Fantasy Baseball Today - Top Prospects That Should Be Up On Opening Day! (Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 Podcast)

Episode Date: January 13, 2023

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else podcasts are found. Corbin Carroll and Gunnar Henderson will be up on Opening Day. Are they worth a top-100 pick? Triston Casas and Josh Jung could be viable corner infielders while Ezequiel Tover and Oswald Peraza could help up the middle. Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 is available for free on the Audacy app as well as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get Fantasy Baseball Today merch here: https://store.cbssports.com/collections/fantasy-baseball-today?utm_source=podcast-apple-com&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=buy-our-merch&utm_content=fantasy-baseball-collection Follow 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 in 5 on your smart speakers! Simply say "Alexa, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast" or "Hey Google, play the latest episode of the Fantasy Baseball Today in 5 podcast." To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Which prospects might we see on opening day? Let's discuss on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FETN-Five. Today is Thursday, January 12th. I am, Frank Sample, joined by Scott White. And speaking of Scottie, you can find his top 100 prospects live on the site right now, CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. If they're not there right now, they will be soon.

Let's talk about his top two prospects on that list. Gunner Henderson of the Orioles and Corbyn Carroll of the Diamondback's got lots to like with both of these guys, power and speed. They are both going inside of the top 100 for redraft leagues. Do you think they're worthy of that cost? Yeah, I do. I have them both inside my top 100 as well. They both are eligible at positions that are going to be necessary to fill early,

outfield and especially third base. I mean, the range Gunner Henderson's going in. He might be your last shot at somebody you feel pretty good about at the position. And the good news is. we got a sneak peek at both last year in September, and I wouldn't say either of them disappointed. Certainly, you know, we have hopes for them to perform even beyond what they did, but they both looked up to the challenge of being on the opening day roster. They both have power and speed. I question Corbyn Carroll's power ceiling a little more than Henderson's because small build and a lot.

lot of his production came at double AAA and the Diamondbacks organization, very hitter-friendly spots. But I still think he'll be at least a decent source of power, if not a good one, and should hit for average as well. So they're exciting players. I don't think either of them's going to give you like a Julio Rodriguez type outcome, but they should be pretty good. Let's take a look at some of the top 50 prospects expected to be on opening day rosters, according to me, that is. Scott's number 13 prospect Tristan Kossis, first baseman with the Red Sox, and his number 21 prospect, Josh Young, a third baseman with the Rangers.

Scott, lots to like with both of these guys. They've got the hit tool, they've got some power. Tristan Kossis, only 27 games last year, but we saw him start to heat up down the stretch. Josh Young, hit for some power, but a massive 38% strikeout rate. What do you think about these two for redraft this year? So I've liked Kossis for a long time.

I've seen him compared to Joey Vado, Freddie Freeman in the past. And the minor league numbers don't quite back up those comparisons, but he's had a lot of interruptions, injuries. He represented USA and the Olympics recently, or I think it was for the Olympic qualifiers anyway. Kassas and what he did after getting called up, I think is really where you see the potential for him. A lot of walks on-based percentage was amazing.

for that short stint with the Red Sox, and opposite field power that's going to play very well for a left-handed hitter at Fenway Park. So I think he's going to be a real offensive force of first base. Obviously not going to steal bases, but everything else you can want. Josh Young, it's weird that he struck out 38% of the time because the hit tool was what stood out for him

even before he emerged as a power hitter and he had great plate discipline and everything. So for him to struggle with strikeouts in his first taste of the majors and was particularly awful on. sliders. He ranks lower in my top 100 now than he did last year. There are questions that didn't exist previously. Having said that, after all the time he missed with the shoulder injury, and you see this even in his AAA numbers before the call-up, it may have just been rusty for

Josh Young. The fact that the Rangers are already pretty much anointing him to their third basement for this year is still plenty of reason for optimism with Josh Young. All right. Two middle infielders that could make an impact here on opening day. Ezekiel Tovar, Scott's 18th ranked prospect, a shortstop with the Rockies, and Oswald Parraza, number 42 on the list, shortstop for the New York Yankees. It's got big numbers for Ezekiel Tovar last year in the minors, 319 batting average, 14 homers, 17 steals.

Oswald Paraza got 18 games in with the Yankees. He looked really good in those games. He hit over 300. Good play discipline. He looked really poised in those games as well. I think there's a real shot that both of these guys are the starting shortstop for their respective teams on opening day? I think it's a near certainty for Tovar.

The Rockies don't have much else they can do at shortstop, and they gave him a chance late last year. I think he's maybe not getting his due in fantasy, because particularly at that park with the bad bit inflating effects, you know he's going to deliver batting average. He's going to steal some base. He's going to hit some home runs. I'm thinking a Tim Anderson outcome, given the benefits, of course, field is on the table for Ozekiel Tavar.

Oswald Parraza has shown power and speed in the minors as well. For both of these guys, I don't know that the power is going to be quite what they showed in the miners, but there's enough of it to go along with the speed that they're going to be assets as long as they get the playing time. Paraza has the threat of Anthony Volpe and Isaiah Kineerfate, unfortunately. so less certain he's going to be the guy for the Yankees on opening day. But he'll be playing a big role at some point next season. I'll tell you what, Scott, as our resident Yankee fan on the podcast,

if Isaiah Kiner Folefa is taking time away from Oswald Paraza, this city is going to burn to the ground. So do not let that happen. We need to see Paraza on opening day for the New York Yankees. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else, podcast are found. Thanks for listening to

Fantasy Baseball today in five and we'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.