Leading Off May 19th, 2025 (Ep. 1017)

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in everybody to Fantasy Pros MLB. This is Leading
Off Live. It is me, Joey p joe Pisapia with me,
of course is the Welsh, and it's all of you,
the Peanuts and the Cracker Jackson on Monday morning. You know,
I was noticing in that video and the intro video
for the first time, when we have beards and when
we don't. Sometimes we have them at the same time,
sometimes we have them at separate times. But I don't

(00:27):
ever see us both clean shaven at the same time, Welsh.
I thought that was a little interesting on the timeline
of Leading Off.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Oh that's interesting. I mean, that's more you because like
I can only go so long until I'm forced to shave,
so it's it's not often that you are completely clean shaven.
I think that would be actually very disturbing, if I'm
being honest, I think it would be a little jarring
for everybody.

Speaker 1 (00:48):
Thank you. That's why I'm here for both of.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Us at the same time, not you, not just you, both.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Of the audience and the audience. We're all here on
Twitch as always, Twitch dot tv, Slash Fantasy Pros. That's
where you can watch us live every single Monday through
a noon Eastern time. You could also watch us on
demand on Fantasy Bros MLB. And while you're watching on
the YouTube channel, drop your comments below because you might
win yourself a Jose Ramirez autograph jersey from our good
pals at Pristine Auction dot com. That's right, drop your comments,

(01:14):
ring the bell to the gos ding and subscribe to
Fantasy Bros. MLB. That's the way you win this, bad boy.
And let's start here with the suspension today. That's right,
Jose Alvarado boo eighty game suspension here. And Alvarado had
been really good man was he lights out in the
spring too. It looked like a huge year was coming
for him in that Philadelphia Phillies bullpen. And now it

(01:37):
becomes I believe Jordan Romano's job again. I just dropped
a short video here talking about how Romano over his
last six innings ten strikeouts nowhere and runs one walk.
He's been excellent just in time, luckily. But the Phillies
have a bigger problem now, which is they don't even
have him for the postseason. As well as the eighty
game suspension, this is a huge blow to that Phillies

(01:57):
bullpen because arguably he is the best arm they've got there.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
It's pretty nuts, especially whenever you get any of these
relievers jumping into this. And I don't know if he's
starting to get this little cult following, because Josel Verado
he's like, oh, I love coffee, and everybody was jumping
to this. They're like, oh, what fun it is? And
he throws one on one and he's gone. I think
this might be to the level where the Phillies need
to potentially look at some more bullpen depth. Probably gonna

(02:23):
have to wait until near the trade deadline when a
few more teams are out of it and they can buy.
Because are they comfortable enough, you know, Strom can get
by with it. They move Tywan Walker to the bullpen.
They do have a lot of young guys. That's the
other interesting thing. I mean, Mick Abel just absolutely was
filthy this weekend. And that's a guy. You know, if
they ended up wanting to do anything nuts, you could

(02:44):
throw him in the rotation. And if you were taking
a ranger or hell, at this point, Aaron Nola doesn't
look like he should be in the rotation. You know,
they could move some pieces around but at the end
of the day, losing this this seems to thrust Jordan
Romano back into the role. Might have an offhanded save
of Walker or Strom, but they might have to go
get somebody, and it's probably gonna The determination is probably

(03:06):
going to be if Romano can be consistent over the
next little bit, if they're not going to go out
and try to acquire because like you said, it's not
just the eighty games, it's the playoffs. You know, your
most dominant reliever is out for the playoffs, and he
said it was due to some weight loss drug. And
I will to this day just be amazed that these

(03:26):
athletes and everybody. Maybe we're giving them too much of
benefited out, but it's amazing that nobody ever consults the
place that they work with. If there could be anything
that could get them poppable, if there's money and the job.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
I age it takes very long. Email, you call somebody, OUF,
there's gotta be a hot line. Maybe it's along the.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Lines of like if you go out to the bar
and you're just like, all right, I've had thirteen drinks,
maybe I'll call an uber, Like why do these guys
with all the money in the world not call an
uber uber black whatever you want call one of those.
But why also, can't you just call the league be like, hey,
can I take whatever I'm about, you know, whatever excuse
I'm about to say. But also that's why because.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
He was on the weight loss drug go way way way,
go way, go sit and not collect a paycheck for
eighty games. I think that's the name of it. Anyway,
I don't know. Well, by the way, not losing his
rotation spot, that ain't happening. Let's get to Van Rod's question.
She's got a questionnaire. Who to pick up to replace Lugo,
Will Warren, Taiwan Walker or Poulante. I'm gonna go with

(04:28):
Will Warren. He's been pretty solid lately, and the Yankees
are the Yankees, and they're still at the top of
this division, so I'm gonna go there. The American League
is week two. I want to go with Will Warren.
Where do you want to go?

Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, I think and we'll we'll get extra points with
Van RD for picking a Yankee too, so I'll go
with all.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
Well, then, right, automatically, I'm still sour about yesterday, So no, no,
I'm not ready yet. I'm not ready. Although I did
enjoy Wan Soto tipping his cap on Night one to
the Yankee crowd for booing the hell out of him.
I thought that was terrific. Speaking of the Yankees, Cody
Ballinger three for three with a double and a grand selm.
That just put the knife in the heart last night, brutal.
Whatever go Yankee you want. Merril Kelly was terrific. I

(05:07):
want to talk about Meryl Kelly because he's been really
solid lately. Also, he had eleven strikeouts and seven innings.
His era has done a three to two six his
whip as it won. He's got fifty two strikeouts to
just fifteen walks and fifty eight innings. What do you
think of the Meryl Kelly renaissance going on lately.

Speaker 2 (05:22):
Meryl's always been a good spot starter. This was the
Colorado Rockies, you know, like he gave excuses to our
boy Jack Lder and having a good start because it's like,
well it was Colorado. Like Meryl did have an absolutely
dominant performance against Colorado, sixteen swinging whiffs in this one.
He changed up his pitch mix too, and that might
be some of the change something for us to watch.

(05:43):
He's been forcing change up cutter, and this one he
went cutter and change up for change up and cutter
is his top two used pitches, and they had pretty
high wiff rates, so that might be the ultimate change here.
I still don't know if I trust him as like
a long standing starter. Just think great matchups like this
against Colorado. I'm gonna throw him out there at the

(06:04):
end of the day. His k's are up a tiny bit,
He's era looks good, but the expected is over four.
He's giving up a ton of barreled contact. It's still
pretty hard. I would tread lightly with Merrill. If you start,
if you start to feel too confident, that's when I
think you need to jump ship. That's what I would
say about Meryl.

Speaker 1 (06:23):
Fair enough. Here's one from Doddler. Louis Robert was dropped
in my league. TJ friedel or bray you worth dropping?
I say, freedol.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Let's say you and not dropping, not dropping a bray you.

Speaker 1 (06:32):
So yeah, exactly, and I would do it ago too.
We got a lot of news today too. We got
prospecting of the Welsh coming up. We've got a lot
of rookie news. We got a recall as well, so
very exciting things. Is ti Oscar officially back today? I
have not heard anything about ti Oscar today and I
just looked and swept everything before the show. So if
something breaks during the show, we'll let you know. But
I don't believe as of yet we've gotten that. However,

(06:53):
more news, Jack Lighter's up to two two good starts
in a row, seven innings. No decision, but I'm going
to give him the good start. There was a good day,
three hits, seven innings, three runs, so that's quality. Let's
go seven innings. Very impressive. That's two four more to
go before he becomes a real boy.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yes Welsh, Okay, well, I think just having four good
starts not in a row for the year is fine,
but we can keep doing this Tasker is activated today today.
I do see that coming out of reporters that he'll
be activated according to Dave Roberts, who will be activated today.
So very good signs for and you agreed to it.

Speaker 1 (07:23):
Six straight good start so he's at two so this
is cake. He's only got four more.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
This is gonna be well no, but again the deal
is like for for you, for me, I said before,
like I don't think he's a great starter. I think
he's a serviceable MLB starter and he is like Stacking.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
I don't think I'm not gonna say he's elite. I'm
not just saying he's going to be a real boy.

Speaker 2 (07:43):
You know what we need?

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Then it's a lighters versions of this and if he
and if he has a blow up start, it goes
back to zero. So I have two.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Different versions of this one and Cali, we might need
to do AI for this one. Is he is Pinocchio
with the super long nose, and as his starts get better,
the nose comes down and we just could have art
for that.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Or I thought I thought that would get bigger.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Well, no, like it gets bigger when he's bad, so
it's coming down, yeah, I say, Or we do this
like Major League, and I don't really want to take
clothing off like they did, but like, you know, maybe
we could just add clothing on or add his glove on,
which we add things on. Maybe the Pinocchio one is
a better I.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Like the Pinocchio one that was good, so he should
like a stands at it and left on the high note.
Royce lewis first homer of the season, so there you go.
But he almost had another one too, Jackson Cherio ended
up robbing him. I want to talk about Alexander Canario,
who won for three against the Phillies yesterday. He's now
fourteen for forty three, hitting three twenty six with two
homers six rubies. In May, this was a guy that

(08:48):
was in the Cubs organization. Then he had a pretty
good spring with the Mets. They had no room for
him the forty man roster, so he got cut. Now
he's in Pittsburgh. It's becoming an everyday player in deeper leagues.
Is he a guy that you should start to monitor
or pick up or be paying attention to, because I
think now in May, that we're sitting here again with
some of the outfield injuries we've had, Canario becomes at

(09:09):
least intriguing.

