Fantasy Baseball Today - Way-Too-Early 2024 Bold Predictions! (9/23 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: September 23, 2023

Download and follow Fantasy Baseball Today in 5! You can find FBT in 5 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the Audacy App and wherever else podcasts are found. It's never too early for bold predictions! How good might Tarik Skubal be? Jake Burger breakout incoming? Don't forget about Vinnie Pasquantino! Ronny Mauricio has huge upside. You could see these three prospects up on Opening Day! 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: 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 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

It's never too early for 2024 bold predictions. We'll break them down up next on Fantasy Baseball today in five. Welcome into FBT and 5 on Saturday, September 23rd. I am Frank Sample, joined by Scott White, and Scott wrote a great article up on the site, 20 bold predictions for the 2024 season. We are going to talk about five of them. And up first, Scott, Terik's Goebel,

to win the American League Cy Young Award. Yeah, I think he's kind of the perfect pitcher. I think that's what he's turned into coming back from surgery, the elbow flexor surgery last season. He's come back with a couple more miles per hour on his fastball. Always had a terrific change-up. And he's emerged as somebody with like top-shelf strike-throwing ability, top-shelf swing-and-miss ability is swing-y-strike rate over 14%,

a ground ball rate over 50%. the things a pitcher that are most within a pitcher's control, Terrick Scouble excels at all of them. And so it's not surprising that his FIPP this year is about 220. And the one remaining question, once it became clear he was that talented, is would the Tigers let him go deep enough into games to get the most out of it? Well, six of his last seven starts, he's gone six innings or more. So I think the answer to that question is yes.

Among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched this season, Terrick Scoobel's 27% K-minus walk rate is second best in baseball behind Spencer Strider. Bold prediction number two, Jake Berger, with those Miami Marlins, hits 40 home runs next season. Yeah, and maybe that's not even that bold, considering he's closing in on 35, having begun this year as a part-time player. but the point here is really just that he's genuinely an elite power hitter and not some fly-by-night. Only four batterers this year have hit a ball harder than Jake Berger.

Ronald de Cunia, Giancarlo Stanton, Shohei Otani, and Matt Olson. And while he has cut down on his swing a bit since joining the Marlins to improve his strikeout rate, if more average, seven of his 14 hardest hit balls, or I'm sorry, nine of his 15 hardest hit balls. have come with the Marlins. So the power is still very much intact for Burger. And I think he'll continue to be a big producer. Vinnie Pasquantino, remember the name. Bold prediction here is that he slashes 300, 400, 500 next year.

Yeah. I mean, I haven't forgotten about him. And I also haven't forgotten that the torn labrum in his shoulder that shut down his season, And we don't know how long he was playing with that. It was an injury label just shoulder discomfort, shoulder instability at first. It was kind of something that wasn't treated with a great deal of, like it was that serious of an issue at first. And his first 388-383-539.

So it wasn't far off from that stat line in predicting for him. He was also basically that player in the minors. So I think Pasquantino is, is somebody you should still put a high priority on in next year's draft, even if you can get them a lot later. All right. Next up, we have Ronnie Maricio,

one of the top prospects in the Mets organization, that he will combine for more home runs and stolen bases than Francisco Lindor. Spice. How's that for a bold prediction? Spice. I should probably clarify that bold is really, you know, pushing the boundaries of what's plausible and that.

you know, these are unlikely to be literally true, but hopefully they're at least directionally true. So the point I'm trying to make here is that Maricio has a ton of upside. And his first batted ball in the majors was the Mets' hardest hit ball all year. The entire team, that shows the extent of Maricio's power potential. Now, he's still working on elevating the ball and pitch selection. Those are still things he has to sort out. But if he makes strides in those areas next year,

He could absolutely have a big home run total. And meanwhile, the one thing he has clearly proven in the majors is he's not afraid to run when he gets on base. Last one up here. And I am rooting for this one personally, Scott, because the more prospects in the game, I think there's more excitement, especially if it's on opening day.

So here's the final one. Jackson Holiday, Jackson Churio, and Wyatt Langford, all make the opening day roster for their respective teams. And, you know, I thought about, putting Junior Cominero on here too. But I thought, that might be more of a stretch given the way the Rays handled their prospect. Turns out, Cominero's in the majors now this year.

So it would have been a bad prediction just for that reason. But yeah, the Jackson's Holiday and Chorio, making it to AAA as teenagers here late in the season. The only reason I think the Brewers and Orioles would move them up that last stop this late in the year, year is just to kind of check off that box heading into next spring. If they're already at AAA, now, they're not going to spend all of next year at AAA. They're going to be up some point next year.

And if they're going to be up some point next year, why not make it on opening day when they have a chance to earn their team draft picks, which is how the new CBA works. You've got to spend your full rookie season on the Major League roster to have a chance to earn your team draft picks. So I think that's going to happen for the Jackson's Holiday Enchorio. why Langford isn't a teenager, but he was drafted just this summer and has already just taken a wrecking ball

to the Rangers' entire minor league system. He's up at AAA now too. Just cruise through the entire system, and I think that puts him in a good position as a 21-year-old to make the opening day roster next spring as well. All right, lots of fun here. Five bold predictions for next season.

You want to read 15 more? Just go to the website. CBSports.com slash fantasy slash baseball. For more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast on Spotify. Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball Today and Five,

and we will be back again next week. Bye-bye.