other people

that the ball potentially could have been juiced last year. And there were some pitchers that mentioned that the seams felt different and it affected their production last season. I know Edwin Diaz had trouble gripping his slider. Masahiro Tanaka had trouble with his splitter. Did you notice anything differently for you in terms of trying to grip the ball for certain pitches? Did you notice anything in particular for yourself? You know what? I didn't. I think it's just you touch them from day one of spring training,

and it's just you get used to it right off the bat. Where I did see a difference is I'm living in Texas right now, and I'm playing catch with Scott Casimir, who pitched in the big leagues for 10 plus years, and he whipped out some baseballs from like the 2015 and 2016 season, and I had some that the Dodgers sent home for me from last year, just a couple dozen balls. And you can feel a difference. One is the newer ones are much denser. They feel harder. The older ones are like lighter feeling. And I don't necessarily know what the difference is, why one would fly more than the other, but they are different. Like, you can close your eyes and tell the difference in the two baseballs. And I'm not saying it was, you know, brought about by MLB or anyone in particular. Apparently it has to do with weather in Costa Rica

where all the baseballs are made. Like, there's a lot that goes into it, you know, but to me, there's no doubt that they were different. I mean, you could feel it clear as day. And that started, when did you say the years were? I guess, let's see. Really, I mean, was it last year that it was, I mean, the AAA had set a new home run record by like the All-Star break, right? So last year was the year.

I remember maybe kind of mumbling about it in 2018 as homers are going up. You're like, yeah, guys are bigger, stronger. Pitchers are throwing more up in the zone. Homers are going to happen. but then last year it was so over the top with how many home runs were hit. I think that was really where it started to set in. Well, some pictures specifically at the start of last year, I think Noah Sendergarde said it was like handling ice cubes or something to that effect.

Yeah, it's used a lot, the word cue ball. Okay, yeah, I noticed a lot of pitchers, like high-end pitchers, their numbers were really awful last April. And I wondered if there was kind of an adjustment piece. period going on with the new feel of the baseball. Do you feel like you had kind of an adjustment period as far as that goes? I mean, I don't want to rag on other guys by any means, but no, I didn't, I didn't feel that there was such a difference that I had to change anything. You know, where I feel the difference is kind of what we've already talked about, where's when you're changing

altitudes, going to Colorado, where it's cold, really dry, you've got to use a ton of rosin. you know, right, to get the feel for the ball. You're trying to get the sweat off your hands in Arizona as best you can. And that's so dry there that you're trying to feel the baseball. And then you go somewhere humid, you know, so mixing up kind of airs, I guess, does that make sense? Air quality, not quality, but just the difference of the air. That's where I feel the difference in the baseball.

But as far as the baseball themselves last year, I don't remember ever, you know, picking up a baseball and being like, I got to change up something that I'm doing because I just don't, it doesn't feel right. We're here with Ross Stripling of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And Ross, I wanted to ask you specifically about your 2018. You know, your 2016 and 2017 were very good seasons. But in 2018, you really took it to another level. I actually have to take this time to thank you because you helped me win a fantasy baseball championship in 2018.

You posted a career high, K-to-walk ratio. You know, what changed for you in that season, if anything? Was it mechanics? Did you change your arsenal? Was it maybe just like a confidence thing? I mean, what happened in that 2018 that really allowed you to take that next step? Right. It was a mixture of all of that.

And really coming into my own as far as being able to scout hitters, put a plan together. As a guy that can throw four or five pitches, you know, kind of in any count, how do I use that to my advantage? You know, I was throwing a lot of cutters back then. I've kind of basically completely got away from my cutter now, just trying to stay away from patterns and stay unpredictable to hitters. and really learned how to dive into a scouting report and put a plan together and go out and execute it and trust my stuff. After two years in the big leagues, you kind of start to feel like you belong there and that you can get guys out at that level and you start getting more and more confident as you touched on. And the other thing is I just didn't want to pitch in the bullpen. You know, I was in the bullpen.

Basically all of 2017, I think only made two starts and they're basically spot starts of two or three innings, not true starts. And I viewed that as when I got that opportunity to get into the rotation as maybe the last chance I had. And it just kind of lit a fire under my butt as a maybe it could have found a better turn there. But it just fired me up. And I really wanted to earn that starting rotation spot. And I wanted to stay there. And just kind of took my competitive level to another, you know, to a whole different

echelon and was able to take advantage of those situations and those opportunities I was given. And unfortunately ran out of gas there, so I wasn't able to really help you much in the second half of your fantasy season there. But as far as the first half and making an all-star game, I mean, that's something I'm really proud of and looking back on, you know, have been able to build on. Ross, I just wanted to follow up on that. You mentioned, you know, the difference between starting and being in the bullpen. You know, you've been asked to do it all. You'll make starts.

