Fantasy Baseball Today - Ryan Howard Talks World Series, Phillies Struggles, Juan Soto Predictions & More! (10/30 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

Frank Stampfl and Chris Towers are joined by former Phillie Ryan Howard! How do players keep their cool in clutch moments like the World Series (2:52)? ... Is Shohei Ohtani the most talented player Ryan has seen (4:15)? ... Why have top prospects struggled so much (5:40)? ... Why did Ryan dominate certain pitchers (7:35)? ... What went wrong with the Phillies (9:05)? ... Where will Juan Soto wind up this offseason (11:17)? ... What does Ryan think of the rule changes in baseball (15:50)? ... We wrap up talking about Ryan's partnership with Sage (19:20)! 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

Now here's Frank Scott and Chris. What's up and welcome into a bonus edition of Fantasy Baseball today on Wednesday, October 30th. I am Frank Stamphled, joined by Chris Towers and a very special guest. Rookie of the year back in 2005, came back the very next year, won the National League MVP, a three-time All-Star World Series champ on behalf of Sage, the official finance software partner of MLB. Welcome to the show, Ryan Howard. Thanks so much, man. We appreciate you hopping in.

Hey, what's going on, guys? Thank you guys so much for having me. I'm happy to be here. Yeah, man. Thanks again. We're going to jump around a little bit. We'll ask you about your career, the current Phillies, and more. Let's start with the World Series.

You know a thing or two about being clutch in the World Series. You hit three home runs, six RBI back in 2008 when the Phillies won at all. When we're recording this Wednesday afternoon, the Dodgers are up three to one in the World Series. Don't know how it's going to end yet. I'm a huge Yankee fan, Ryan. You see the Yankee stuff behind me here. So obviously I am very much so emotionally invested in this World Series,

but we've seen clutch performances on both sides. Freddie Freeman is on another planet right now. He has homered each game of the World Series actually just set the record for homering in six straight World Series games that he has participated in. And then we saw the Yankees fight off elimination with a big performance of their own. Talk us through how a player approaches moments like this,

because it seems like guys like you and Freddie Freehese, you just have this uncanny knack for slowing things down in these clutch moments. No, I mean, I think that's the thing. I think it's obviously having all the information, having all the data. And it goes to the preparation. You know, I mean, as we talk about it, as you can see on my, my fleece here, you know, Sage, it's all about having the data and the insight and the information that you need to be able to process to be able to make the decisions that you need to make to be able to go up in business

or in this case, as we talk about the World Series, going up to the plate. Obviously, knowing who the pitcher is, knowing what their tendencies are, knowing what it is that they're going to try to do to you, so that you can have your plan of attack to be able to come through in those situations when the team needs you the most. All right, following up on some postseason talk, we know Joe Tani is currently playing hurt. He dislocated that shoulder earlier in the World Series.

He's gotten through it. There's been some ugly swings when he had to hit yesterday. You know, you talk about the data. He just had statistically one of the best. seasons we've ever had, 50 homers, 50 stolen bases. I didn't even know that was possible, but he's also a guy who's, you know, next year we're going to see him back on the mound. He's a Cy Young caliber pitcher in addition to being the best power speed guy in baseball. Is this the best baseball player you've ever seen? Like, how do you even contextualize what Shohe Otani does?

I mean, I think it's very hard to, it's hard to argue against it. I mean, you know, with with everything that everyone was saying about Babe Ruth and how he could pitch and how he could hit. I mean, this is literally a person who can win a game by himself. You know, you can go out there and hit a home run and then throw a shutout in the game, in the same game, and literally win it by himself. So, I mean, it's a once-in-a-generation type of talent with what Otani is able to do. And then the season that he had this year was just absolutely amazing. I mean, as we've seen, he's in a club of one, you know, 50-50. You know, it's spectacular and seeing what he's able to do, just the athlete that he is. And how he goes about handling his business on the ball field.

It's like, yeah, you can't wait to see him get back out on the bump next year. Let's talk a little bit about your career, Ryan, an awesome career, I might add. You had so much success early on. As I mentioned, you won rookie of the year back in 2005. You came back the very next year, one MVP hitting 313, 58 homers, and 149 RBI. I mean, this is truly insane stuff. Like, we're nerds with the stats. We're always talking about like, where would you go in fantasy baseball? Like, yeah, first round pick Ryan Howard. The past two years, we've seen top prospects get called up. They struggle quite a bit. And then they start to slowly figure things out. How are you able to have so much success early on in your career? And why do you think top prospects now might be

struggling so much from the jump? Well, I think a lot of it is the game has obviously changed to where when I was coming up, like if you didn't necessarily have it figured out, you would get sent back down and you kind of had to figure it out in AAA, where now I think guys are being allowed to, as you mentioned, come up to the big league struggle and figure it out at the big league level. I'm not necessarily mad at that because I think that it becomes kind of counter, counterintuitive to have a guy hitting 350 in AAA and he struggles in the big leagues and you send him back down with AAA and he's like he can hit 350.

