Speaker 1: You like fantasy ball, sense talk chasm that I shall
Speaker 1: not me hear myself stops fans and they can't even
Speaker 1: count some of uniforcasom s rodo you ain't better the health?
Speaker 1: Well yeah, several charges on everyone coming else and I'm
Speaker 1: alreadium to hear my baby sounds just like your name was, Mark.
Speaker 1: And it's a ride by podcast. It's a rapop podcast.
Speaker 1: It's a rapp podcast. It's a ride bo podcast. It's
Speaker 1: a rap up podcast.
Speaker 2: Don't have a rap up podcast? Got a turn? It
Speaker 2: should rap bo podcast.
Speaker 1: Everybody, welcome back. It is the Rasball Fantasy Baseball Podcast.
Speaker 1: I am beat on, joined by the spectacled Wonder, the
Speaker 1: Fantasy Master of Thario, the Master of the slick back hair. Gray.
Speaker 1: All right, that's going over there, Gray.
Speaker 2: What's up, homie? Uh yo, homie, you don't know me.
Speaker 2: I like my Tierra Masue a Marska pony. So I
Speaker 2: don't know if you saw your your man PCA Pete
Speaker 2: Crow Armstrong. Did you see uh? Did you see his weekend?
Speaker 1: Uh? What do you mean?
Speaker 2: Okay? So? Uh? If you so? For people who aren't aware, uh,
Speaker 2: I guess he uh he ran into the fence. At
Speaker 2: the White Sox game and a fan started yelling at him,
Speaker 2: a I'll say, a female fan. She started yelling at
Speaker 2: him and he said back to her something like you
Speaker 2: can suck my and uh so then today on Monday,
Speaker 2: we're recording this on Monday. So then on Monday, he said,
Speaker 2: I regret my choice of words the most and who
Speaker 2: that affects in my life directly and indirectly. And I'm
Speaker 2: wondering if you can explain to me how words could
Speaker 2: indirectly affect someone. Is he talking about the butterfly effect?
Speaker 2: Because I really don't understand what he's talking about.
Speaker 1: Uh you know, I mean indirectly, words get hurt and
Speaker 1: people that weren't involved in the situation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, so you're saying he says, you can suck
Speaker 2: my d and she hears it, and then she goes
Speaker 2: home home and she says, to like her her say
Speaker 2: her boyfriend. She says, uh, you know, she gets into
Speaker 2: a fight with him and she's like, you can move
Speaker 2: your stuff out. I hate you. But indirectly, she's really
Speaker 2: just she's bottled up her anger from when Pete crow
Speaker 2: Armstrong yelled at her. Is that is that what you're thinking?
Speaker 1: There, you know, that's fine, or like a little kid
Speaker 1: takes it home and tells, you know, the random woman
Speaker 1: to do that. That's that's not an ideal either, not
Speaker 1: a not a great role model.
Speaker 2: Okay, So it is like the butterfly effect is what
Speaker 2: you're saying, just just.
Speaker 3: Cascading effects down the line of you know, I mean,
Speaker 3: so okay, day like let's say so, let's let's say
Speaker 3: a let's say he says you can.
Speaker 2: Suck my and uh he says it, and it uh,
Speaker 2: it causes a butterfly to change its path because when
Speaker 2: he says it, his words are come out so venomously
Speaker 2: that he spits. He's spitting when he's taught, when he's screaming.
Speaker 2: So the butterfly changes his path and goes onto a
Speaker 2: road down the street and lands on the windshield of
Speaker 2: a bus driver right right around of a bus driver.
Speaker 2: The butterfly smacks on the windshield, and that bus then
Speaker 2: veers off the road and goes into crashes into a
Speaker 2: nuclear plant and causes a melt out. So that that
Speaker 2: is indirectly is that directly or indirectly?
Speaker 1: Uh? Indirectly I believe, but you know, I mean, it's
Speaker 1: all up for interpretation. You could, you could. I'm sure
Speaker 1: you know there's there's ways around these things. The Internet
Speaker 1: has taught us anything. No statement can be correct. There's
Speaker 1: there's no that statement that's that's true.
Speaker 2: So anyway, that was this weekend and Pete crow Armstrong, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I didn't see that.
Speaker 1: I had I had family in town. I was at
Speaker 1: the Cubs brace games during the week, but did not
Speaker 1: hear about the the PCA news so to speak. I
Speaker 1: saw he had a home run that was nice, you know,
Speaker 1: him actually being useful on the fantasy side of things
Speaker 1: for for change recently. But no, I did not see
Speaker 1: that news. So thank you for that education, Grant.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying, like, if if you're if you're driving
Speaker 2: to work tomorrow and uh say, like a butterfly smashes
Speaker 2: on your wind shield, you can thank Pete crow Armstrong
Speaker 2: for that.
Speaker 1: It's all pekro Armstrong's fault.
Speaker 2: It's basically final destination colon pie crow Armstrong.
Speaker 1: Well, something that Seattle is trying to do to change
Speaker 1: their butterfly effect in their season. Gray is calling up
Speaker 1: Colt Emerson twenty six games in Triple A or sorry,
Speaker 1: thirty eight games in Triple A seven home runs ten
Speaker 1: stone bases. He's hitting two fifty five, three forty seven,
Speaker 1: four sixty nine. He was a twenty seven point two
Speaker 1: percent strikeout rate and a ten point one percent walk rate.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here on Colt Emerson.
Speaker 2: I was actually so when you were when you're reading
Speaker 2: his stats, I was looking at the Mariners lineup because
Speaker 2: I actually so, I wrote up Colt Emerson for Rasball
Speaker 2: today and I made him the lead by I want
Speaker 2: to say, like about a month ago, so I've I'm
Speaker 2: all about Colt Emerson. But I was when you were
Speaker 2: saying that his stats, I was looking at the Mariners
Speaker 2: lineup to see if there's any chance because right now
Speaker 2: he's batting ninth, which had I don't love, right I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't love any I don't love anyone batting ninth.
Speaker 2: Cold Emerson though he was called up and he's batting ninth,
Speaker 2: and I'm looking at the lineup and I'm I could
Speaker 2: see JP Crawford moving out of there, and Cole Young
Speaker 2: is currently above Colt Emerson. So you know, I'm I'm
Speaker 2: kind of feeling I'm feeling like and Colt Emerson did
Speaker 2: hit ninth in the in the first game in after
Speaker 2: his call up yesterday on Sunday Sunday Night Baseball, he
Speaker 2: was in the lineup, hitting ninth. So I am a
Speaker 2: little bit concerned about the hitting ninth. But well, I'm
Speaker 2: looking at the lineup, I'm seeing kind of I was.
Speaker 2: I didn't realize this yesterday. Like I when I wrote
Speaker 2: him up, I wasn't really thinking about like how he
Speaker 2: got into the lineup because I know he he signed
Speaker 2: a big deal for the be with the Mariners long term.
Speaker 2: I believe it was eighty million, and so I know
Speaker 2: they had incentive to call him up. But now that
Speaker 2: I look at it's like, it looks like Brendan Donovan,
Speaker 2: Uh was it? He? He he heard his groin TMI
Speaker 2: and went to the IL. So that looks like how
Speaker 2: he got how Colt Emerson got into the lineup. But
Speaker 2: I'm wondering when brand I guess, you know, cross that
Speaker 2: bridge when it comes to it. But it's a little
Speaker 2: bit bizarre that Brandon Donovan was the guy to be
Speaker 2: Uh he went to the I L and that brings
Speaker 2: Emerson up because at some point Donovan, you would assume,
Speaker 2: would return, and at that point, I guess cross that bridge.
Speaker 2: When we come to it. But I don't know. I
Speaker 2: guess Crawford then gets bumped, or Cole Young gets bumped,
Speaker 2: or maybe they go into a platoon. I don't know.