If that's what's asked of you, you'll come out of the bullpen. I mean, how does your preparation change throughout the course of the season? depending on what your role is going to be because I'd imagine it's it's quite different when you're you know prepping for a start versus you know just being in the bullpen right you know I've chose to from a scouting report side basically keep it the same because out of the bullpen I'm still a good candidate to go basically a full time through the lineup right two three innings and so I got to scout everyone so the scouting side has stayed the same as far as how I'm going through a lineup putting a plan together going over it with catchers and pitching coaches and making sure I'm

for each hitter because you never know when I could come in. I face lefties as much as I do righties. From where it's really different is the routine as far as weight room, throwing, bullpins, throwing sides, and just kind of basically put two completely separate plans together. Like when I'm in the bullpen, this is what I'm doing. I'm lifting four days a week on these set days, whether I pitch or not. When you're in the rotation, you've got five days between starts, sometimes six. you can really get after those first few days because you have more days to recover.

And the bullpen's more about really listening to your body. Like, man, I just don't feel really good today. I might have to tailor it back because I might have to pitch at 10 o'clock tonight. You know, so what can I do right now to make sure I'm ready for that? So it's just, they're just so different. And the mentality is so different. I mean, out of the bullpen, you got to have your best stuff from pitch one. You know, there's no finding it.

There's no, oh, let me throw a couple of curveballs. Let me get, you know, figure it out. And then I'll start really working it. Like it's got to be there from pitch one. And if it's not, you bag it and you start working on something else to get guys out that day. Versus the rotation, you know, you've heard guys kind of ease into it, figuring it out, getting their feel for the day. And then you start competing. The bullpen, you just can't afford to be like that.

You mentioned you ran out of gas toward the end of that 2018 season. And one of the things I'm always fascinated about is kind of pitcher buildup. It doesn't seem like an exact thing. and we're always kind of guessing at how many innings a guy can go from one year to the next. And it seems like there is this effect when you're when you're kind of extending yourself beyond which you're previously used to. You can wear down, run out of gas like you said. So I just wondered like how what goes on there when that happens.

Right. Yeah, I'd love to be able to, you know, defend pitchers and just say like, yeah, we can we can do whatever we want, you know, if guys out of Tommy John, just let him go 200 innings. It just, you know, it's just not the way it is, man. I hadn't gone, I hadn't gone over 100 innings since a 2013 AA season in college before that, you know, and all of a sudden I was at like 100 innings at the All-Star break. And on top of that, I went to the All-Star game and did not perform very well. So when I should have been kind of sitting on my butt somewhere relaxing, I traveled cross-country to Washington, D.C.,

and took the L in an All-Star game, which just further dug me into a hole. And obviously, I love the opportunity. I'm not dogging, pitching an all-star game is unbelievable. But, you know, that would have been an optimal four days to get some rest and get back off my feet and just didn't work out that way. So I just think, you know, the idea of building up, like you said, it's not perfect. And some teams have very different ideas of how to do it. I mean, I was throwing one inning in an outing.

I think Jack Flaherty threw four on the same day. through one. He was already way more built up than I was. And I remember thinking, like, what is he doing? It's, you know, early March he's thrown four innings. Well, this is the way some guys are. And some guys are workhors. Think about the Scherzer's and the Kershawes of the world that go 200 end, Burlander, go 200 innings a year, you know, versus me who just totally ran out of gas at 100 innings. It's just, you know, I hate it. I wish it didn't happen. But it's just my body couldn't do it anymore, man. we're here with Dodgers pitcher, Ross Stripling.

And Ross, you know, I mentioned earlier that you're the jack of all trades when it comes to just being a pitcher for the Dodgers, you know, relief pitcher starter, whatever they ask you to do. You do a lot of interesting things off the field as well. I know that you have a podcast, The Big Swing, with your co-host Cooper Surrells, which apparently you talk about everything, sports, pop culture. Tell us a little bit about that. And tell us about you're a stockbroker. I mean, this is something that I've wanted to get into. I just don't have enough time because I'm here looking up raw stripling stats all day. But tell me a little bit about the podcast, the big swing.

And being a stockbroker, I guess, in season, off season. How does that work? Yeah, you know, the stock market's much more interesting than my Wikipedia page. So I suggest you transition over to the stock market. You know, man, I'm just, I'm a busy body by nature. It's kind of in my family and just the way that I've been forever. And I had two grandfathers that were very, active in the stock market I was able to learn from them at a young age my dad's active in

the market went on to Texas A&M studied finance and just kind of fell in love with the idea of investing and it's like legalized gambling right an idea of of you know being able to find something that you're passionate about and invest money into it and watch it hopefully go up and make more money like that's just a really really cool idea and when I had Tommy John in 2014 you know I didn't really know if my baseball career was done if I was going to come back and be the same. And I'm sitting on all this time and just got in with a bank called B. Riley and they sponsored me to take these two giant tests over the next two years past them and those make me a license money managers. Now I can solicit customers, give them advice and manage their money. I don't do it a ton,

but I have some clients and I do my own money, most of my family's money. It keeps me busy and I'm really passionate about it. And then transitioning over to the podcast. I just had a buddy. You mentioned his name is Cooper, and he's really passionate about podcasts and talking sports and even the technical side of doing the podcast. As you guys know, it's not easy. Like everyone thinks we can probably just hang up this call and you put it online and it's easy as that. Like there's way more that goes into it. Yes, you shaking your head. You know, it's hard. And he's passionate about it. And lucky for me, I can just kind of look up some talking points and show up ready to talk sports or anything. I talk so. I talk so