Speaker 2 (09:10):
I think, yeah, I think you should take a look
at him in like fifteen plus leagues. He's super high barrel,
hard hit guy, which is phenomenal. He's getting the ball
in the air great, his strikeouts have come down, he's
walking like all that stuff looks solid. But kind of
a primary fastball hitter, which he's absolutely dominating right now.
I imagine he's gonna the pitch mixed changes are going

(09:32):
to start to happen a bit, and really low contact
percentage seventy two percent zone contact percentage. But can he
be a two to forty hitter? His underlying profile is
a guy where if he were hitting two forty, he's
gonna hit twenty plus homers. So he's going to be valuable.
And here's the other positive. That team is just messy.
They're a disaster and playing time as the season goes on,
it's just going to be more and more. Let's see

(09:54):
what we've got. And Canario looks like a player that
they're going to want to see a full season out of.
So I do think there's some value in picking him up.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Would you trade Ozzie Albi's for Luis Castillo from frov?

Speaker 2 (10:04):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yeah, I'm good with that. I think that's fair.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
I think I would. I'm not I'm a super not
Louis Castillo guy right.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Now, the big Ozzie guy either.

Speaker 2 (10:13):
If I'm not either one of them, I guess it
would be maybe dependent on like my need, if I
like super need rotational depth or something like that, I
guess I would consider it, but I'd rather have Ozzie instead.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
Zebbi, Jack Lighter, Ryan Weathers rest of season from laser sharp.
I think I say Jack lighter, I'm gonna surprise people here.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
Are you gonna go lighter?

Speaker 1 (10:35):
I'm gonna go lighter because I think Texas is going
to be in this thing eventually. Corey Seger at some
point will come back, probably get hurt again, but he'll
be back eventually. I don't know. I feel I mean,
the Zebe start wasn't great already in Ryan Weathers pitches
on the Marlins, and I think there's limitations there. I
think it's between Weathers and Lighter for me rest of season,
But what do you think we wash?

Speaker 2 (10:54):
I'm gonna go Weathers on this. I'm gonna go Weathers
lighter and than Matthew's because I don't know. I don't
know if Zebby is to have that rotation spot that
that's the question him infested. Maybe going back and forth,
weather's been good. So if our one eight era and
I guess it was only one start, but twenty eight
percent K percentage low walks. I think all of these
guys are probably more streamers than anything else. So when

(11:16):
you're asking that question, I would just kind of line
it up. And then here's the order. I like, if
there's a cool matchup, I put one of those guys in.
I don't know if any of those guys are gonna
be worth holding on to through struggles though.

Speaker 1 (11:28):
Paul Skin's another tough luck outing for him. One run,
three hits, eight innings, but again got a loss against
the Phillies. He had nine strikeouts, one walk, forty percent
with rate. I mean everything you can ask more, but
it's just been a little Maybe it's not been the
best stretch here for him, but the performance has been good.
Results not always been perfect for him. But speaking of

(11:48):
the Pirates, we do have a Jostra Damas update. Over
the weekend, we hear Jared Jones suffer the setback in
his throwing program. He's gonna meet with the doctors tomorrow
and he's gonna have the elbow reading examined. A lot
of rumor circulating that he's gonna have Tommy John Joe
stra Damas strikes again. I hate seeing it into the
future sometimes Welsh, but we keep fooling ourselves, always thinking

(12:10):
it's gonna be okay, everything's gonna be fine. It's like
that meme with the dog and the room is on fire.
Whenever we have a picture who's got an elbow issue
and we all just think it's gonna be fine. It's
never fine.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Who could have thought in any world that a guy
who has i'll tell your issues and is on the
injured list? Who could only Joe stra Damas could have
possibly seen this.

Speaker 1 (12:31):
Kept telling everybody was stop wasting draft picks on this guy,
and people didn't refuse to. They kept taking him. Well,
I'm gonna take a shot on her, or well i'm
gonna you know, I'm gonna I'm gonna hold a wait
and see. No, no, it never works out. Well, it's
always a disaster.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Every single show's like I saw fifty five thousand scenarios
and the only one was he would be hurt. Like,
oh my god, Joe, how did you see it?