Speaker 2: I guess there's still time to decide on that. I'm
Speaker 2: just trying to think how long term Colt Emerson. I'm
Speaker 2: assuming he's up for good because of that deal that
Speaker 2: the Mariners made with him, but he's also he struggled
Speaker 2: a bit in the minors this year, you know, with
Speaker 2: a twenty seven plus k k raid. So if he's
Speaker 2: not making contact in triple A, he was, I will say,
Speaker 2: though he was in the last like week or so.
Speaker 2: But if he's not gonna make contact in the major
Speaker 2: leagues to anywhere close to you know, you assume if
Speaker 2: he's doing twenty seven percent of triple A, then that's
Speaker 2: gonna balloon up to over thirty in the majors. I mean,
Speaker 2: I know they won him in the major leagues. I
Speaker 2: just I could see potential here where he may not
Speaker 2: stay up. Now, with all that said, he I think
Speaker 2: he's a by slash pickup in every league, like I
Speaker 2: would pick up Cold Emerson in the shallowest of leagues.
Speaker 2: So don't get me wrong. I'm all about him. You know,
Speaker 2: good power, good speed, but the contact is a little
Speaker 2: bit concerning for me. And you know, the Mariners Park
Speaker 2: isn't really isn't really a hitter's park and batting ninth.
Speaker 2: So there's a few things going against Colt Emerson right now.
Speaker 2: Now he's only twenty years old, so I'm talking I'm
Speaker 2: talking more right now, Like obviously a guy who gets
Speaker 2: called up when he's twenty years old and already has
Speaker 2: a long term deal with the team. I mean, this
Speaker 2: is a guy who could be you know, a top
Speaker 2: fifty overall bat as soon as next year. Like, I'm
Speaker 2: absolutely not trying to undersell Colt Emerson. I'm just looking
Speaker 2: at him for this year. I'm trying to be, you know,
Speaker 2: a little bit of the Devil's advocate, because I do
Speaker 2: think he's absolutely worth picking up and I like him,
Speaker 2: but I do think there's a few things that are
Speaker 2: going against him for or like the immediate future. I
Speaker 2: could see a scenario where Donovan comes back and Emerson's
Speaker 2: k rate is over thirty five percent and they're like,
Speaker 2: you know what, maybe you're only twenty years old. Maybe
Speaker 2: go back to the minors for a little bit more
Speaker 2: and then you'll come back in like, you know, the
Speaker 2: second half of the season. I could see that scenario.
Speaker 2: I could see a scenario where he starts hitting immediately
Speaker 2: and he you know, he he gets, he gets. You know,
Speaker 2: he has a great first couple of weeks. JP Crawford
Speaker 2: and You'll and Cole Young move into a platoon. Brandon
Speaker 2: Donovan comes back and you know, Emerson is now hitting
Speaker 2: lead off, and it's like, you know, all there's all
Speaker 2: systems ago. There's no problems at all with Cold Emerson.
Speaker 2: He's you know, already a huge star in like no time.
Speaker 2: I could see that scenario. I'm just saying, there's a
Speaker 2: couple of scenarios here where things don't work out so well.
Speaker 2: So I would pick him up, but I would, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe hedge a little bit and don't drop, you know,
Speaker 2: a guy who's extremely valuable, just to get Cold Emberson
Speaker 2: on your team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I'm fine with everything you said. It's
Speaker 1: kind of one of those scenarios. Like you said, it
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean he's up for forever, but at the
Speaker 1: same time, as long as he doesn't mess it up,
Speaker 1: it feels like this is this is opportunity to be
Speaker 1: up with the majors and kind of sees the spot
Speaker 1: for for good. There's definitely opportunity for to move up.
Speaker 1: JP Crawford is also a little banged up right now,
Speaker 1: waiting to hear whether he's going to be okay, you know,
Speaker 1: in the in the short term here. So all of
Speaker 1: that could all up to Colt Emerson getting a little
Speaker 1: bit of an extended runway here, even if he doesn't
Speaker 1: hit the ground running right off the bat. As you
Speaker 1: mentioned strikeout rate, it was a little high this year.
Speaker 1: It really wasn't bad at any stop along the way
Speaker 1: until he got to triple A and then it kind
Speaker 1: of spiked a little bit at that point. But he's also,
Speaker 1: like he said, nineteen twenty, if not the youngest among
Speaker 1: the youngest at that at that league, so he is,
Speaker 1: he's well on his way here. Let me ask you,
Speaker 1: among third base where you think Colt Emerson fits in
Speaker 1: rest of season? Would you rather have Colt Emerson or
Speaker 1: Isaac Parades who has not been not been his usual
Speaker 1: self this year and he's killing me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's killing me as well. I actually I think
Speaker 2: I was asked this question today and I believe I
Speaker 2: went Colt Emerson with the answer, And I would say
Speaker 2: Colt Emerson because like parades we've seen now, especially if
Speaker 2: the league shallow, like if the league is deeper, and
Speaker 2: this becomes a situation where if you drop Parades and
Speaker 2: you can't get him back or you can't get another
Speaker 2: guy to fill in. If ever, if Emerson doesn't do well,
Speaker 2: then that's a different story. But if it's a shadow league,
Speaker 2: I would go cold Emerson because we've seen now parades
Speaker 2: sort of done. He's done nothing now going on like
Speaker 2: eighteen months, Like it's been a while since we've really
Speaker 2: seen parades be great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it has been. You know, I thought it was
Speaker 1: just injury and he's not back this season. It has
Speaker 1: not happened. How about somebody that you have always always
Speaker 1: liked grey and that is Mark Fiento's.
Speaker 2: I would actually I would go Emerson over vient Do's
Speaker 2: and you know, and you know I love Piano's but
Speaker 2: you know, Emerson's got great speed. Even if he doesn't
Speaker 2: hit the ground running as far as power goes, I think,
Speaker 2: you know, if he can chip in, say I don't know,
Speaker 2: like a couple steals here and there and maintain a
Speaker 2: two point fifty average, He's gonna be more valuable than
Speaker 2: Viento's because the speed and power. Vento's has no speed whatsoever,
Speaker 2: and he's got very little average, so it's like cold
Speaker 2: Emerson's already like cold Emerson and Viento's are probably a
Speaker 2: push on average. Emerson has much more speed and he's
Speaker 2: also got a little bit of power, which Vento's has
Speaker 2: only shown a little bit of power. So I would
Speaker 2: go Emerson.
Speaker 1: All right, about recently hot Brady House.
Speaker 2: You know, that's tough because House has been hitting third
Speaker 2: in uh he's been hitting third for the Nationals, and
Speaker 2: the Nationals actually have been a pretty good hitting team.
Speaker 2: I'd probably, you know, there's scenarios where I could see
Speaker 2: going for upside with Emerson, but in you know, push
Speaker 2: came to shove, i'd say Brady House.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I think if you have if you have your
Speaker 1: third basement, if you have your corner infield, and this
Speaker 1: is a backup spot, I could see going Colt Emerson.
Speaker 2: Uh huh.
Speaker 1: But if I had to start these guys right out
Speaker 1: the gate, I think I'm just gonna go with Brady House.
Speaker 1: Or if I just have a gigantic lead and power,
Speaker 1: then you could go with cult Emerson because Brady House
Speaker 1: isn't really gonna steal bases.
Speaker 2: So no, exactly, that's a good point. Like if a
Speaker 2: guy is like your third basement or corner man, it's
Speaker 2: like it's there's a little bit more of a calculus involved.
Speaker 2: If a guy is a utility guy, and it's like
Speaker 2: just go upside.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's just benched Depp. That's guys you
Speaker 1: can usually get back if you drop them, and if
Speaker 1: you if Colt Emerson is out there, if he does
Speaker 1: hit the ground running, he is not gonna stick around.
Speaker 1: He's gonna be grabbed up. If he's not already so
Speaker 1: he's sitting around, probably go grab him and see what happens.