much baseball. Sometimes we like to mix it up. But it's been a lot of fun. We just did our 65th episode yesterday, actually, so we've been cruising for over a year, going to keep it going. It's been a lot of fun. Before we let you go, Ross, we have a few rapid fire fantasy baseball today related questions that we want to throw your way. So you ready? Yeah, let's do it. What baseball team did you grow up rooting for? I grew up a Rangers fan, Padra Regis, Juan Gonzalez. I grew up about 10 minutes from their stadium. So big rangers fan all right what is your favorite movie favorite movie i usually say goodwill hunting uh i haven't watched it in a while now but i love it i feel like i can quote every word of it what's your favorite fictional baseball character oh man good question um i like i mean benny the jet

rodriguez is the first one that comes to mind um uh yeah i'll stick with him that's just the first one that popped in my head so i'll go benny the jet is the sam light your favorite movie? I think it is. It's just feel good. And, you know, there's, there's no extra, there's not a love story in it or anything like that. Like, it's just baseball being played by some kids. And it's just, yeah, it's a classic. All right. What about your favorite TV show? Um, I love entourage. When I think about entourage in California, Cation, those are two shows I kind of watched at the same time when I was in college. I just loved them. Let's see. I really like Breaking Bad, but I don't think I can say it's my favorite. I'll stick with Entourage. Vinnie Chase, you know, and just that whole story.

I loved it. There's perfectly, there's nothing wrong with Breaking Bad being one of your favorite shows. Feel free to talk it up as much as you want, Ross. Yeah, I know. It's like, I love it. And I should, I should say it is. But, you know, I've gone back to watch Entourage four or five times, California Cation the same. I've never gone back. back to watch Breaking Bad. So I don't know if you can say it's your favorite show if you just binged it one time and never redid it. Were you a Game of Thrones guy? Yeah. And then the ending, I mean, you know, it would be unanimously my favorite show, nothing even close to it. And the ending just broke my heart, man. I can't say it's my favorite. Who is your from that show, though?

Who was your favorite character? Good question. I like Tyrion. Just such a smart character. and just the roller coaster that he went down and to end up where he did. I mean, just the plot and character development of that show. I mean, every episode was like a movie. It's just unbelievable, you know, and then just to rush it at the end like that. I know it sounds, I sound like I'm so bitter because I am, but it just, yeah, it's- You're not alone there. You're not alone.

That seems to be the consensus. I think people are a little hard on it personally, but, you know, season eight, was the worst season, I think, pretty objectively speaking. Yeah, I've said all along, and we're going to go down a dark hole here if we keep going. But I've said all along, I have no issue with where the characters ended up at all. You know, I have no issue with where each and every character finished their storyline. I thought it was just fine. It's just how quickly they got there that we spent all this time seven seasons building these guys up. And then we're going to finish off some of these crazy character lines in the blink of an eye. And it just, I thought it was an injustice to a lot of

characters. Does anybody in the Dodgers locker room referred to Justin Turner as Torment? Yeah. Because like a mirror images. All the time, all the time, especially, you know, as those last two seasons were being played, and especially the season eight, I mean, when Torman was, you know, kind of more and more in every episode, yeah, all the time. Ross, how do you feel about peeps? Not a fan. They're not for me. I feel bad.

My mother-in-law gave me some for Easter, and they didn't even get eaten. So they're just, I don't know if it's the texture. I've never been a marshmallow guy. They're not for me. Would you like him? I don't mind them. I don't like them.

For me, it's kind of the same thing as the ending of Game of Thrones. I mean, there's nothing special, but I think people kind of overreact. It's a sugar-covered marshmallow. I mean, how can you go that wrong with that? True. Yeah, I might just come down to, I'm just not a marshmallow guy. Maybe. Are you a picky eater in general?

I'm not. I mean, I eat healthy for sure. It's just kind of the nature of the business. You know, if you eat like crap, there's no way you're ever going to survive 162 games, but I'm not dairy-free, gluten-free or anything like that. In terms of being a picky eater, do you like that? chicken fingers? Well, I like chicken strips. I gotta say that because that's my nickname. Oh, is it? Yeah, my player's weekend name is chicken strip.

Ah, didn't catch that one. They wouldn't let me go with the stripper. I had to change it up. Okay, I get it now. Do you feel like your last name should have two peas in it? No, but you know what? There's a lot of people that do spell it with two peas. You know, if I say like stripling and don't spell it out almost, I'm. I would say more than half the time people put two peas. Yeah, well, that seems phonetic. I feel like when you first came up, I had a tendency to call you Ross Stripling until I heard it enough.

Yeah, rightfully so. My wife's a first grade teacher, so I hear the word phonetically all the time, and I understand that that's how our name should be said. Ross, I've got to ask about the chicken strips. Do you put condiments on your chicken strips? You know what? It depends.

I think a good chicken strip should just be able to be, eaten by itself, right? Yeah. But I'm not a huge sauce person in general, but if I do, I'll, being from Texas, I love a good barbecue sauce if it's available. When was the last time you ate Chef Boyardee? Oh, man. What am I, 30? 24 years ago, maybe. It's been a long time. I was going to follow up with Was it Good, but I probably wouldn't remember that far back. Yeah, I can't. You know what? I guess hamburger helper is not Chef Bwardi, is it? No. Michael Waka was my college and he lived on Hamburger Helper for years in college. So if that was in there, I could at least say college. But yeah, no chef Bordi in very, very long time. All right. We've saved the best for

last, Ross. And I hope that you have opinion on the topic. But is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Oh, good question. I'm going to say no. I'm going to say no, just because I don't feel like when it's Christmas season and I'm searching through the cable on the guide, I don't feel like I see Die Hard. That would categorize a Christmas movie to me. Are you in the mood to watch it?