He's already saw that. Yeah, he's already figured that out. Like sometimes you've got to figure it out at the big league level. I think with, you know, some of the development that's going on, hitting is is taught in a different manner than what it was when I was taught when I was coming up. We're more into the data-driven age. We're more into kind of the analytics of the hitting. and the swings and things of that sort

where when I was playing, like, the only numbers you're really worried about were home runs, RBIs, and batting average, right? And everybody was trying to be a complete hitter. So it's a different, it's a different animal. It's a different game. But I think as these guys come up, I think you do kind of have to learn

how to hit in the big leagues in order to be a big leader. Speaking of that, one thing I'm always fascinated about is when you have a situation where one hitter like yourself absolutely dominates a really, really good. You face Tim Hudson more than any pitcher in your career. Really good pitcher.

Top five, Say Young's a couple of times. Long career really good. And you dominated him. You had an 1119 OPS, seven homers and 83 plate appearances. What goes into something like that? Like, do you just, you see it really well? Did you really like hitting splitters? What was behind that and just kind of,

goes into those kind of matchups. I mean, you know, sometimes it's just having one good game. I'm just kind of out of a breakout. I think, you know, prior to, I think I was like two for 12 with like seven or eight strikeouts against Tim Hudson. And then in 06, it just had that one game where I broke out and had the three home run game against them. And then, you know, it just changed.

But I think the thing with that was, you know, just understanding what it was that he was trying to do to me and just kind of try to take it and just flip it. And again, it kind of goes back again to having the data and doing the scouting reports and understanding what it is that they're trying to do, but also understanding what my strengths are and trying to feed to my strengths. So a lot of the times for me, it would become having that data and then using that data as kind of a process of elimination with pitches to where if I'm looking for a certain pitch and a certain count and I get it making sure I don't miss that pitch because a lot of times when we're watching the game

and you see a guy foul off the pitch and it's like, oh man, that was the one. And even the hitter, it's like, ah, because the chances of getting the pitcher to make that same mistake in that same at bat is very, very rare. So you got to be ready for your pitch when you get it and don't miss it. Let's talk about those Phillies.

Awesome regular season, 95 wins with the second most in baseball, but they were eliminated in the National League Division Series. What do you think went wrong with their lineup this postseason? And what's their path to them winning another world series? I mean, you got guys like Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwabber in their prime right now. What do you think needs to change for them? Well, I think that the thing with the Phillies, I think this year was just, you know, the Mets were the hottest team in baseball.

And that was the one team on saying, man, like, I do not want the Phillies to have to play the Mets. Because the Mets got it going all throughout September. I think they came into Philly in September, I think took three out of four there, which the Mets were already in playoff mode with every game that they were playing in September. And I've said it, you know, at times the most dangerous team is the wildcar team because they've been have it. They've been playoff mode for an entire month already. So, you know, I think the biggest thing I think with the with the Phillies at that point, it was, I think they just didn't match the energy, in my opinion. You know, the Mets, the Mets came. They had really, really good at bats.

They're pitching. They hit on all facets. And sometimes you just get beat. And the Phillies are a great team. They obviously know what they have. They know who they have. They have the talent to go and do it. You know, they had the bullpen to go and do it.

Sometimes you just get beat. I mean, we were on teams as well, like 2011. The squad I was on, you know, everybody was penciling us in to raise the trophy at the end of the year. And unfortunately, just ran into a Cardinals team, you know, that just was playing really good at baseball. And they just got us. So, I mean, the only thing you can do if you're these guys is you just, you know, remember that and just take it in the next year. And you go on with the mindset of unfinished business and know where you want to be and, you know, put all the energy and focus into getting there for next year. And I swear, I'm not just saying this because you're here.

I'm wearing the Philly Fanatic hat here. The Phillies are my National League team, man. I've just been a huge fan of Bryce Harper for years. So obviously, if it's not my Yankees winning, I would want someone like Bryce Harper to get a ring if possible. One name that's been linked to the Phillies already and linked to many teams, Juan Soto, someone that will all be watching this offseason. Obviously, I have a big emotional investment there.