Speaker 1: Unless your team is just you know, stacked, in which case,
Speaker 1: congratulations to you. Thanks for listening to us.
Speaker 2: I'm sure. I'm sure you've listened to every single day
Speaker 2: we've said and followed it to the team.
Speaker 1: How could that go wrong? Right? How could that go wrong?
Speaker 1: How could this go wrong? The Mets called up a
Speaker 1: pross that definitely can't go wrong, But they have called
Speaker 1: up a j ewing thirty games between Double A and
Speaker 1: Triple A this year. He is two home run seventeen
Speaker 1: stone bases. He is hitting a combined three poin thirty
Speaker 1: nine four forty seven five to fourteen is a fifteen
Speaker 1: percent strikeout rate, a sixteen point seven percent walk rate.
Speaker 1: He's had six games with the Mets. He has a
Speaker 1: home run two stone bases. He's hitting two ninety four
Speaker 1: and a five hundred on base in those six games. Obviously,
Speaker 1: he is the next greatest hitter of all time. Agent Ewing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's taking the best Ewing title life from in New
Speaker 1: York from from Patrick.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's a if fab bids this Sunday or any indication,
Speaker 2: then absolutely no question about it. He's obviously going to
Speaker 2: be the best call up of all time. Yeah. So anyways,
Speaker 2: so yeah, I guess I actually I could talk about
Speaker 2: that for a second. So fab bids had aj Ewing
Speaker 2: was far and away top guy this weekend. He went
Speaker 2: for two thirty in one of my leagues, and he
Speaker 2: went for one sixty seven in another league. The close
Speaker 2: runner up bids were close too, so it wasn't like
Speaker 2: those were just two random people who throughout large bids
Speaker 2: like aj Ewing was definitely the hottest commodity this week
Speaker 2: across all my leagues, so I guess we should talk
Speaker 2: about him.
Speaker 4: Huh yeah, I mean I actually I granted Ajewing in
Speaker 4: my twelve team mix league are RCL league because that seems.
Speaker 2: Awful, so I need something. But even beyond it being awful,
Speaker 2: I would have grabbed aj Ewing if I had a
Speaker 2: spot form, which I did, so I think he's a pickup,
Speaker 2: just like I said with Cold Emerson. I think aj
Speaker 2: Ewing is also a pick up in every league. I
Speaker 2: think there's a good chance that aj Ewing is better
Speaker 2: than Emerson. I think, you know, just uh it's I
Speaker 2: would say they could be closed. But Ewing has a
Speaker 2: ton of speed, even more than Emerson. Emerson has good
Speaker 2: speed and power, sort of like a combo of both. Ah,
Speaker 2: I would say Colt Emerson's more like a thirty thirty guy.
Speaker 2: Once he gets to his prime, aj Ewing could steal
Speaker 2: fifty bags like he's he's got that kind of speed.
Speaker 2: I don't know if people have seen him play yet,
Speaker 2: but like he had a he had a triple one.
Speaker 2: I forget if it was his first game or one
Speaker 2: of his games. He hit a triple and he got
Speaker 2: the third and like I mean, it's basically nothing. He
Speaker 2: was basically like Billy, Uh, what's would call it? What's
Speaker 2: his name? Bobby, Bobby w Bobby with junior type speed
Speaker 2: or you know, like a burner, great turner, like a burner,
Speaker 2: like he aj Ewing is fast. So that alone gives
Speaker 2: me more hope for a j Ewing because there's just
Speaker 2: no way, like you can't you know, is assuming he
Speaker 2: can get on base. You know, there's there's no stopping
Speaker 2: the run. Game is assuming the Mets don't say don't run,
Speaker 2: which you know, knowing the Mets, it's a possibility, I guess.
Speaker 2: But aj Ewing's already stole two bags, so it looks
Speaker 2: like he's got the green light if he has the
Speaker 2: green light from now until if he's up, and there's
Speaker 2: no reason to think he won't be if he's up
Speaker 2: and has the green light, like he could steal forty
Speaker 2: plus bags just this year, Like he's got that kind
Speaker 2: of speed. I you know, i'd probably put his realistic
Speaker 2: projection probably close to thirty. But still, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: steals come fast, and Ewing's got it so and he
Speaker 2: also makes a ton of contact. Like the strikeout rate
Speaker 2: looked real good in in the minors fifteen point two percent.
Speaker 2: He comes up, you figure a bump of three to
Speaker 2: five percent on that, So you're looking at like a
Speaker 2: twenty percent strikeout rate in the majors. So he's making contact,
Speaker 2: he's hitting the ball. He's got great speed. I really
Speaker 2: I see aj ewing. The only thing really stopping him,
Speaker 2: I think is gonna be his lineup spot in the
Speaker 2: you know, right now he's hitting eighth, which isn't great
Speaker 2: at all. And the other thing that I guess could
Speaker 2: potentially hurt him a little bit is if the Mets
Speaker 2: do something stupid when guys get healthy, and you know,
Speaker 2: because he's a lefty, they start platooning guys. But I mean,
Speaker 2: and meaning him as well. But I think he's I
Speaker 2: think he's probably if he's not, like you know, I
Speaker 2: was kidding with the fan beds, but he could be
Speaker 2: one of the top call ups this year. I mean
Speaker 2: it's possible. I don't see necessarily the power, even though
Speaker 2: he's already hit a home run. I don't see the
Speaker 2: power being like, you know, that great for this year.
Speaker 2: I mean, he could build, he could probably grow into
Speaker 2: more power, but maybe seven seven homer, maybe five to
Speaker 2: seven homers thirty steals to sixty to seventy average. I
Speaker 2: mean it's like you get that off of waivers. That's
Speaker 2: you know, that's a really good pickup. So yeah, I
Speaker 2: would say aj Ewing is probably the top pickup of
Speaker 2: you know, one of the one of a handful of
Speaker 2: top pickups this year. So I yeah, I like him
Speaker 2: a lot. I would I would not hesitate about picking
Speaker 2: him up in any league, and he would be above
Speaker 2: Colt Emerson for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. It just looks like he's a little
Speaker 1: more polished in terms of his approach, a little bit
Speaker 1: cleaner in terms of strikeouts. He always is taking walks
Speaker 1: across the board along with like you said, just top
Speaker 1: level speed, you know. I mean it's it's hard to
Speaker 1: really put this on anybody or like start making comparisons,
Speaker 1: but he's kind of like he's kind of like the
Speaker 1: poor man's Connor Griffin. Like he's not going to have
Speaker 1: the power that Connor Griffin has, but he has that speed.
Speaker 1: He could work his way up in the lineup. They
Speaker 1: I know, the Mets have some money invested in the
Speaker 1: top of the lineup obviously, but nobody is hitting. Like
Speaker 1: if he comes up and hits how would you not
Speaker 1: move him up if nobody else is hitting? Uh, and
Speaker 1: he feels like the future leadoff guy, why not give
Speaker 1: him that spot sooner rather than later. So I really
Speaker 1: don't feel like his spot in the lineup is is
Speaker 1: quite as set as Emerson's where it feels like when
Speaker 1: when Seattle's healthy, they're going to be very stubborn and
Speaker 1: just stick him in the bottom.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And I also think, like, you know, you have
Speaker 2: guys coming back with the Mets with like Lindor in theory,
Speaker 2: Polanco is supposed to get healthy at some point. I'm
Speaker 2: very curious if Polanco ever comes back, but Polanco is
Speaker 2: supposed to get healthy, Lindor hopefully is coming back at
Speaker 2: some point. Uh, Francisco Alvarez like they the Mets have
Speaker 2: Louis Robert Jr. Like the Mets in theory have guys
Speaker 2: who could return, but none of those guys scream top
Speaker 2: of the lineup guys.
Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely not a leadoff spot. Maybe Lindor because he's
Speaker 1: he's definitely done it before, but you know, he's kind
Speaker 1: of slotted more in the two spot recently. That feels
Speaker 1: like a better use of his talents. So we'll see
Speaker 1: what happens here. But yes, I like ajent Ewing. Let's
Speaker 1: move on to Henry Bolti, who's called up by the
Speaker 1: Athletics this season. He has twelve home run seventeen stone bases.
Speaker 1: He's getting three forty eight, four eighteen six fifty eight.
Speaker 1: He is a twenty two percent strikeout rate and a
Speaker 1: nine point six percent walk rate. Wait, does Henry Bolte
Speaker 1: fit in the mix of these three guys that we've
Speaker 1: talked about so far?
Speaker 2: For you, you know, it's funny because I like Boltay
Speaker 2: a lot. I think he's probably on par with aj Ewing.
Speaker 2: For me, the bigger issue is the A's seem like
Speaker 2: they really want a platoon on which I mean is
Speaker 2: not as brutal. I don't you know, I don't want to.
Speaker 2: I don't want to see Bolta add of the lineup ever,
Speaker 2: and if he is out of the lineup, it's like that,
Speaker 2: you know, I understand the Carlos Cortes thing, like I
Speaker 2: I like him as well, but like I don't want
Speaker 2: to see Cortes play over Bolte. Like if Bolta is
Speaker 2: playing every day and he hasn't been, I mean had
Speaker 2: like I I picked up Bolte in our our twelve
Speaker 2: team mix league as well. Uh, And I know there's
Speaker 2: been a few days where I've had the bench Bolta
Speaker 2: because he hasn't been the lineup. So like, I like
Speaker 2: Bolta as much as Ewing, but if he's not playing
Speaker 2: every day, it's like it's it's it's a it's brutal
Speaker 2: for weekly leagues. Obviously, for daily leagues, it's a little
Speaker 2: bit more manageable, but you still have to you know,
Speaker 2: you still got to managine and you have to work
Speaker 2: around it with you know, picking up guys or having
Speaker 2: a bench bat which isn't always ideal. So I like,
Speaker 2: I like Boltay a lot. I think, you know, he's
Speaker 2: very similar to Ewing in that, Like I would say
Speaker 2: he's Ewing plus like you know, maybe five percent on
Speaker 2: the strikeout rate potentially. Uh. You know, Boltay did cut
Speaker 2: his strikeouts this year, but you know, previously they were
Speaker 2: much higher. But you know, if he cut him this year,
Speaker 2: I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. They were
Speaker 2: still higher. You know, they were still at triple A.
Speaker 2: There were still twenty two percent on the strikeout right,
Speaker 2: So that's still higher than Youwing. I would say Bolta
Speaker 2: has the same amount of speed as youwing. Though, So
Speaker 2: if like you know, they if they give him the
Speaker 2: green light, which I have no reason to think they won't.
Speaker 2: So if they give them the green light and he
Speaker 2: can steal you know, twenty twenty five bags, because you know,
Speaker 2: I'm figuring in a little bit of a platoon. If
Speaker 2: he can steal twenty five bags, he's going to have
Speaker 2: more power because you know, Sacramento is better for power,
Speaker 2: and he's also he's got more power in the minors,
Speaker 2: so he has in theory, he has more power, just
Speaker 2: as much speed as youwing, a little bit more of
Speaker 2: a little bit less of a steady at bats, and
Speaker 2: a probably roughly fifteen to twenty points on average lower
Speaker 2: than youwing. But that's still kind of a wash. It's
Speaker 2: really the at bats. If Bolte has every day at bats,
Speaker 2: I love him. If he's got you know, any sort
Speaker 2: of platoon at all, even if it's only like a
Speaker 2: game or two a week, it's still killer. So I
Speaker 2: like Bolta a lot, though, So you figure, you know,
Speaker 2: all things being equal, maybe twelve homers twenty five steals
Speaker 2: two fifty average potentially two forty five, and you know,
Speaker 2: maybe maybe higher on the speed, maybe a little bit
Speaker 2: lower on the power. Kind of depends on playing time
Speaker 2: a little bit, but absolutely worth rostering in almost every league.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I really like intervald to you. I
Speaker 1: think he's made some changes in the last couple of
Speaker 1: years to increase his launch angle, which is not really
Speaker 1: hard because it was quite literally negative at certain times
Speaker 1: in the minors. So I like what he's done. He's
Speaker 1: done in the last couple of seasons. He's got the
Speaker 1: k rate, the average has gotten better, and as you mentioned,
Speaker 1: the speed is crazy. If anything, he's actually faster than
Speaker 1: doing so crazy amounts of speed. And of these guys
Speaker 1: that we're talking about, he's the only one who got
Speaker 1: up and he gets shoved to the bottom of the
Speaker 1: lineup immediately, although he is potentially looking at a platoon,
Speaker 1: which sucks so monitor of the platoon. But really like
Speaker 1: Innry Bolte as well. Zebby Matthews, somebody who has talked
Speaker 1: about in draft season and drafted kind of across the board,
Speaker 1: got sent down the monitors, which was surprising. But he
Speaker 1: is back seven starts in the minors. He had thirty
Speaker 1: four and a third innings. He had a four to
Speaker 1: seven to two, a one to five to one, whip,
Speaker 1: twenty two percent strike out rate and a seven point
Speaker 1: three percent of walk rate. Those numbers do not scream
Speaker 1: call me up. But then he came up, had seven
Speaker 1: innings of no earned, five strike out, one walk ball.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts here? On zebby Matthews.
Speaker 2: Finally a call up that I'm not crazy excited about.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's fine. I don't know. I wasn't really
Speaker 2: in on him in the In the preseason, I felt
Speaker 2: like I felt like people were a little bit more
Speaker 2: excited about him than they should have been, Like every
Speaker 2: every point, Like last year in the majors, he had
Speaker 2: a five point five to six ERA. Now, granted ERA
Speaker 2: is in everything, and his peripherals say he should have
Speaker 2: been much better, but he was giving up a lot
Speaker 2: of home runs, and you know, his babbit was high.
Speaker 2: But the babbit was high for a reason. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was giving up hard contacts. So I don't know, man,
Speaker 2: I feel like he's a streamer in most shallower mix leagues.
Speaker 2: In a fifteen team mixed league, you take a flyer
Speaker 2: on him if you can get him for cheap on
Speaker 2: fab and see what happens. See if he can you know,
Speaker 2: if he has the good command, which he did the
Speaker 2: first game, the first game he started with the Twins
Speaker 2: this year, and he's actually he's always had really good command.
Speaker 2: So if he has the good command and he limits
Speaker 2: the damage, he could be Okay. I don't think his
Speaker 2: strikeout is going to be that great. He's never like
Speaker 2: he has had strikeouts in the minors, but never to
Speaker 2: that big of an extent. So I don't know, Man,
Speaker 2: he's fine. I think he's I think he could be.
Speaker 2: I think he could be usable if he can figure out, like,
Speaker 2: you know, the commands to the point where he's like
Speaker 2: limiting homers and hard contact. But he hasn't really shown that.
Speaker 2: He didn't even show it in the minors this year,
Speaker 2: like in tripa A he had a two point four
Speaker 2: homer per nine in the minor leagues, Like you know,
Speaker 2: it's like not good. It's not good when you're giving
Speaker 2: up nine homers and only thirty four and a third innings,
Speaker 2: like come on, man, Like it's like that's almost impossible
Speaker 2: to roster in most mixed leagues. But I could see
Speaker 2: streaming in a fifteen team mix league maybe. And obviously
Speaker 2: every everything, you know, anything goes in an ale only,
Speaker 2: so whatever.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ao, only he was already and probably kept through
Speaker 1: his time in the minors. Even so, that is what
Speaker 1: it is I am with you that I'm not a
Speaker 1: Zebie Matthews fan. I thought I was going to be
Speaker 1: coming into the season because the stuff is nice. You know,
Speaker 1: ninety six mile an hour fastball, he's got a couple
Speaker 1: of breaking balls, he throws a change like, he's got
Speaker 1: the pitch mix, he's got the velocity to be a
Speaker 1: good pitcher. But it just never really feels like it
Speaker 1: gets put together. Do you remember, like, and I know's
Speaker 1: he's kind of a black sheep of baseball now, but
Speaker 1: do you remember like early career Trevor Bauer where he
Speaker 1: had like twenty five pitches and just never could keep
Speaker 1: his pitch bicks in line long enough to be good.