Christmas time? Always. Oh, no, yeah. In Christmas time, no. I wouldn't say it goes through my head like, oh, it's, you know, middle of December. I need to watch them die hard. Do you guys think it's a Christmas movie?

Well, we're very torn about that on this podcast. One of the guys who isn't here right now is adamant. It is not. Yeah. I'm with him on that. Though it seems like the majority seems to consider it a Christmas movie just because it happens to take place at Christmas. There are so many themes of love and family

and his limo drivers playing Christmas and Hollis to start the movie. Yeah, I'm in the camp, that I believe it's a Christmas movie. but this was a lot of fun. Ross Tripling of the Los Angeles Dodgers, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. We really appreciate it, man. Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. It was great.

Awesome interview. Once again, we want to thank Ross Stripling for joining us and encourage everybody to check out his podcast, The Big Swing. I'm here with Scott, Chris, and Adam is back. Adam, happy NFL draft day. I know that you've been super busy with the fantasy football today content, but you decided to join us for a little brief mailbag. How's it going, buddy?

I felt pressured. I felt like you guys were judging me, saying a lot of things about me while I wasn't on the show. So I had to put a stop to that. And here I am. I am excited. Tonight's a big night. Some sort of real sports.

And yeah, still looking forward to talking baseball as well. Getting more optimistic about a season being played. Just know that it's all in good fun, Adam. Not from me. Yeah. I genuinely dislike you. I know, Chris. I know.

but that's okay. I'll win you over before the years of. But there's no season. I will win you. What happened? Yeah, that's right, Kat. Yeah, karma. Karma Kat. Just scratch the hell out of Chris. Arm a cat. Even Bowie is currently outduling Chris here on the podcast. Scott is here as well. Scott, you know, I wanted to ask Ross Trippling about what he preferred to do between being a starter versus being a reliever, but he kind of hinted at himself a little bit. He attributed his 2018

success to being able to start games. He wants to be a starter, or so it sounds like, and statistically he has actually been better as a reliever. But in his career, 3.71 ERA as a starter, nothing to sneeze at. I mean, that would be very valuable to fantasy owners. So here's to hoping one day we get raw stripling the starter back, Scott. Yeah. Yeah, no, he didn't just hint at it. He said he didn't want to be stuck in the bullpen, so he decided he needed to make some changes. Yeah, that was, Obviously, if he had gotten traded to the Angels this offseason, that would have played out.

We weren't supposed to ask him about that either. I wonder what would have happened if we did. But we were courteous. We didn't ask him about it. So the role remains the same, swing man and potentially in Arizona, where, as he pointed out, it would not be such a great situation for pitchers. Yeah, we actually have a question coming up here on the mailbag regarding some of the ballparks in Arizona and Florida.

know that you are working on an article there. So maybe we get a little bit of a sneak peek, Scott. But before we get to the mailbag, just want to remind everybody that we're doing a live Q&A video stream on our Fantasy Baseball Today Facebook page on Friday, April 24th. Today we're recording this on Thursday, so that would be tomorrow. But for whenever you're listening, Friday, April 24th at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, bring a beer, bring some food, happy hour, coming out with your fantasy baseball today, crew. I'll be there. Chris will be. be there. Maybe Scott will be there. Adam. Any chance we could get you to pop in? Friday night. No, it's NFL draft. Can't do it. I honestly can't. I would, but I can't. Look, we're going to have

a ton of these. So I think eventually we'll, we'll pure pressure you into. I'm freaking part of the team. I took the week off last week. And this is NFL draft week. Like, we have like seven nice. Please. We have like seven episodes in six days or something like that on the football show. So, yes, I'm not a ghost like they make me out to do. I know, I know. Like I said, it's all in good fun, at least from me. I can't speak for everybody here on the show. But let's get into the mailbag.

This first question comes from Christopher Deschamp. It seems that if we have a baseball season, it will be played with two leagues in Arizona and Florida. I would love to see analysis on the park effects. And the Florida Parks universally are the Florida Parks universally pitchers parks. Will all of the Arizona parks play like a mini-course field? Something we kind of heard Ross Stripling talk about in the interview.

Or is it not that simple? I'm wondering if player evaluations across the board need to be reconsidered. Are San Diego pitchers a lot less valuable now? Is Hermann Marquez suddenly more interesting? Should we knock the Yankees hitters down a notch? Scott, I hinted that you're kind of working on something here. So if you'd like to lead us off in terms of this discussion, what do you have currently with the park factor?

Yes, this is good timing. I've been researching at least grapefruit league parks all morning. I have more information about them because I have their park effects from the Florida State League in the minors. Not every grapefruit league park is also a Florida State League park, but 11 of them are. And then, well, 11, some of the parks they're shared, but 11 teams that play in the grapefruit league also have an affiliate in the Florida State League. Arizona I don't have as much information about those parks but what I'm finding with my grapefruit league park research is that it's it's kind of underwhelming the impact that should have the Pirates Park appears to be definitely more hitter friendly so whatever hitters you can find that matter there maybe Josh Bell his stock goes up a little Kevin Newman was actually terrible at home And that makes sense because it's a terrible park for right-handed hitters. So maybe he gets a little better.