He's been linked to both New York teams, the Yankees, the Mets. Even the Dodgers are now rumored to be in on Wonsoto. Everyone's going to be in on Wonsoto. What do you think the future holds here for Wonsoto? Whatever it is, it's going to be a good one. I mean, Juan Soto is such a, he's such a specimen, man. He's such a great guy. I think great energy.

You know, from the guys that I've talked to that have had the opportunity to play with him, he works at his craft. He works at wanting to be, I think, the best hitter in the game. And it's fun. He's fun to watch. He's fun to watch. He's exciting. He brings the electricity.

He brings energy to the game. I mean, he's going to make a great addition, I think, for any of those teams. You know, obviously, having played on the West Coast, having played on the East Coast, you know, he knows what it's like playing in the Northeast, obviously having played in Washington, now playing in New York. So he's built for this. You know, he just goes out there and he just plays ball. You know, the big thing is, is, you know, they're going to be backing that truck up.

Yeah. He's, uh, 600 million, he's going to be getting that truck. He's going to have a couple trucks showing up at the door. So, you know, I think it's going to be whatever team is going to be the good fit, the right fit for him. I think that's going to give him the best opportunity to go out there and go try to win championships, and he feels comfortable. So, I mean, you got a couple former teammates and Bryce and Trey Turner and Philly. Yeah. He's seen that firsthand and understands how the crowd operates in Philly. Obviously, being in New York, understanding what New York can be like as well.

And then, you know, obviously facing the Dodgers when he was in San Diego. So he's seen all of those teams up close and personal and knows what each of those fan bases are like. And it's just going to be, you know, kind of pick your poison. Can we get an official prediction here? Where does Ryan Howard think Juan Soto is going to wind up? Oh, man. That's tough to tell, man. I'd love for him to go to Philly.

I'd love for him to go to Philly. I mean, the fans would love that too. But you can see him at any one of those places. You really, really can. and him being an impact player out the shoot. So, I mean, you could see him on the Mets. You could see him on the Yankees. Like, you put them over there with Linder.

That's a lot of energy over there, bro. Yeah. That's a lot of energy. That's a lot of Latino flair over there, bro. And it's always fun. I used to always love going to New York. It always felt like in August or whatnot. You know, it was always like a Latino Heritage Day in New York every time we play.

and I loved every minute of it because it was just a completely electric environment. I was like, man, I'm not even about to, you know, I'm like, bro, I'm feeling it. I'm feeling the energy here. So, you know, it's, you could see it in New York, you know,

him staying there. We'd love for him to go to Philly, though, if that's possible. We've seen a lot of rule changes in MLB. We're kind of in the rule change era of baseball, you know, pitch clock, defensive shift restrictions, pick off attempts, stuff like that.

What are some rule changes that you would like to see or how would like something something like a robo-ump or a challenge system, how would that have impacted you as a hitter and how do you think that will impact hitters when they eventually do implement it? I think the challenge piece as a hitter could definitely be very beneficial. As long as, again, you're not impeding and taking a whole bunch of time because obviously adding the pitch clock is helping the pace of play. You're going to have some occasional pitches where guys are like, hey, man, that's not a strike. And I mean, there's been so many

times where you've had that. You have different types of pitchers, sinker ball guys, guys that have make a big breaking ball or whatnot to where you can get those variations as a hitter. It kind of keeps you on your toes, right? I think when you get the kind of get the robo on, how is that going to be configured. Is it just going to be set to just, hey, this is the specific zone no matter what if this guy's a sinker baller, if this guy does this or does that or whatever their strength or specialty kind of pitches? As a hitter, it allows me to really just hone in and say, okay, I got to hit the ball within this parameter no matter what. So I think those could be beneficial. It'll be interesting to see how it works. And then do you have the challenge, right? If you have the

robo-ump. Like the robo-am is supposed to get it right, you know, 99.9% of the time. So do you take that 0.1% and say, no, I'm challenging the, the computer. There's a glitch in the matrix over here type of deal. So I think the shift, changing the shifts, definitely would have been beneficial. Yeah. Got to run with it. But I think the ultimate changes right now have been pretty good. Yeah, I was actually just going to bring up a friend of the show, Chris Welsh. He's out in the Arizona Fall League. He's out. he lives so a bunch of games right now where they're testing out

some of these rule changes and one of them is that challenge system and there was a play that he filmed where hitter got punched out on a strike three, challenged it, it was a ball, very next pitch, he hit a home run. So it's like,

this can be a complete game changer and it's like if we have the technology, why not get it right? You know, we've seen this in soccer where they've gone to a VAR system and it's like, again, like we had the technology, it's, you know, let's get this thing