Speaker 1: Like this, that kind of feels like Zebi Matthews to
Speaker 1: me at this point, because he'll have a start like
Speaker 1: he did where he goes seven inning innings of no
Speaker 1: earn and the next time he's gonna come out and
Speaker 1: I promise like within the next two games he's gonna
Speaker 1: have a four inning, six earned like four off game,
Speaker 1: Because that's that's kind of his m right now. Until
Speaker 1: he gets gets an idea of what what he's doing
Speaker 1: at this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, maybe I don't know, that's that's the read
Speaker 2: I get.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe other people like him more. Seems like in
Speaker 1: the draft season for sure, Yes, Dixon Garcia was called
Speaker 1: up by the Pirates. Not really a whole out here,
Speaker 1: but I figured I'd go ahead and mention it since
Speaker 1: he has a really fun name. Great any interest here
Speaker 1: in kicking him up?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like, yeah, if his name was like
Speaker 2: Joe Schmo, people would be like, he hit two forty
Speaker 2: two in triple A with a twenty seven percent strikeout.
Speaker 2: There's nothing there really, but yeah, host hosty Hosty Nixon,
Speaker 2: Hosty Hosty Nixon Garcia, I would say NL only like
Speaker 2: he's he's had. You know, he's shown some power in
Speaker 2: the minors this year, and he's always kind of had
Speaker 2: a little bit of power and some speed and he's
Speaker 2: not really he's not that old, so you know, maybe
Speaker 2: something will click at some point. But I don't even
Speaker 2: know if like I don't know if Garcia is really
Speaker 2: gonna be uh a pirate's.
Speaker 1: Starter.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like he like he he might platoon. I don't
Speaker 2: know how he's gonna be used. I don't know if
Speaker 2: he can really hit the major major league hitting excuse me,
Speaker 2: major league pitching as of right now, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean in a and I'll only take a flyer
Speaker 2: and see what happens. I don't think we're at the
Speaker 2: point yet where he's uh for mixed leagues.
Speaker 1: I would agree. And it just feels like this might
Speaker 1: be a little bit of a quad a bat which
Speaker 1: is uh, you know, a starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Speaker 1: So that's perfect.
Speaker 2: Yeah, put over, I think I think was it r
Speaker 2: Ryan O'Hearn got injured, so I guess they had room
Speaker 2: to bring them up. Yeah, yeah, I mean probably might
Speaker 2: be quade. I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we will see, but yeah, it'll only for now.
Speaker 1: Can you just a little random trivia to mix it
Speaker 1: up here? Great? Can you tell me who the number
Speaker 1: one player on the play Raider is over the last
Speaker 1: thirty days?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, Uh, you know, I don't I have I mean,
Speaker 2: I could guess Matt Olsen maybe.
Speaker 1: Nope, it's not Mattleson, who is number seven, So it's
Speaker 1: a solid guess number one, number one in the play
Speaker 1: Raider over the last thirty days. It's none other than
Speaker 1: Miguel Vargas.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's say three h three night home runs, three
Speaker 1: stone bases, twenty four runs, and twenty one RBI is great. Yeah.
Speaker 2: You know, for a long time, I always thought that
Speaker 2: the Dodgers were paying off prospect writers to build up
Speaker 2: their prospects so they could trade them for better be yes, well,
Speaker 2: you know, because like if you think about it, like
Speaker 2: how much would it take to buy off someone, you know,
Speaker 2: a prospect writer and be like, hey, could you grade
Speaker 2: Miguel Vargas as an eighty hit tool guy? I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna know. I'm not messing with my integrity
Speaker 2: just for your little Dodger scheme. Okay, uh what if
Speaker 2: we gave you a hundred bucks? Okay, sure, yeah, no
Speaker 2: problem there, man. I I think Miguel Vargas was though
Speaker 2: at one point was considered a really good prospect. So
Speaker 2: maybe he's finally you know, like guys mature at different rates.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm pushing fifty and I'm still not sure.
Speaker 2: So it's like, yeah, but I think, you know, it's
Speaker 2: like if a prospect does not really you know, if
Speaker 2: a prospect's not quite there one hundred percent, like the
Speaker 2: first year doesn't mean he's totally you know, he's just
Speaker 2: gonna be a failure. Uh So, I don't know, Maybe
Speaker 2: Miguel Vargas is finally clicking. The weird thing is with Vargas,
Speaker 2: uh in general, was always like he he never really
Speaker 2: struck out a lot, like he was actually really good
Speaker 2: contact guy. It was just that his contact just wasn't
Speaker 2: very good. It was like he would make contact, but
Speaker 2: it'd be really weak soft contact. So you know, maybe
Speaker 2: he's I don't know, did he go to drive line.
Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe something out. I mean, it wouldn't Honestly,
Speaker 2: migue bargains broke out. It would not be like the
Speaker 2: biggest shock in the world. To me, I could see
Speaker 2: it possibly continuing. I would I wouldn't bet that it will.
Speaker 2: I would bet against it, if you know, just because
Speaker 2: the track record tells us that at some point he's
Speaker 2: gonna come back to earth. But you know, you never know.
Speaker 2: Stranger things have happened.
Speaker 1: Uh. Well, Gray, if you ask him, you shall receive
Speaker 1: he did go to drive line. Uh No, Sometimes if
Speaker 1: the organization isn't working for you, you just need that
Speaker 1: extra set eyes. And apparently it's drive line, is the answer.
Speaker 1: To damn.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm telling you, I think we said this previous
Speaker 2: week so that this winner. You and I are just
Speaker 2: going to stand in the drive line parking line. We're
Speaker 2: just taking notes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just gonna work from there. I'm just gonna
Speaker 1: sit my laptop out in the parking lot. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: work from the parking lot. And also just kind.
Speaker 2: Of like, who's the David Caruso sunglasses sitting in the
Speaker 2: in the bush out in the park lot. Have you
Speaker 2: seen that guy?
Speaker 1: I'm not.
Speaker 2: It's not it's nothing, man, leave me, leave me alone.
Speaker 2: I just like sitting in bushes.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna ESPN News this thing, but without
Speaker 1: the under the table sex on the side. You know.
Speaker 1: That's how how I'm gonna do this. Great for rass
Speaker 1: Ball and our listeners.
Speaker 2: No as me where I'm at, I'm tell commuting from
Speaker 2: the drive line park a lot. Yeah, Jordan Walker now
Speaker 2: and the Guel Vargos, I mean we should be they
Speaker 2: should sponsor this podcast at this point.
Speaker 1: They really should, I mean.
Speaker 2: Send us life. Drive Line said this is a lifeline.
Speaker 1: They should. We should really get that along with a
Speaker 1: conspiracy theory one for all the things that I randomly
Speaker 1: throw against the wall. Here. Number one, number four, and
Speaker 1: number nine on the thirty Day Play Raider are the
Speaker 1: from the White Sox. Gray. I don't I didn't think
Speaker 1: i'd ever see that, Like in the rest of the
Speaker 1: history of baseball, I don't think I would see that.