But we already have questions about his power potential. Other parks, it's kind of amazing how many teams designed their spring training facility to have the exact same dimensions as their Major League Park. And of course, it's not all about dimensions. But that's the clearest indicator that we have about how the park might play. like Red Sox Spring Park is exactly like their home park, and obviously that's a bizarre park. Yankees Stadium, he mentioned, the emailer mentioned the Yankees,

if we should downgrade them. Their dimensions are exactly the same at their spring training home. Let me see, a couple others, Braves. I think it's almost exactly the same. But yeah, a lot of them came close to making their park exactly the same. Marlins Park looks like it should be a little better. than the Major League counterpart. The Astros, they're not going to have that short porch in left field,

which causes me to worry a little about Yuleguriel. And a little about Alex Bregman, too, truth be told. Though he actually hit the majority of his home runs on the road last year. So I'm not going to give everything away, but that's kind of the stuff I'm seeing. I don't think there should be drastic changes for players playing in the Grapefruit League. Now, the Arizona League might be a different story. The Arizona League, like I said, I'm not going to have as much ballpark specific information, but just the environment being so different.

I imagine the only team situation that will become more pitcher-friendly is Colorado. And maybe based on what Ross Trippling was saying, maybe not even as much as we think, just stands to reason it would have to somewhat. So the rest would all become more hitter-friendly and the impact might be more extensive there. Yeah, I think some hitters in the Grapefruit League, in the Cactus League rather, in Arizona, would see an uptick. I mean, specifically, you know, teams that normally play in pitcher ballparks, bigger ballparks, like the San Francisco Giants, the Oakland A's, the San Diego Padres, the Seattle Mariners, the Kansas City Royals, no names that stood out to me, Chris Davis, Wooda K, Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, my boy, Mani Machado, Fernando Tatis, Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier. were all kind of names that just came to mind for me that playing in the dry heat in Arizona, it would be beneficial for them as hitters to be playing there.

Does anyone disagree with that? No, and I wonder, are there any bad hitters parks? How many pitchers parks are there? Because, you know, it's not just the home games we have to consider here. Are these players basically going to playing all of their games in positive environments in warm weather? not that it's not warm weather and summer basically everywhere.

But, you know, I just like, you don't have to, guys got four games at AT&T this week or whatever it is in San Francisco, got to sit him, or he's in Kansas City, got to sit him. I just wonder if in general, I know, Scott, you said

the park dimensions are similar, but I feel like the ballparks will be more hitter friendly in general. In Florida? Well, certainly in Arizona, but yeah. Yeah, no, I agree in Arizona. The only team's situation that I think becomes more pitcher

friendly is Colorado and it would still be hitter friendly relative to the league as a whole. But in Florida, you think it's... I think it'll be the same... I think the cumulative effect in Florida would be the same as it is league-wide. I think it would play just kind of like an average league and a lot of the venues would have... A lot of them have exact same dimensions are very close. Now, playing in the heat and humidity of Florida, we could talk about maybe what that kind of

effect would have as opposed to these being spread out all over the country. Yeah, I mean, I think you're going to see kind of like there are factors that go into this just beyond the parks. I think the parks actually would probably just have kind of a neutralizing effect. You know, like, like Adam said, I don't think there would be many situations. You know, maybe in Arizona when someone's playing, you know, whoever ends up playing at Chase Field if they alternate, if the Diamondbacks get to play all their home games there, or what have you, you know, maybe that's a situation where we do know Chase Field does have

the humidor and has seen some muted offensive effects. Maybe that's the one. But, you know, if everybody's playing generally the same, you know, schedules in their own division, you know, much more neutral parks, much more neutral environments, I think you're probably going to see you know, whatever those advantages or disadvantages that players typically have, I think they'll probably just disappear. I think, though, that you're also going to get more pitchers, you know, minor leaders, stuff like that. So I think the pitching is going to be worse.

And I think, wait, I'm trying to get a handle on what Chris said here. Like, offense, offensive production is definitely going to be up for the team playing in Arizona. But it's going to be up for all of the teams playing in Arizona is what I mean. Like you're, what you're not going to see is those swings where, oh, my, you know, fringy starting pitchers playing at course field or something like that. You're not going to see those gigantic swings where the environment plays an impact. It's going to be for the players who are affected, they're all generally be affected in roughly the same way as the way. Well, yeah, I'm thinking in the context of putting a team together, though.