Right. So I think it would be pretty good. And I agree with you because I think it's that's what it's about, right? That's it's it's about getting the call right. And if it is a ball, hey, then it's, then it's a ball. Like there's, there's no arguing it. You know, if it's not a part of what that strike zone is, then there's no arguing it. And you know, yeah, the pitcher's upset because, you know, hey, I thought I had a strike out. And then the next thing I know, this guy comes up and I got to make another pitch. And he's probably. probably still reeling from the previous pitch, maybe makes a mistake, doesn't put it where he wants, and now the guy puts it in the seats, now you're even more pissed off. So, you know, it's, but again, it's, you can't blame it if that's what the system is talking about. And I think that's where having the replay in New York,

it's all about getting, getting the call right so that, you know, we can have the game and have the best outcomes for the game. All right. Before we wrap things up, I know you've partnered up with Sage. Here's a clip of you talking, through some of your most clutch moments. I have a little surprise for you. Oh, wow.

This is what it was all about. Play for the ultimate goal, which was to win a World Series. The electricity that just flowed through the entire stadium, there was nothing like it. That World Series, I just remember being at the end of the dugout, and I said, you know what? You just give me to the plate. I'm going to take care of the rest.

There's like six guys in front of me. All right, we got to do what we need to do to get him to the plate because he's feeling something. Being in those clutch situations and understanding. the scenarios, gathering the data. I've already prepared myself so that when I get there, I just knew I couldn't be beat. And how are you able to translate that to the business world? You got to go back to that preparation.

You got to have that confidence and not be afraid to take the lead. Because sometimes it's leading by example. And you have your colleagues watching them and help motivate them to say, okay, I want to be able to come through for my team. Awesome stuff. Love that. Sage prides itself on providing businesses with the tools they need to succeed in the most critical moments. You were no stranger to big moments. As I mentioned, World Series champ.

You hit three home runs back in 2008 in that World Series. What tools and insights were most helpful to you during your career? I mean, again, we did a lot of video. We had a little bit of the data. We had the metrics on velocity, tendencies, things of that sort. So just doing the scouting report. And again, kind of going back to what the video was talking about, man, it's all about that preparation, like whether it's on a baseball diamond or whether it's in business, whether it's in life, regardless. Like, it's all about the prep. You know, you got to do your homework. You got to get the data. Got to get the information and know how to use that data to your benefit so you can go up there and try to be successful. Which data that we have now that you didn't have when you were playing, do you look at and say,

man, I wish I could have looked at that stuff and, you know, gotten an edge that way? You know, I think there's always been so much talk about launch angles. right and I've always had different conversations with people about launch angles and and you know now but kind of being the retired kind of old head kind of guy but you know it's like oh this is how you're supposed to do it but it's I guess in a sense it's to each his own because one thing I would have loved to learn more about with launch angle when I was playing was how do I use it to my benefit right how is it going to help me become a better hitter like if I'm, you know, and the tendencies on swinging at different pitches or in different locations,

like if you're going to tell me, hey, you've got a 30% chance of hitting this backdoor slider, you know, with the swing path that you're having, okay? So if I do swing, first off, it's like, don't swing at that pitch. But if I do, what is the swing path or the swing angle that's going to help, you know, take that number up? you know, how do I use those numbers to help make me a better hitter? So those, that was, that was one thing I think towards the end of my career that had I been able to get the opportunity to really kind of learn more about to see how does that make me, how that would make me a better here. I think it's a really good point too because, you know, guys like us will say, why doesn't this player just lift the ball? We want to, we want home running from this player.

Just do that. Yeah, just raise your launch angle. Like it's that easy. But I hear broadcasters talk about this in game where, you know, you know, you know, we want to, you know, If a pitcher has a really good sinker and they throw it at the bottom of the zone, if you try to lift that, it's just not going to end well, right? So it just, it's so much of it comes down to you, you have to get the right pitch optimized for being able to lift the ball

and maybe pull the ball in the air, something like that. It's not just like, yeah, you could do it with any pitch. It obviously depends on which pitch you are seeing. For what it's worth, Ryan, we do have statcast data for the last two years of your career and your numbers were off the charts. I just wanted to point out 90th percentile average exit. 40th percentile barrel rate in 2015, and then both of those numbers got even better in 2016. So I think you could still pop a few like 400 foot homers right now.