Speaker 1 (12:52):
Ow? Yeah, thats exactly I Van Rod's right, that's exactly.
Everything's fine. Everyone sits there. But it's it's it's this
cock eyed optimism that everybody has and fanis baseball. We're
just think everything's gonna be okay. He's oh, oh, he's
got he's got a problem. He'll figure it out, He'll
be okay.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
Who's that there's Jared Jones right here.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
There is, there is, there is, Everything's fine, there is.
He's on fire. See the You should keep that handy
because that's gonna come in handy throughout the show. Because
also on fire the Baltimore Orioles who fired their manager
Brandon Hyde fifteen and twenty eight to start the season.
Before the firing, So Welsh, this is the third manager
fired before Memorial Day? Pop quiz, hotshot, And for everybody

(13:28):
out there in the chat too, when was the last
time four managers were fired before Memorial Day? It's happened
in this century. I will tell you that.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
I would have actually said it hasn't happened.

Speaker 1 (13:39):
I don't know. It's this man, it's happened in this
century recently, Oh I don't know. Well maybe not too
recently for some people, depending on how old they are.
But uh, oh okay, drop a year in the chat
if you want to guess what.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
Year nineteen ninety four?

Speaker 1 (13:54):
No this century?

Speaker 2 (13:55):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, two thousand. Well, just as you're
saying when you said it's.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
The year two thousand, since the year two.

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Thousand, two thousand and six, No, it was not.

Speaker 1 (14:07):
Two thousand and six. See, people saying to twenty twelve
not so much. But look, here's the thing. It's not
brand Hyde's fault. I mean, you go into the year
vault with Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton, Sigano, Dean Kreamer, who,
by the way, was also the dean in House Party two.
I think a lot of people forget that that was
the name of the dean. But I mean, it's not

(14:31):
Bran Hyde's fault, and firing the manager is not going
to change anything, so it's gonna be a hot mess
for the Orioles rest of season. They also let go
of Kyle Gibson, so I guess that experiment also failed.
What a shock. Tobias Meyer's more transactions, he was sent
down a triple A. My boy, Logan Henderson's going nowhere.
He's going nowhere. Baby. I'm gonna cut a promo every
time he goes out there and starts, because that's my dude.

(14:53):
He was great again last week and he ain't going
no place. He's sticking in that rotation this time. Also
in the rotation now Hayden Birds is going to replace
Jordan Hicks. Now bird Song has had two to one
strikeout to walk ratio era round two three. Sometimes the
control could be a little erratic. Had a great spring,
people thought he might make that rotation. So Welsh, what
do you think of people running to the waiver wire

(15:15):
to add bird song?

Speaker 2 (15:16):
Yeah, I think he's he tows the must pick up
line here just because of some of the strikeout potential.
It is interesting though, because it's like, you know, as
a starter last year compared to this year as a reliever,
his k's are down, but his walks are also down.
But he has got some you know, he's got some
big whiff stuff. I mean, his slider's got a thirty
one percent withff rate on it, change up's got a

(15:38):
forty eight percent whiff rate. He throws both of those
a significant amount of the time, and his changeup has
a forty three percent K percentage. So remember with is
just swinging through that could be on one strike counts,
but actual K percentage just locking these guys down, You
know that that is a massive strikeout pitch with a
fastball that has towed up a little bit. But again,
now that he is going to be more in the

(15:59):
starter range, is he going to maintain ninety six? Either way,
it's a great ballpark. Factor. There's a ton of young
strikeout potential in Hayden Birdsong era has been great two
three one in relief expected is up a bit over
four and the barrels are up. So I would lightly say,
as you know, we had Sunday where everyone's like, oh
it's Waivers and blah blah blah. Bird Song you want

(16:20):
to pick up, but he's not invincible like he might have.
He might be nothing more than a streamer. Like so really,
you know, Dodgers, you're not going to want to play him.
But I think with the strikeout potential alone, i'd pick
him up. And someone asks whether's over Birdsong, I'd actually
go bird Song over him. Right now we have a
bunch of like Wooojia rathers Horton or bird song. That

(16:40):
one's really really tough. If I want to chase the
strikeout potential, I'd probably go bird song. But I think
is going to stay in the rotation.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
But we'll see if he sticks in that rotation or not.
One more transaction. Colton Wong calls it a career too.
So Colton Wong never quite I think my potential. People thought,
of course he's a friend of Welsh Is everybody's a
friend of weal. No.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Mary I told that story where all him in complex
and I was like, hey, Colton's good to see you,
and he's like, it's not good to see you because wow,
he didn't want to be no, because he didn't want
to be there. He laughed about it. He was like,
I'm in complex league ball. He's like, it's not that
he just didn't like you. I mean, that's definite possibility.
He also did say, by the way, he was kind
of like, I'm retiring because it doesn't seem like there's
any options, like we could see him in a little bit.

(17:20):
But yes, Colton Wang, we bid you ado eleven years by.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
The way, Yeah, hey, a good major league career just
never reached. I think the potential that people I remember
him in that World Series and he was a rookie, remember,
and people are like, Oh, this kid's going to be
the speed stories to steal eighty bases, He's going to
change the game. And you know what, maybe had the
rules changes been in there when he was younger, he
might have had a bigger fantasy impact. I think the
rules changes hurt players like Colton Wong back in that era.