Yeah. Like how much, how much do you weigh the value of hitters and pitchers in Arizona's versus one who are playing in Florida. Oh, yeah, I think you definitely downgrade pitchers who are playing in Arizona and upgrade pitchers in Florida. And I think, you know, we'll see what the, you know, RJ Anderson, I think it was RJ Anderson from CBSSports.com

who first reported the three-state plan, which was Texas, Florida, and Arizona. Texas would have an impact as well. You know, we've seen the dimensions at Globe Life. One's park, one's field. I can't remember which one. The old one, you know, the dimensions weren't extreme, but it was an extreme hitters park,

especially for home runs. And it was because of that heat in the summer in Texas. And, you know, if they're playing in multiple standings in Texas, I don't know if they've torn that one down or if they still have it. But maybe they could use both. You know, I think you'd probably see a bit of, an offensive boon in Texas. And Florida is probably where you'd want to target your pitchers. There you go. Some park factors for if we're playing in Arizona and just Florida. I do want to get to

some other questions here from Hugh in St. Louis. Hello, all. Hi, all. I currently have Cis and Dillon Cise and Mitch Keller on my team. I really cannot keep both on my roster and stay legal. I am in a head-to-head points league would love a deep dive on both guys. Does Cease get an edge for being on a better team? So Dylan Sees versus Mitch Keller in a head-to-head points league. Adam, what do you think of that question? I, okay, they're both, they're both Arizona teams, right? They are not both Arizona teams. No. Pittsburgh is in Florida. In Grapefruit League. Then I'm going, then I'm going Mitch Keller. Because I think I like, I think I feel like I like Cise a little bit more in the short term. but long term I like Keller more just because he doesn't have the huge control issues.

But, I mean, I know we want to ignore how bad Keller was, but I don't want to completely ignore it. 713 ERA. It was terrible last year in 48, only 48 in 48 innings. Cease was terrible too, though. Not that bad. I mean, it wasn't that good, but walks are the big issue with him. I would say, I would say cease, if not for, you know,

planning on them playing in Arizona and, Florida, in which case I will take Keller. I'd take Keller either way. But yeah, the Florida versus Arizona thing certainly helps. I would take Mitch Keller as well. And head to head points league, I would probably favor whoever I think is going to go deeper into games and has, you know, therefore a better shot for quality starts and wins. I think you have concerns over both of these guys going deeper into games. But, you know, if we, if we are starting to actually weigh the Cactus League versus Grapefruit League thing, I mean, it's a good. point you bring up at him.

And the pirates are in the Grapefruit League, whereas the White Sox would be in the Cactus League. So something you could realize, though, that Dylan ceased through like 95 or more pitches almost every time out. So he didn't necessarily go that deep into games because he's kind of like in Eduardo Rodriguez. Yeah. He threw a lot of pitches and wasn't that efficient.

But 100, 101, 99, 101, 108, 98, 104, 104, 101. Those are his first six starts. Yeah, and that all becomes less relevant if he pitches better. And that's the key for both of them. In my eyes, I just think Mitch Keller is a little closer to being a good pitcher. Yeah. The things that he needs to fix are a little less ephemeral. Like, Dylan Cease needs to pitch better, basically.

Whereas Mitch Keller, it does really seem like it's more about. 713 ERA. He doesn't need to pitch better at all. Sure, but he had like a 500 Babbap. and like he's got a really good slider, a really good curveball. It seems more for him about switching up the pitch mix, being a little less predictable in certain counts, whereas Dylan C's, it really is like he needs to have better control.

Yeah. And he might. I'm optimistic that he'll improve, but that's something that's, to me at least, it's a little harder to predict. Adam, for what it's worth, Mitch Keller, his final eight starts once he returned from the minor leagues. 94 pitches, 93, 91, 99, 26.

That might have been a relief appearance. 93, 95, 92. So seven out of the eight, he was 91 or higher. Didn't hear 100 in there, did I? You did not. I'm taking Mitch Kellner. He starts down the stretch. He had some very encouraging, like, dominant starts.

Yeah. So she also had some really bad ones. That 23 pitch start was 26 pitch was a start. I don't know if he got hurt or what, but he only threw an inning in two thirds. I don't know what the deal with was there. This next one's from John Beck. Hey guys.

Jordan Montgomery. Dolphins quarterback. Jordan Montgomery is available in my Yahoo custom points league. Would you keep these starters I got late in my draft or drop someone for Montgomery? Joe Mosgrove, AJ Puck, and Dylan Seats. Would you drop any of those three for Georgia?

Montgomery. Chris, what do you think? I think it depends on what the rest of your rotation looks like. I don't think Jordan Montgomery has as much upside as Puck, Musgrove, or Dylan Seas, but I think he's definitely a more sure bet than puck or cease at the very least. So I think it kind of depends on the construction of your pitching staff and whether you value the upside or whether you need a guy who can contribute. Scott, would you drop any of Musgrove, Puck, or Seas for Jordan Montgomery? I wouldn't.

No, I like them all more than Montgomery, though. Montgomery certainly has Sleeper appeal himself. It's just what you prefer. And I think of these four pitchers, the highest ceiling of all is Puck, probably followed by cease. but, you know, Musgrove and Montgomery are a little more proven, and that's why it's a worthy debate to have. But, yeah, even though Puck and Cesar are the ones

who would be pitching in Arizona in this scenario. And I do want to stress that part because we still obviously don't know what form the season if it happens is going to take. It could still be all Arizona. And then that grapefruit versus Cactus League thing doesn't matter. But, yeah, just based on, based on what I know about these pitchers themselves. I would leave Montgomery.

He would be the one I'd leave on waivers. What? So I actually replied to this email, and I said, I'd rather have Montgomery than puck. And I mean, I understand the prospect hype and, you know, obviously very early pick.