Speaker 1: So good good for the White Sox. But we're going
Speaker 1: to actually talk about some catchers here Gray because on
Speaker 1: the Season Long Player, not the thirty Day the Season
Speaker 1: Long Player Raider, the number one, number two, number seven, seventeen,
Speaker 1: forty one, and forty two. So six of the top
Speaker 1: fifty gray on the Player Raider are catchers. Of all
Speaker 1: things gray, they are catchers. Number one on the Player
Speaker 1: Raider is Drake Baldwin seven games, he has thirteen them
Speaker 1: round the stone base you sit in three oh one,
Speaker 1: three eighty five, five forty three is a twenty point
Speaker 1: seven percent striker right in a ten point eight percent
Speaker 1: walk rate. Like just we're gonna just buy selling. Like
Speaker 1: the catchers in general, I mean, we can talk about
Speaker 1: them as a whole, but also we can we can
Speaker 1: walk through each one because these guys have been absolutely
Speaker 1: phenomenal to start the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I'm gonna say something that might be
Speaker 2: blasphemous in some circles. But I I feel like if
Speaker 2: the catchers are gonna be good, then I don't want
Speaker 2: to punt them. It's like, I know, I know most
Speaker 2: people would be like that's the opposite of what you
Speaker 2: would think, like if if it's a deep position, then
Speaker 2: you punt it. But I actually feel like if the
Speaker 2: catchers are good, I might not be punting catcher if
Speaker 2: they stay good. Like I I feel like, you know,
Speaker 2: it's like you know, going to like the outfield, which
Speaker 2: is a deep position. It's like saying like you know,
Speaker 2: like if you have like you you want a top outfielder,
Speaker 2: like if if catchers, if catchers are this good, if
Speaker 2: like there's a good like you know, five catchers that
Speaker 2: are really good, you want one of the good catchers,
Speaker 2: like you like you don't want Francisco Alvarez. If you're
Speaker 2: if your league mates have Drake Baldwin, Ben Rice, Shae
Speaker 2: lang Lears, Liam Hicks, Ryan Jeffers, like you don't want
Speaker 2: to be the guy who has Christian Vasquez, you know,
Speaker 2: Like it's just I don't know, I feel like it's uh,
Speaker 2: it might be a a different a different world potentially
Speaker 2: uh for next year. Uh, it's you know, it's still
Speaker 2: it's still early. Things could happen. And also, catcher, unlike outfielder,
Speaker 2: is a difficult position, and we see it with you know,
Speaker 2: it's also we see it with like Cal Rowley, and
Speaker 2: it's you know, Cal Rawleigh this year, and uh for
Speaker 2: insis conference every year. No, we see you know, Augustine
Speaker 2: Ramirez really flamed out. I don't think uh you know,
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't think catchers as easy as as
Speaker 2: easy as a position as outfielders. So it's uh, there
Speaker 2: there could be some thought to it though, about not
Speaker 2: punting the position if there's some really good guys at uh,
Speaker 2: if it's more than just one good guy. Because when
Speaker 2: it was one good guy, when it was just Cal
Speaker 2: Raleigh or whatever, or or William Contreras, which people tried
Speaker 2: to sell me for many years, but if it was
Speaker 2: just you know, when it was just Cal Raleigh, uh,
Speaker 2: it was like, okay, I mean, you know, you're you're right,
Speaker 2: you're you're basically rolling the dice that he's going to
Speaker 2: repeat a season that seemed completely out of nowhere. And
Speaker 2: there's all there was all kinds of red flags with
Speaker 2: cal Rawleigh that people did not want to they didn't
Speaker 2: want to address h during the preseason because I think,
Speaker 2: you know, people were so sold on like a sixty
Speaker 2: homer hitting catcher, which was never really you know, he
Speaker 2: was never really that guy. Like, you know, like we
Speaker 2: said it repeatedly in the preseason, cal Rawley was always
Speaker 2: a thirty homer two thirty hitter with a wild swing
Speaker 2: of incredible power. Last year that just was not gonna
Speaker 2: be repeated. But you know, Drake Baldwin, Ben Rice, like
Speaker 2: if these guys are playing one hundred and fifty games
Speaker 2: at and they're like dhing and playing first, and you know,
Speaker 2: assuming Ben Rice keeps catcher eligibility for next year, and like,
Speaker 2: you know, if these guys are so good that they're dhing,
Speaker 2: like Liam Hicks is dhing a bunch of games, he's
Speaker 2: playing first, some games shee Lang Eleiers is playing like
Speaker 2: you know, they're staying in the lineup. Like my big
Speaker 2: you know, my always, my big concern with catchers is
Speaker 2: always like you know, what are they going to get
Speaker 2: four hundred and twenty at bats versus like, you know,
Speaker 2: the five seventy five that you can pencil in for
Speaker 2: an everyday hitter from other positions. So yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: it could be a whole new world with catchers. I
Speaker 2: don't know, I'm not one hundred percent there yet, but
Speaker 2: I could see potentially. That's my thought process at least
Speaker 2: as of right now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think, you know, us not liking catchers,
Speaker 1: was not liking the standouts that we were talking about.
Speaker 1: The cal Raley's willing trais was fine, but like even
Speaker 1: when he was the number one catcher, it was like
Speaker 1: twenty five home runs to seventy five Good County numbers.
Speaker 1: It wasn't them being a top ten player on the
Speaker 1: Player Raider, like we're seeing three of them right now,
Speaker 1: you know, be at the top. It is a hard position.
Speaker 1: One of my favorite sayings is to find the best
Speaker 1: catcher of the second half, you know, find one of
Speaker 1: the worst catchers from the first half, because it's really
Speaker 1: hard to continue at catcher going on through the season.
Speaker 1: But as you mentioned, some of these guys are doing
Speaker 1: more than just catching. They're not taking that abuse. And
Speaker 1: when you're not catching, you also get to spend a
Speaker 1: little bit more time actually hitting, because if you're a
Speaker 1: full time catcher, there's a lot of time you spend
Speaker 1: with the pitchers that other people on the team, the outfielders,
Speaker 1: you know, all the position players are actually hitting and
Speaker 1: actually getting that practice. So if you're not managing as
Speaker 1: many pitchers, you have a dedicated guy or too, it's
Speaker 1: a little bit easier on that front.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, completely, I yeah, I agree, And yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean I think it's really like if the catchers can
Speaker 2: push five thirty to five fifty at bats, like if
Speaker 2: the top catchers, that is, if they can get to
Speaker 2: five thirty five to fifty at bats and everything looks
Speaker 2: good like you know, then it's like, yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: there could be something to it. I mean, Drake Bodwin
Speaker 2: just looks like a good hitter, like just in general,
Speaker 2: like he doesn't like not a catcher necessarily, just just
Speaker 2: a good hitter. Like I can see why, you know, he's, uh,
Speaker 2: he's they're trying to keep him in the lineup every day,
Speaker 2: even if it's not a catcher. Like he looks like
Speaker 2: really good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely he does. And again so do has Ben Rice.
Speaker 1: He's looked good all season. Shay Langaliers has looked phenomenal.
Speaker 1: Liam Hicks has been like all these guys were talking
Speaker 1: about Liam Hicks, Ryan Jeffers, Hunter Goodman. Those are the
Speaker 1: six guys the numbers that I read off. They're all
Speaker 1: they've all been great. I mean Hunter Goodman has been
Speaker 1: the least great of them, and he has eleven home
Speaker 1: runs uh through the season. So that's that's a pretty
Speaker 1: solid catcher there. You know, we'll see. Let me ask
Speaker 1: you some you know, would you rather hear with the
Speaker 1: top guys. So we're talking about like the Drake, Baldwin,
Speaker 1: Ben Rice, Shae Langaliers group, which have them? Or we'll
Speaker 1: start high ord On Alvarez.
Speaker 2: I would go yord On.
Speaker 1: Okay, actually above yord On on the player raider, but
Speaker 1: it feels a little less secure, even though I don't
Speaker 1: know Matt Olsen.
Speaker 2: Uh yeah, I would go Matt Olson.
