Fantasy Baseball Today - Top Third Base Prospects to Target in 2023! (11/19 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: November 19, 2022

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever else podcasts are found. What can we expect from Gunnar Henderson this upcoming season? Who is more productive between Josh Jung and Brett Baty? Can Spencer Steer or Christian Encarnacion-Strand make an impact? Where would Miguel Vargas rank on this list? 'Fantasy Baseball Today in 5' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Get 20% off Fantasy Baseball Today merch: 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

Let's talk third base prospects up next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5. Today is Saturday, November 19th. I am Frank Sample joined by The Welch. Make sure you follow him on Twitter at Is It the Welsh? And we will start with the top prospects in redraft for the third base position. And we've got Gunner Henderson number one of the Orioles, Josh Young of the Rangers, Brett Beatty of the Mets, Spencer Steer, and Christian and Carnassian. Both of those gentlemen are on the Cincinnati Reds.

Let's start up top. Gunner Henderson, arguably one of the top prospects in all of baseball. He did it in the minors last year, flashed a little bit at the major league level with the Orioles. It's going inside of the top 100. Do you agree with that price tag, Welsh? And what can you see him doing this season? Yeah, I, you know, I surprisingly do agree, even though I don't try to jump into rookies too too much at really high cost. I was a very big buyer of Bobby Witt Jr. this previous year.

I was actually a little bit more pessimistic about Julio Rodriguez, because I didn't think he was going to break camp until they told us that he was breaking the roster, and that changed everything. But Bobby Whitt, you had to pay about a top 75, even into top 50 at that time. I think you're looking at something relatively similar, going to play a lot of third base. Projections early are pretty favorable, 20 homers, double digit stolen bases. I think he could surprise with a little bit more on the power front. And if they're going to hit him in the middle of the order, you know, I think he's being undersold as far as those run and RBI numbers go. So Gunner Henderson, like Corbyn Carroll, I really truly believe those guys are the frontrunners in each of their divisions.

And it's going to be really hard for anybody to overtake Gunner Henderson. But, you know, Josh Young, who is number two on this list, could be one of those players. If the K rate is dropped and the power numbers are extended, he could push Gunner Henderson just a tiny bit. Speaking of Josh Young, he had a 38% strikeout rate in the 26 games. He played with the Rangers. However, the strikeouts were never really that big of an issue in the minor league. So I wonder if those will come down a little bit as he gets a little bit more experience. Josh Young and Brett Beatty, the next two names on this list, who do you think makes more of a impact in 2023?

I do believe Josh Young. And to further your point, something we talked about on the full podcast of fantasy baseball today is, you know, I think it's very telling that yes, you had a 38% strikeout rate. But he had missed almost a year Josh Young did. And he only had around 200 plate appearances between AAA and. and the majors that he did all of this, that even the early projection systems, not only don't have him as a 30% strikeout player, but under 28%.

And this is not something that he typically was. So he's running a little bit more. His body looks to be in better shape. He's a better contact hitter than Brett Beatty. Brett Beatty puts up bigger EV numbers, and I think he's a little bit more electric as far as some of the power goes. But I think he is a couple steps behind

as far as the maturation level, if you will, for the major leagues. I think Josh Young is going to break camp where I don't think Brett Beatty is. So I would take Josh Young and also throw out here because I know we got some other names, but something for a lot of people in fantasy are going to be dealing with, even though he won't be at this position. Jordan Walker, I want to acknowledge Jordan Walker on this list because if he were a third baseman, he would be number two on this list, bar not right after Gunner Henderson.

The problem is a, or this is the positive problem, he is the third baseman as far as the amount of games he played last season. the issue is he will not play third base, and I'd be surprised if he plays any third base in the minors in 2003. If he even hits the miners, because he was playing in the outfield as far as the AFL goes, he'll do it again because there's this guy, Nolan Aeronado who's out there that's probably going to push him off.

I don't know, Frank. I don't know about you. I think Nolan Aeron O'Don might stay there, but we saw Jordan Walker even play in center field. So I think Jordan Walker has a potential to break camp with them. He does qualify at third base, but he will not be a 2003 third base. but he would easily be number two on this list. All right, let's wrap up with the two Reds here on this list.

Spencer Stier got 28 games in with the Reds last season. He hit 2-11 with two home runs, solid plate discipline, walked 10% of the time. Big season in the minor leagues as well for Spencer Stier. Christian Ancarnacion. Looks like he might have more upside, at least just based on the minor league numbers. He hit 304 with 32 homers in the minors.

Who do you think has more upside? Spencer Stier or CES. I think long term it could be Strand with those power numbers. For this year, for me, it's Spencer Steer. I have him above. Spencer Steer can play kind of all over the field. I love power numbers, can walk and run a little bit, can do a little bit of everything. Has a very Jake Croninworth vibe to me as far as what he can do in fantasy.

Strand is more of a long shot. He did hit AA. He's a little bit older. He put up big power numbers. I believe he'll start at AAA. At the end of the day, we still know what the Reds are going to do. You know, they have got roster spots. They've got a glut of young talent that's going to be coming soon.

So maybe they're going to want to early, even before a guy like Nuevay, who's lower as far as levels go, they might want to see what they have in Strand earlier than we're expecting. So that's why he could get run, but I would bet on Spencer Steer. You mentioned Jordan Walker. I'll quickly just bring up the name Miguel Vargas, who came up as a third base prospect. He's going to play some outfield, some third, maybe a little bit of first base to spell Freddie Freeman. If he were still a third base prospect, where would he rank on this list? If we go back to this Jordan Walker's number two, he would be number three.

Miguel Vargas would be number three. If we don't consider Walker, which would be fine, he would be number two. He'd be above Josh Young. I love the plate discipline skills. I love the overall game of Miguel Vargas, almost more than anybody except Gunner Henderson on this. But he would be up very, very high on that list. And he would be in the tier with Walker, Gunner Henderson, and Josh Young. All right.

For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast. on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, your smart speakers, or anywhere else podcasts are found. And thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today in five. We'll be back again next week. Bye-bye.