(17:44):
I think you can move back to that, you know,
contact guy. I'm sort the shift killed him on top
of all the other stuff, you know, the stolen base situation.
Also more on the San Francisco Giants rotation a little
bit later in the program. Wanted to give you the
answer to the question two thousand, two thousand and two
is the last time that we had so many managers
get fired before Memorial Day? Phil Garner was fired six

(18:08):
games into the season for the Detroit Tigers if you
call that, Davy Lopes of the Brewers, Buddy Bell of
the Rockies, and then it was the manager in Kansas
City as well. So it's four guys before Memorial Day.
So we're close to tying a record.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
So get fired. Who's the guy that gets fired?

Speaker 1 (18:25):
You know what? It's funny. We were playing this game
on Sunday on the TV show, and I don't know
if there's another one in season, maybe after the season,
but I don't think in season right now. I think
you look at the bottom teams because Ron Washington's not
going anywhere. The White Sox manager's not getting fired like
I just yeah, like all the bad teams. I mean,
the Marlin's gonna make a managerial change. I don't think so.

(18:45):
The Brewers, even if they missed the playoffs, I an't
making a managerial change.

Speaker 2 (18:49):
Pat Murphy, Yeah, like I just know so.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
I think this is it, but you never know. Crazy
things happened. Let's get to the rookie. Lookie Abel was
able for the Phillies. Yesterday. He had a two five
three ERA F fifty one strikeouts over forty six things.
In triple A you struck out nine. Again it was
the Pirates, but still a great debut from him. Ninety
seven point three average fastball Welsh. Any comments about Abel.

Speaker 2 (19:11):
Yeah, he's a guy. I just don't remember if I
brought him up yet. I've written about him so far.
He's had a couple of years. There's a prospect fatiguey
thing because he was a big time prospect, really leveled
out and then all of a sudden just started finding
it this year. Fastball up ninety seven in this last start.
His curveball had a seventy two percent with rate. Again,
like you said, it is the Pirates, so like I

(19:33):
guess tread lightly a little bit, but his curveball was dominant,
His slider was great, his fastball looked great. He was commanding,
which was an issue in the miners a bit. This
is a very very encouraging sign. I fully expect we're
going to get another start in here soon. But Nickabel
jumps to the top of the list of those streamy
type of guys. And really, frankly, if he were to
be given a rotation spot, you need a couple more

(19:56):
outings to like really buy in. But he might be
one of those guys you want to buy because he's
always had strikeout potential.

Speaker 1 (20:01):
Always Zebbie Matthews has potential, but he's not showing it
at the major league level. Four runs, three innings for
him on Sunday, Nick Kurtz another oh for ugh God,
Now that batting average is at two nineteen, so we
can't hang our hat on that anymore. Dylan Cruz signs
of life. Maybe we heard him when we last we
left you Friday, Dylan Cruz, we were thinking might not
make it through the weekend. But good performance yesterday, three

(20:22):
rubies and a dinger over the Orioles. And then John
Hayman just reported before the show that matt Shaw's on
his way back. He had two to eighty six and
triple A with six homers, five steels, so hopefully the
second time will be the charm for that young prospect.
And speaking of prospects, it's that time, everybody. It's time
for prospecting with the Welsh. That's right. It's when we
take a look at some of the young players in

(20:43):
minor league baseball, scratching the surface of the big leagues,
or you need to know for your dynasty league. So Welsh,
let's kick things off here with Bubba. Watch as we
always like to do here on the show. Another day
goes by another Bubba Chandler starting in the minor league.
Seven strikeouts, two runs, four and a third on Sunday
and Triple A. Do the Pirates just hate their fans?

(21:03):
Is that all it is at this point?

Speaker 2 (21:05):
I do think there's an element though, where they're starting
to look logistically across the board. I mean, you just
fired your manager, your seasons kind of out. You start
to you're towing the line. I don't know the dates,
and it'd probably be helpful if I did, But they
change of like Super two and having an extra year
of eligibility. I think that's what we're dealing with right now,
is we might be dealing with that extra year of control,

(21:27):
and usually that's around like you know, late ish May,
and again that.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Is what I'm seeing right now in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Yeah, I mean, okay, so and if that's the case, listen,
they don't have a ton to play for. And it
has to be the case. Frankly, if you look at
most of the results, I do think there's like a
few things that still stand out. There are some you know,
deep counts he gets into, and there's a little bit
of walk issues. But he's done a really good job
at the pitch mixes. This past start, he had fifteen

(21:56):
whiffs on forty one swings, his fastball touch to one hundred,
he had seven strikeouts. I mean, let's learn this at
the major league level. But what are the Pirates playing for?
So that's why when the question comes up, Hey, is
Bubba Chandler going to be up soon?