Speaker 1: Okay, mare commy, Oh you know.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm kind of I would actually I would go Baldwin,
Speaker 2: Rice Langoliers over more commie. I you know, I like
Speaker 2: more commy. I just worry that the expectations are now
Speaker 2: getting too out of control more comedy. Whereas I do
Speaker 2: think at some point, like they're gonna stop throwing him
Speaker 2: four steamers, I'm trying to hit another pitch. Whereas like
Speaker 2: I think like he's hitting like one fifty versus like
Speaker 2: breaking pitches or something like. I think there is I
Speaker 2: think at some point more Comedy could fall into a
Speaker 2: slump and people are gonna be like, uh oh, I
Speaker 2: mean I do like more comedy though, so I don't
Speaker 2: want to say, you know, sell them necessarily for anything,
Speaker 2: but I would go Bowin Right's Langelayers over more Comedy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, how about I'm gonna throw two names
Speaker 1: here just to kind of speed us up, Junior Camon
Speaker 1: Narrow and Nick Kurtz.
Speaker 2: Oh, I would, I would go both of the bats,
Speaker 2: both of them over those three catchers.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, good, I'm just asking you know, if we're
Speaker 1: looking at the player righter right now, more comedy is
Speaker 1: above both of them. But we know, you know, what
Speaker 1: they are right now is not necessarily where they are
Speaker 1: at the end of the season. So just just throwing
Speaker 1: those names against these top catchers, because again they are
Speaker 1: performing just amazingly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, no, totally, yeah, no, I yeah, I mean,
Speaker 2: I you know, I mean, I wasn't I drafted Langaliers
Speaker 2: in a few leagues because in a few two catcher
Speaker 2: leagues that is, uh where I where I didn't draft
Speaker 2: Augustine Ramirez oops from the two catcher leagues. I did
Speaker 2: like Langaliers' price because I like, you know, I like Sacramento,
Speaker 2: I like bing Bongs. I like Langaliers, so I was
Speaker 2: in on him. I did feel like, you know, laying
Speaker 2: our cards on the table. I did feel like Ben
Speaker 2: Rice was being overdrafted. So I was wrong on Ben Rice.
Speaker 2: I I was worried about the lefty platoon thing. Drake Baldwin.
Speaker 2: I would have drafted I think where he was going.
Speaker 2: I just I went with Langoleers instead.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And Ryan Jeffers is on your Ale only leading team.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I do I like. I like Jeffers is
Speaker 2: a guy who I have in a bunch of leagues too.
Speaker 2: I like Jeffers as well. I didn't I didn't in
Speaker 2: Liam Hicks, and I still don't really fully Goodman is.
Speaker 2: I think Goodman is who he is. I think he's
Speaker 2: a thirty homer two fifty to sixty hitter in you know,
Speaker 2: and he's in a good park. I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: think Hunter Goodman's a surprise in any way. I think
Speaker 2: he's he He was that coming into this year, and
Speaker 2: I think he's still that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think Hunter Goodman is doing what we expected
Speaker 1: for the most part. I like Leam Hicks. I like
Speaker 1: what he's doing. It does feel like he's overperforming to
Speaker 1: some extent just looking at the underlying numbers. But he
Speaker 1: also just feels like somebody who just knows how to hit.
Speaker 1: I mean he does. He has a nine percent strikeout right,
Speaker 1: like at seven point nine percent of walk rate, Like
Speaker 1: he just knows how to put the bat on the ball,
Speaker 1: where to put it. I like Liam Hicks, like when
Speaker 1: I watch him play, he just feels like a guy
Speaker 1: who knows what he's doing with a baseball back kind
Speaker 1: of a throwback player to some extent, like Lampix. Actually,
Speaker 1: let's move over to middle infield Gray, where we have
Speaker 1: just a slew of players heading to the IL on
Speaker 1: the IL. Going back to the IL Jose al Tuve,
Speaker 1: beat On Part two, Deeverish Story, Cavillero, Corey Seeger, Jacob Wilson,
Speaker 1: JP Crawford, Mason Wyn, Carlos Correa. We're still missing Lindor
Speaker 1: and Jeremy Pania, Jackson, Holliday. All these guys are missing
Speaker 1: from middle infield. That is adding to the reason that
Speaker 1: middle infield is a little atrocious this season. So let's
Speaker 1: run through some you know rankings here for the listeners,
Speaker 1: and just give me a top three to five of
Speaker 1: some of the free agent middle infielders. I'll run off
Speaker 1: a bunch of names. You have the list, so you
Speaker 1: can kind of look through and get your thoughts while
Speaker 1: I run these names through. But Brian Rocchio, Ezekiel Durant,
Speaker 1: Marcus Simeon, Sam and Nacchi, Brandon Shoemake brooks Lee, Bryce Matthews,
Speaker 1: Michael Massey, Ezekiel Tovar, Mason Wynn. Feel free to throw
Speaker 1: in anybody else that that you would like into this.
Speaker 1: But this, this middle infield group is not great, but
Speaker 1: it's what we have available to us, and a lot
Speaker 1: of us are missing him. This week.
Speaker 2: Uh All and uh All had named that I don't
Speaker 2: know this guy's available in any leagues except for maybe
Speaker 2: the most shallow leagues. But on how Martinez has looked
Speaker 2: incredible for the Guardians, I think he's now I want
Speaker 2: to say he's cemented his place as the leadoff hitter.
Speaker 2: I think he's I think he's gonna stay there for
Speaker 2: at least for you know, the time being while he's
Speaker 2: hitting so well, I think there's also, you know, a
Speaker 2: case that possibly Brian Rokio is probably under owned, like
Speaker 2: and so those are both guardians I think, you know,
Speaker 2: on the Player Raider, I looked up for some reason, oh,
Speaker 2: when I was doing the when I was doing the
Speaker 2: Bycolm last week, I look up the rostership the ownership
Speaker 2: numbers for guys because I like to keep the by
Speaker 2: CAOLMN at fifty rostered or under, so I don't, you know,
Speaker 2: I try and keep it with guys who are available.
Speaker 2: So on hell, Martinez was was not really available, but
Speaker 2: he's been great, seems to be breaking out even I'll
Speaker 2: go as far as saying that. But anyway, the top
Speaker 2: guy who was roster who the top guy in the
Speaker 2: Player Raider who was rostered and under fifty percent of
Speaker 2: leagues was Brian Rochio. So he's under he's being undervalued.
Speaker 2: H you know, I don't think he's necessarily the most
Speaker 2: exciting of names because he's kind of of like, you know,
Speaker 2: very little power, very little speed, good contact, so hits
Speaker 2: for a decent enough average, but you know, it's a
Speaker 2: little it's not the most exciting profile. But Rochio has
Speaker 2: been actually very good. And then there's also Ezekiel Duran,
Speaker 2: I think has been better than anyone expected, even probably
Speaker 2: Ezekiel Duran. I I don't know if you really thought it.
Speaker 2: And now that Seeger's out, Duran's gonna have He's gonna
Speaker 2: have a good another good couple of weeks at least
Speaker 2: in the lineup. And he's also he's been hot for
Speaker 2: a few weeks now, So I would say Rochio Duran,
Speaker 2: and then i'd say Brooks Again, he's not the most
Speaker 2: exciting of profiles because like I mean, he's not gonna
Speaker 2: be high power, high speed. He actually doesn't even hit
Speaker 2: for a good average either. But he has been somewhat valuable.
Speaker 2: He's been playing, and he's done a little bit of
Speaker 2: everything with the emphasis on little. So I would say Rokio,
Speaker 2: durand Brooks Lee in that order. But Antonacci for speed
Speaker 2: is fine maybe for runs if he hits leadoff, he
Speaker 2: hasn't consistently. Ezekiel so far has been really disappointing as
Speaker 2: far as like waiver wire bats go. Marcus Simeon, I mean,
Speaker 2: I don't know what the Mets were thinking. You know,
Speaker 2: It's like he was so obviously cooked last year. There
Speaker 2: was no reason why Marcus Simeon should have ever been
Speaker 2: traded for, Like it just didn't make any sense. Polanco
Speaker 2: is also so obviously coming off of a career year
Speaker 2: and the Mets gave him like it just doesn't I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess it's just how the Mets do. Like it's
Speaker 2: like that's what the Mets do. But anyway, Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: my thoughts on most of those guys.