It wouldn't surprise me, too. Oh, man, I love that. That's awesome. Yeah, no, great, great stack cast numbers there. Getting back to Sage, in those key moments where you need to make a quick decision, how does having the right data help you come up clutch in some of those high pressure situations? I mean, it's everything. It's everything. I mean, again, it's having the right data, the right,

insight to be able to make the best educated decision that you can make and being confident in that decision. In that time frame, when you've got all the information that you need, then you can look at the situation. You can feel confident about the decision that you're going to make and move forward with it in that in that clutch moment. Can you think of a specific time when you got like one key piece of data, one insight, your teammates saw something with a pitcher that helped you do that? deliver in a key moment, one of those clutch home runs that you hit? Oh, we. I don't know if it was necessarily like a clutch piece of data.

Like Chase, Chase Utley was very, very good at picking up, like, if pitchers were tipping pitches. So at times, like, if he found something or saw something, like, in the pitchers, he did it all, you know, all legal to where it was like, if he saw the pitcher, like, if he saw the pitcher, like, with his glove open or. or clothes or whatever it was. But, you know, if he saw something like that, he would come back and let us know. And then guys would have the ability to kind of read that for themselves. But, I mean, I think that that would probably be

the biggest piece of information. You know, again, just a lot of it was normal kind of with the scouting reports and everything that we would get. But I would probably say just, you know, the moment going back to like Colorado against my man, Houston Street, I just knew, like, that situation.

I knew what Houston liked to do. I knew how he liked to pitch. I knew where his ball was going to be. And we played together, actually, in the Arizona Fall League in 2004, we were on the same team. So I saw a lot of his action on him pitching and just knew. I was like, hey, man, give me the plate. Like, I know what this guy's going to do. And if he does it, like, I'm not.

like I'm going to hit a home run. Now I hit a little top spin and hit a double off the wall. But, you know, it was that kind of situation. And knowing the prep, knowing the situation, knowing the pitcher, and just feeling it. Like I just felt like, hey, I'm going to get it done. And my teammates knew like, hey, if Ryan's saying get him to the plate, he never says anything like that.

Like, I would never say anything like that. But if I was feeling it, they were like, we got to get him up there. So I'd probably say those were two very kind of key situations. and being able to kind of come through and using the data and just having a clutch kind of situation. It's so interesting to hear you say that about Chase Utley too and just noticing that things that pitchers are doing,

whether it's tipping pitches or just a certain movement, the slightest little thing. We heard that in the wild card round of the playoffs that Pete Alonzo, someone told them, hey, Devin Williams is kind of tipping his pitches here and then next thing you know, boom, he hits a home run and the Mets went on to do everything that they did later on in the playoffs, but it's so interesting that you bring that up.

And we just saw that play out. Yeah. It's like to us, we don't see it. But like obviously you guys are around it all the time. And so you could pick it up. It's the fun parts of the game. And I played with guys. I played with Chris Burke back when we were, I think, like sophomores in college.

We played on a collegiate USA team. And it was funny because Berkey would lead off and get on base, steal second. And then like he'd steal the other team. signs, right? So then it was kind of like, you know, we had our whole system of like if guys were able to pick up the catcher signs or guys were tipping and it's like you're letting the hitter know like what's coming. Like that was the fun part of the game when you were, you're paying attention to the pitcher to try to pick up those tendencies and see if he's tipping his pitches. And then now it's different because, you know, the catchers have the pitchers and

catchers have the communication devices, so they don't throw the fingers down. It was a lot of fun trying to pick up, trying to see if you could pick up pitches or pick up a pitcher tipping his pitches in their tendencies. Thanks again to Ryan Howard and to Sage in AI-powered software company that provides businesses with the insights and solutions they need to grow their businesses and improve human decision-making. Ryan Howard, thank you so, so much. This was an awesome conversation. We really appreciate it, man. I appreciate you guys for how. with me. Thank you. All right. We're going to wrap there for Ryan Howard and Chris Towers. I am Frank Stamphill. Thanks as always for tuning into fantasy baseball today.

Please make sure to follow and leave a five-star rating on Apple or Spotify. And we will be back again tomorrow. Bye-bye. Mount Podcasts.