Was he number one overall? I know it was around one pick. It was around one. Not one overall. No. Okay. So his minor league numbers are not very good. So 39080 RA in 183 innings.

That doesn't scream, the strikeouts are great though. Strikeouts are incredible. That doesn't scream to me as somebody who's going to have immediate success. And that's why I went with Montgomery. Because I understand the long-term future looks bright for AJ Puck, but he is also coming off shoulder issues and hasn't had a good season since like his first, first, first stint in the minors in 2016, just in terms of his ERA. So, well, I guess maybe a little bit in 2017.

A lot of hitters parks and a lot of extreme control issues he had to overcome. But he was progressing. And particularly the spring where he got diagnosed with a torn elbow ligament, he was looking really strong about to win a rotation spot. I don't know. I want to see a little bit more success, though. Yeah, I get it. It's totally an upside versus safety thing.

The thing is Montgomery may be safe relative to puck, but I don't think you're getting a totally bankable house. asset there. So I'm shooting for the upside. Yeah, I'm closer to you on this one, Adam. I'd rather have Montgomery than puck. What a shock. What a shock. Go New York, go New York. Right. I'm not going to stop there. But now, Monty has already showed the ability to pitch in the majors 388 ERA, average 8.3K per 9 back in 2017 with the Yankees. It was quite a while ago. Oh, Monty? Is that a thing?

I don't know. I just made it a thing. But give me Montgomery. I think it also goes back to what Chris said. If you need someone that's actually going to contribute, I think Montgomery will contribute more early on rather than someone like AJ Puck. This next one's from K.C. Dear Bush, Bailey, Simpson, and philosophy.

That's funny. That's Homer's. Homer Bush, Homer Bailey, Homer Simpson, Homer. the Greek author who wrote The Iliad and the Odyssey. Scott always talks about the top 35 for starting pitchers and getting at least four. But at times, I've heard him reference to players with true 50 home run upside. I know power isn't as hot a commodity, but that kind of power is still rare. Is there a hard number of players in this range, 5, 10, and should we reach to grab at least one. So 50 home run upside. Scott, how many players do you think actually have that upside?

Aaron Judge has that upside. Miguel Sinole has that upside. John Carlos Stanton, I guess you'd say has that upside. I guess. You really hate John Carlos Stanton. That's kind of right about how his power hasn't been quite the same in the last two seasons. It's one season. One season where he switched parks. This is ridiculous. He switched parks from Miami to New York. He switched. No, what I meant to say was he switched leagues. I know what you meant to say.

You could not say that the- from the National League to the American League was a bigger downgrade than the transition from Marlins Park to Yankee Stadium was an upgrade. No, you're right. You're right, Adam. We should crap on the guy

who's only hit 96 home runs in his last two healthy seasons. One of them, he had like 60, right? 58 and 38. there's your ceiling and your floor. But the floor last year. Look, you have, you and I used to be on the same side with standing. And you decided to go in the wrong direction. You are so stuck in, like you refuse to hear any criticism that you're saying.

No, there's plenty of criticism. He strikes out a lot. He has had trouble staying healthy in the past. He's probably not going to be, he's probably not going to be very, very useful in batting average. but there's there is no question if you're talking about guys who have 50 homer potential there is no like i guess we have to include junk carlo stanton you have to include junk carlo stanne i included him why you you were like picking but you did a big sigh and made a big dramatic show oh because i knew this oh i guess we have to no you just include junk carlo's stand and move on mckelson knows a better i

think i think okay can i finish answering the question ridiculous i think the three Three clearest 50 homer candidates. I'm not going to include the guy who hit 50 homers last year either, by the way, or the guy who hit 49 or 48. I'm going to say the three clearest 50 homer candidates are Aaron Judge Miguel Sineau and Joey Gallo. And then others that you could also consider having that kind of upside include Stanton, Pete Alonzo, Mara.

Or face O'Lear, you'd have to put in there. A Johanio Suarez, you'd have to put in there. I think he should probably put Matt Olson in there. And am I missing anybody? There are guys who have to make changes. Like Framo Reyes has as much raw power as anyone in baseball. He just has to hit the ball on the air more. So, you know, I think you could probably get to maybe 10 who, you know,

in a best case scenario season, Christian Yelich was pretty close to that pace last season. I guess so, yeah. You can come up with a list of maybe 10 to a dozen. Billinger, Bellinger, right? Yeah, in an absolute best case scenario could get there.

But, you know, there's only been like, what, 20 people who have ever hit 50 homers in the season. So it's pretty unlikely any of them do. I would include Yerdon Alvarez in the conversation for 50 runs. He had 50 last year, or 49 or whatever it was. He hit 50, yeah, between the majors and minors.

50 between the majors and the minors. So I would put your honor alvarez there. Nelson Cruz. He would have gotten there last year, if not for the injuries, I has paced. Yeah, but he's old. He has the third. I mean, look, everybody that we've talked about has reasons they probably aren't going to do it. Okay.

Nelson Cruz has the ones we've named, though, I'd be most surprised by Nelson Cruz just because he's never come back. What's his career high? 44 and 152, but last year he had 41 and 120. He would have got there. He's almost 40 years old. So it's just, it could happen. It could happen.