Speaker 1: Okay, I will say I uh, so far in the
Speaker 1: last week has started to hit. I don't know that
Speaker 1: there's anything to that. They They were also, I believe
Speaker 1: at home for most of that, so that's always kind
Speaker 1: of the piece of what's actually, No, he wasn't. I'm
Speaker 1: sorry he was only at home this weekend. But he's
Speaker 1: been hitting this week. Maybe there's something where he's coming
Speaker 1: around a little bit. But it's been pretty disappointed as
Speaker 1: somebody who thought it did really make sense where he
Speaker 1: was going in draft season. He seemed like a pretty
Speaker 1: good value. He has not been. And I will say
Speaker 1: Mason Win, I know he's a little banged up, but
Speaker 1: I feel like there's still you know, Mason Win from
Speaker 1: this year and Mason went from last year are really
Speaker 1: not that different. There's just been a little bit of health.
Speaker 1: He's played, you know, hasn't been in games. He's not
Speaker 1: been scoring any runs, which is kind of the biggest
Speaker 1: difference between last year and this year. But average is
Speaker 1: pretty much in line. He's still going to stay you
Speaker 1: some bases. So I feel like if Mason Win just
Speaker 1: gets you some runs, he's pretty much back to the
Speaker 1: player you thought he was gonna be a draft season.
Speaker 1: Time to talk about some sagged off and some save ops.
Speaker 1: Great over in Houston, Brian bray You gets a save.
Speaker 1: Both King and Enio Delas Santos were in the game earlier,
Speaker 1: so there was kind of a situation where he fell
Speaker 1: into it. But what are your thoughts here on the
Speaker 1: Houston bullpen As we patiently await the Hater return.
Speaker 2: I saw I saw a news blurb saying that Josh
Speaker 2: Hater wants to He just wants to get ten more
Speaker 2: appearances in the minor leagues. I was like, what is
Speaker 2: going on? Ten more appearances? Is he hoping to take
Speaker 2: the the Corpus Christie's am Squyers to the U Triple
Speaker 2: A UH Championship? Like what is going on here?
Speaker 1: Man?
Speaker 2: Like, I don't understand why he needs so many appearances.
Speaker 2: It's almost like they want him to get enough appearances
Speaker 2: until he's finally injured again, like they're just waiting. They're
Speaker 2: just waiting for like, Okay, one more appearance. Eventually he's
Speaker 2: got to get injured, right. Yeah. I don't know if
Speaker 2: the Astros want to collect insurance or what, man, but yeah,
Speaker 2: A bray You looks like he has he has figured
Speaker 2: out his issues from earlier in the season, and A
Speaker 2: bray You looks like he's decent again. So I'd probably
Speaker 2: go to bray You first. Brian King I think is
Speaker 2: probably second, but I don't think i'd I don't think
Speaker 2: I would speculate on more than one guy, So i'd
Speaker 2: go Brian to bray You, I guess.
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you're really going after saves, I would say
Speaker 1: both Brian's are kind of in the mix. They're just
Speaker 1: splitting at this point, and you all feels like the
Speaker 1: third option in this grouping right now. He just has
Speaker 1: not performed well when they give him the save opportunities.
Speaker 1: Over in San Francisco, Caleb Killian got a save. Is
Speaker 1: this just his bullpen now for for save ops?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seems like it's Killian's job to lose. I uh,
Speaker 2: you know, I wouldn't put it past him to lose
Speaker 2: it either, but it does. It does seem like it's
Speaker 2: his job for right now at least, like his his
Speaker 2: command is a mess. Like I don't know, I mean,
Speaker 2: he does not look like a closer at all. I
Speaker 2: don't know, I'll be I'll be surprised to see him
Speaker 2: like last the whole season as the closer. But yeah,
Speaker 2: for now, Caleb Killian, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it'll probably be like the number five closer for
Speaker 1: the season and the great gray over in Texas, Jake
Speaker 1: Latts blows a save. Do you think he's losing his
Speaker 1: script there? Or is it still his job?
Speaker 2: I mean, he's again like another guy who like and
Speaker 2: not like they have other great guys behind him, but
Speaker 2: Lats is, I mean, Lats's numbers under the surface don't
Speaker 2: look very impressive, like, you know, barely a seven k
Speaker 2: per nine you know, good command, but eh, you know,
Speaker 2: decent ground balls, I guess, but he doesn't. He doesn't
Speaker 2: look like a closer to be honest. But I don't
Speaker 2: know if they really have anyone else that is, you know,
Speaker 2: worthwhile there to speculate on. So I would I would
Speaker 2: say Lats is fine for now until you know, until
Speaker 2: they until he blows another save or two and then
Speaker 2: starts speculating. But as of right now, I would say
Speaker 2: Lats is the closer, And I don't know, I mean,
Speaker 2: win Cole Winn looks decent under the surface, at least
Speaker 2: for his peripherals.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it feels like Garcia is still like a
Speaker 1: month and a half two months away from getting back,
Speaker 1: so there's still some save opportunities to have here. It's
Speaker 1: just feels kind of clouded and not not like a
Speaker 1: great opportunity anyways. In regards to there's not really a
Speaker 1: oh if they got the job, I think they'd be
Speaker 1: really good type of person here. It's just it 'd
Speaker 1: be a little bit scary, all right, Greg giving people
Speaker 1: some way for our bats. Whoa whoa?
Speaker 2: Okay, So you know, like I mentioned earlier, on Hell
Speaker 2: Martinez has been great. He's rostered according to the ras
Speaker 2: Boll seven day Player Raider, he's rostered in eighty four
Speaker 2: percent of leagues, so technically probably not going to be available,
Speaker 2: but if on on Hell Martinez is available, I would
Speaker 2: pick him up. Also, Gavin Sheets has been incredibly hot
Speaker 2: Dayalen Lil Jake Berger, JJ Boude. I mean, come on, man,
Speaker 2: come on man. Kber Ruiz has been hot, Cedric Mullins,
Speaker 2: Mike Yastremsky, Casey Schmidt, Louis Arise, Matt McClain, Matt McClain, what,
Speaker 2: oh my god? Okay, Luke Raley has been hot, Kyle Menzardo,
Speaker 2: Harrison Bader, Brian Rochio who I mentioned earlier, Carson benj
Speaker 2: Kobe Mayo, Jacob Young A j Ewing is in the
Speaker 2: top twenty on the seven Day Play Raider in his
Speaker 2: first week of the major leagues. That's gotta be a record, right.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to Elijah Sports Bureau on that. Tera Wales
Speaker 2: has been Tara Walls has been hot, JP Crawford, Dylan Dangler,
Speaker 2: and Dane Myers. So there's some guys to pick up.
Speaker 1: All right. And on the pitching side, some streaming options
Speaker 1: for you, Peter Lambert at the Cubs, Edward Rodriguez versus
Speaker 1: the Rockies, Connor Prelip at Boston, Trevor McDonald versus the
Speaker 1: White Sox, the aforementioned, Zebbie, Matthews versus Houston, Sean Burke
Speaker 1: at Seattle, Martin Perez at Miami, Cage Cavali versus the Mets,
Speaker 1: Jansen John versus Atlanta, Luis Severino at the Angels, and
Speaker 1: Grant Homes versus Washington. There are some streamers. If you
Speaker 1: have more questions, you can find us on x I
Speaker 1: Am at Rasbeat on Gray's at Rasball. You can find
Speaker 1: us on YouTube dot com slash Rasball Fantasy or on
Speaker 1: rasball dot com in the comments section. May your line
Speaker 1: us be perfect, May you move up your standings and
Speaker 1: I will talk to you later.
Speaker 2: See you great, all right, ladies,