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (22:13):
When I don't know the next start, the next one
is when he should be up. He should be up tomorrow.
But I think they're playing the control game right now unfortunately.
So you know, you've got to come to terms with
how you are as a fantasy owner. Can you hold him?
Is he just taking up a bench spot? He will
be like the most valuable starting pitching prospect once he
comes up. But also this team does suck, you know,

(22:35):
and it's like, how different off could he be than
like maybe a Mick Able with the Phillies, Like the
line actually might be kind of small, so maybe you could.
But at this point, if you've invested this long, you
got to hold on Bubba.

Speaker 1 (22:46):
Marcelo Mayor is starting at second base, so great glove
at shortstop, but playing some second base. Why because Christian
Campbell said I'll play first base because I don't want
to get sent down because I haven't hit a lick
in the last week and a half. So good for you,
Christian Campbell. Take them one for the team. It looks
like Campbell's going to get some work and has been
working out at first base, and so far, you know,

(23:07):
Marcella Mayor has been terrific, extriplas, done everything you could
possibly ask for. He's hit, he's fielded, and it looks
like he's going to get the opportunity very quickly. And
that could be great too, because now all of a
sudden you're talking about a guy who qualifies not only
a short stop, but eventually it's second base. As well
in some leagues. So how does that potentially increase his
value not just this year, but maybe next year as well.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
Yeah, I mean I think multiposition eligibility is going to
be great. Also that they are clearly it. Actually, it's
pretty trippy to me that they're like, I mean, I
don't blame them them asking the young guys, but that
they looked at Marcella or they looked at Roman Anthony
and they're just like, we won't even consider having him move,
but we'll have the guy that's in the majors right now,
and Christian Campbell be the guy that moves, and then

(23:48):
we'll also move Mayor, but we'll never move Roman Anthony.
But this is clearly he's the next guy that's going
to be up. Defensively, Christian Campbell has just been bad
at second, but also throughout spring, he's played a bunch
of different spots, and as you kind of mentioned, they said,
you know, someone asked him, hey, what's your favorite position,
and he's like, whatever makes the team win, you know,
the most anti Raphael Devers spot. But Marcella Mayer has

(24:11):
been pretty good. His average is lacked a little bit.
He's definitely hit some homers forty seven percent hard hit
rate in triple A, which is definitely pretty solid. He's
getting the ball in the air. He's hit a one
to eleven, so he's showing some good natural raw power
and he is clearly going to be up. I gotta
be honest with you, I think he's up this week.
I think at this point, how much longer are you

(24:32):
going to do this experiment with Christian Campbell? I think
you just throw him to the Wolves. This is the
guy that's played multiple spots on the infield, in the outfield.
I think by mid this week we're going to see
Mayor come up, and he's gonte be playing second base
in the majors, so he's a pickup now.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Another guy to keep an eye on it. We've touched
on some of the kids down the farm for the
San Francisco Giants. He's pitching a triple A. Carson wizen Hunt,
I know welsch Thattz, the guy that you've been looking
at as well. He's got a three era a one
whip again, this is PCL number two, which makes it
even more spectacular. Fifty two strikeouts, just seven walks over
fifty one innings. He's the top pitching prospect in the organization.

(25:08):
Hayden Birdsong is getting that crack right now in that
rotation because they're moving on from Hicks into the bullpen.
Hicks start in the bullpen, so it's not too surprising there.
But if bird Song doesn't pitch well, or there is
an injury or another underperformer, could we see wizen Hunt
this season.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yes, one hundred percent. And one thing he has going
for him is he's a lefty and they only have
one lefty in their rotation, it's Robbie Ray, and they've
got four writings in there. We've seen some big changes
out of wizen Hunt too, and the number one has
been in the form of walks. He has registered stop
a B amongst stop. It's been just like you know,
four walk per nine, five walk per nine. It's one

(25:47):
point two four this year. And he's taken away on
the strikeouts. But he's become way way more efficient as well.
Pitch usage or mix has changed just a tiny bit
this year. He's not throwing a cutter as much. He's
kind of going heavy sinker slide up and he has
a world class change up, which is a big strikeout pitch.
But he has had some big command issues, so it
looks like he can be a not a frontline starter,

(26:10):
but he can be in the rotation. That changeup is
an absolute strikeout with pitch. I've seen him quite a
bit in the AFL and out here in Arizona that
I think if Birdsong struggles or honestly, there's some old guys,
you know, like I don't know, like there could whether
there's an injury or some other type of change. I mean,
maybe landing route even doesn't work. Wizen hunts the next
guy up. That's the main, most important thing. He's the