He's going to hit at least one home run for every year, plus it doesn't. Chris, I'll remind you that you actually need to play games to hit home run. So that's my retort for John Carlis Stain. So I'll just leave it here. Oh, sure, sure. But we're not going to say it for freaking Miguel Sino and Jorge Soler. Miguel Sino goes later than John Carlis Stain. That's not the, that's not what.

we're talking about. This next one's from Matt Carvel. Hey, all you cool cats and kittens. Was looking to see if we... What is that? What is that? That's Tiger King. Yeah, okay. Good. I'm glad you. Carol Baskin.

Carol Baskin action there. Was looking to see... Hey, all, you cool, cats and kitten. What a loser. Murderer and a loser. Honestly, I couldn't tell if you were making front of Carol Baskin or the question for a second. Carol Baskin sucks.

I didn't finish the documentary. I listened to the podcast, but she's... Aside from being a murderer, she's also a loser. Yeah, you're not missing out on much. It was a real flash in the pain. It was really not even worth finishing. No, but you're right. She's definitely a loser, by the way. I was looking to see if we could get some AL-only talk.

Wanted to see how you guys would approach this type of league, not sure with formats that baseball is talking about what might, if anything, would change. and I don't even know if we would have an AOL only, like, would we make grapefruit only leagues? I mean, I presume not. You could still do an AL and an only league, even if the leagues are being played out. True. Divided differently, divided into grapefruit and cactus. You could still obviously just consider the AAL teams playing between the two leagues.

And that would probably be the easiest way to go about it. I'm not sure if CBS is going to offer an option. to divide it in grapefruit and cactus. That seems like a programming nightmare for a one-year payoff. But yeah, you could still play ALNNL only. I don't see why not. But is that, was that the only question?

No, I guess it's just like, how can you do AL and only if they're not, AL&NL only if they're not even competing against each other? It's so weird. It's weird, but it's kind of weird to do ALNNL only anyway. right now, I mean, considering interleague play is happening every day of the season, basically. I mean, and they're kind of going out of style, to be honest. It's getting harder to produce content specifically for them because it's so rarely viewed.

I feel like the Dynasty League has kind of replaced the AL and NL, the league specific format in how people approach fantasy baseball. They have the non-PPR leagues of baseball. Only hipsters play AL and NL only at this point. I don't think that's true. I think only... Old people. Yeah, I mean... I mean, yeah, but like boomers who are, you know, like, oh, I don't want to play with too many players.

So is it hip or hippies? Chris, how many AL only or NL only leagues are you in? None. I think I skipped all those this year. Good for you. Well, Chris, you're a cool cat and kitten. You're kind of the fantasy baseball today. representative of hipsters everywhere.

So you should. Yeah, but I'm like a populist hipster. I listen to Carly Ray Jepson and I love Paddington. Chris just created his own sector of hipster. Well, no, no, this is, you know, we could go into the whole pop-timism versus raucous debate and how the, you know, but we won't get into that. But suffice to say, you know, there's room for, for everything in my heart. I support it, man.

Except for peeps. And any junk Carlos Stanton's slander. This next one's from Paul in Austin. I think you're just being ridiculous. We're going to fight. I would argue that you're being ridiculous, Chris. I'm not. I'm the only non-ridiculous person.

From Paul in Austin, Texas, dear Nathan, Smith, Niko, and Sam Bito. Those sound like Joe's. Those are Joe's. Joe Sanbito, Astros reliever, Joe Necro, Joe Smith, sidearm reliever, still in the game. Joe Nathan, legendary reliever. In a 16-team dynasty head-to-head categories league, six-by-six with OPS and quality starts, I traded away Joe Musgrove, Casey Mise, and Brendan McKay for Glaber Torres and Luke Weaver.

Say it, Adam. I still have... I still have Matt Manning, Forrest Whitley, Brent Honeywell, Justin Duh, Justin Duh. Dio Hall and Louise Gill as minor league arms. What say you about this trait? I mean, unless it's a situation where you're keeping minor leaguers for much cheaper than major leaders and he doesn't specify that, so I would assume not. Glaver Torres looks like the best Dynasty League asset here. He's already proven. By far.

It's 23 years old. So yeah, this looks like a great deal for you. I wouldn't sweat giving up Miser McKay too much. I think Mize has a very high probability of being a quality major league arm, but I'm not sure he'll be like ace level. And McKay, jury's definitely still out on him, how good he ends up being. Torres is a terrific dynasty league asset. This is a great trade to make. And look, Weaver's young and he's the most proven of the pitchers.

I'm not even sure that he's not the second best asset. That was my thought. He's definitely in the conversation for the second best asset. Yeah. Yeah, I would give this trade probably a B plus. I mean, Casey Mize does have some upside and, I mean, some injury risk as well when it comes to Casey Mize. But yeah, Glaver Toro is still just 23 years old. I like this trade, a decent bit and still has some really good relief starting pitchers here on the bench.

But that'll do it. Thank you for listening to fantasy baseball today. We had our Ross Stripling interview, some mailbag here, the return of Adam Azza. Thank you. that. But that'll do it. Thanks for listening, everyone for Adam, Chris, and Scott. I am Frank. We will talk to you again on Friday. Bye-bye.