(26:32):
next guy up. He's a lefty that helps that rotation
with strikeout potential. So you should watch him and watch
the other guys for sure.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
All Right, we've watched Jack cagleone all year at Double A,
just smack baseballs around three twenty two, three ninety four,
five point fifty three slash with nine homers, forty three ribbies,
two steals and a partridge in a pear tree. And
now on Sunday he got promoted to Triple A. So
here we go the uh or should I say, one
of the worst offenses, one of the lowest at the

(27:00):
out of the barrel in ops right now. Of all
teams is the Kansasity Royals. They got a little bit
better recently in May, but Steell Welsh they lack some
power and protection for Bobby Witt. Will Jack Kaglione be
that guy? And how soon could that happen?

Speaker 2 (27:13):
Yeah, this is the timeline We've been talking about for
quite some time because I don't think anyone and no
one's really known what you do or what they are
going to do with cagleioon. But we said as he
has progressed, it started to look more and more like
there could even be this potential that they bring him
up from Double A. But what you want to see
is the move from Triple A. Bam, We've got it.

(27:35):
He's leaving Double A hitting three twenty two nine homers.
Here's the most impressive piece of it. Only a twenty
one percent k percentage. That's huge because he had some
huge swing and miss issues. He's played right field, he
can obviously play first, he's a DH. I think this
move is setting us up to post All Star break

(27:56):
Jack cagleon coming up to the Major. So especially if
the are still just kind of locked into this big
you know, this division is just open right now, and
if they are locked into it, I really do think
that they're going to bring him up. They're going to
try him in the outfield. You know, they might spell
him penning, what's going on with any Pascuentino at first base.
Either way, I think his bat is getting into the lineup.

(28:18):
They're just going to have to figure out the days
they want Salve to be dh to make sure they're
comfortable with him defensively. So here's what I watch for.
Watch for the strikeout rate, watch for him hitting consistently,
and watch for him playing in the outfield. I think
the month timeline is around that spot. So what I
would do is I would pick him up pre all
start break. I'd pick him up if he's floating out

(28:39):
there in about three weeks or so, maybe a month
into mid June, before we start to get the big moves.
But hey, listen, if he goes and hits four hundred
in triple A, it might we might be way overshooting it.
He might be up sooner rather than later. But I
do believe he'll be up this year.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
Lastly, I want to talk about a guy who's only
recently come across my sphere in terms of the prospect world.
Cjkaphus two for four with a two run diner on Sunday.
He is twenty three years old. He's hitting three seventy
nine in fifteen games of Triple A with three homers,
eleven RBIs in a steel Now. The Guardians have not
gotten a lot out of Carlo Santana, Let's be honest.
He was kind of that stopgap veteran guy they brought

(29:16):
back for the thousand of the time to see what
they could do there. Man Zardo's a bit more of
a DH. He has struggled to hit for batting average again.
Could s e each I Cafus be a guy that
we see sooner than later, because, as you mentioned, that
division with the Royals and the Tigers and the Guardians
is really tight. Minnesota Twins just getting a little healthier too.
They just got Lopez back a few weeks ago, and
now of course Royce lewis back as well. So could

(29:37):
we see the Guardians reach down at Triple A and
bring up some more offense in Cafus.

Speaker 2 (29:41):
I don'itely think it's a possibility. It might be kind
of crazy for this team if they were to cut
date on Santana and have two very young players in
Cafus and Manzardo both be that DH first base spot.
I think that would make things a little difficult, but
they are giving him the pushy. They moved him from
Double A to Triple A within the first month of
the season. I do think that is very very telling.

(30:03):
So far in Triple A he's meeting the call again.
He's hitting three seventy nine in Triple A over fifteen games.
He's hitting homers. His strikeout rates a little bit up.
They're going to want to see that come down. But
he's a left handed hitter who's going to take take
full advantage of that right sided poll, that little wind
tunnel that's happened, so you can smash some homers. I
do think there's an absolute possibility if an injury happens,

(30:25):
I think we could end up seeing him. But they're
going to have to feel really comfortable whether it's like
a defensive side or the bat is ready. Because they've
got these other guys that can interchange, like Gabriel Arius.
Could they go and play first base. They keep interchanging
these type of players, but cafis for them to move
them to Triple A. They're not moving them to Triple
A to finish the year there. He definitely is going
to get a look and offensively he's a sneaky guy.

(30:47):
Ale only league player or deeper league if he were
to be called up. I just don't think the timeline
is like CAGs. You got to wait for him to
get called up. So put him on a watch list.

Speaker 1 (30:56):
All right, that's prospecting with the Welsh. Make sure you
go to fancy ros dot com too you see more
of Welsh's takes on the prospects that could impact your
fantasy baseball future. Let's get to the three up and
three down up Max Freed. Very good night for him.
Eight more strikeouts. Man, that era is just dazzling. I
know they expected the era is gonna be higher. He's
gonna come back to earth a little bit. But man,
what an incredible run Max Freed has been. He has

(31:18):
saved this rotation. Jeffrey springs back on track, still so
good to see or run and two hits, six and
two thirds. Everyone's kicking themselves for dropping him to the
waiver wire. And cj Abrams three for five with two homers,
two rubies and three runs scored yesterday and win over
the oh's the downs. Oh well, so Shane Boss continues
to just unravel before our eyes. Brian Bao got lit
up for seven runs, Zach Eflin eight runs on ten hits,

(31:41):
you know, because the Orioles pitching staff. But I want
to go to bos for a second too, because that's
the one I'm getting tons of questions on. Do I
drop him? Do I keep him? I'm not sure what's
unraveled here for him. I'm not sure if you look
in that Baseball Savant page you're going to have the
crystal ball to see it either. Maybe it's a combination
of pitch micks, confidence, whatever it might be. But at
some point here, I don't know how long you can

(32:02):
keep Ean Symour down in this rotation with Boz keeps
going out there and getting lit up. Pepio's pitch better.
We're still waiting on mcclanahead. We don't have a timeframe,
but I'm worried about Boz's spot in that rotation.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
Yeah, well, I'm not sure if I'm like, I guess
that's a decent point. He threw me off there because
it's like my worried about his rotation spot. I'm not
sure that they're gonna just cut bait after you know,
four or five bad starts. This is a guy that
they see as like a big future piece that is
going to be here for years to come. I think
they can work out through this for the most part

(32:34):
at the major league level. But what's interesting now the
other part of that is like, outside of losing the
rotation spot, is he going to be serviceable for fantasy?
I don't know. He cut his slider. I mean he
threw it twenty one percent of the time last year,
that was the second most used pitch. It's fourth. He
only throws it about eight percent of the time, and
last year it had like a one sixty average against.

(32:54):
So he's fastball, curveball, change up. That's primarily where he's going.
The unfortunate part is, you know, two ninety four average
against fastball, two fifty nine against changeup. But those are
both overperforming or underperforming. I guess it would be the
way to say it, because the expected batting average against
is quite a bit lower, and that's what leads to
him having an only four expected dra versus the over

(33:17):
five that he is currently actually running. But the strikeouts
haven't been there. He's throwing to just a bunch more
contact right now. Zone contact is up to eighty five percent.
It was eighty three last year, So the stuff isn't stuffing.
And I think bos in twelve and ten teen leagues
can kind of easily be pushed through and you can
go with there. We've talked about so many guys that

(33:38):
are like streamers that we don't feel comfortable holding on to.
I think Boss is in that territory, like there's no
reason to hold on to it right now. It's really
really messy. And when there's guys like Able or Chandler
coming or Merril Kelly with good starts, don't hold on
to You're gripping for life that he's going to be
this big ace that doesn't seem like it's going to
adjust through the rest of this year.

Speaker 1 (33:59):
All right, get to well, First of all, before we
get to the injuries, Welsh, I have to ask you,
did you bring your activity for today's Kaisa Trex read?

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Oh did you bring it.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Your your your quilting or any sort of I don't
know puzzle you're doing with your grandchildren. Well, don't break
your setup here.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
I was breaking stuff I'm going to do some typing here.

Speaker 1 (34:20):
Okay, what is that? This is the sort of cal
eco vision thing.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
What's actually it's it's like it's a label maker?

Speaker 1 (34:27):
Okay, it does.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
It looks like one of those like the.

Speaker 1 (34:30):
Calculator from when I was in middle school. You had
to get that scientific calculator that was this day.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Remember when they're like they're like, you got to spend
the ninety dollars on this. There's no way you'll be
able to have anywhere else. And we all have phones
that have that, we don't have to do it.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
So I want you to make some labels for some
things in your house and do it happily. All right,
Here we go coming down and three, two and one.
When you train hard, you show up, but lately something
feels off, Fatigue lenders, recovery takes longer, and your performing
this isn't quite where you used to be. These might
be signs of low testosteron, a condition affecting about thirty

(35:04):
percent of adult men in America and KAISATRECX is an
FDA approved testosterone replacement therapy designed for men like you.
Not an injection. It's not a gel. It's a twice
daily pill that fits seamlessly into your active lifestyle, helping
to restore your testosterone to optimal levels. Know your T
score and get tested today by visiting chisatrex dot com
slash Testing kit. That's kyz at r ex dot com

(35:26):
slash testing kit and by prescription only as kaisatrecs, it's
a controlled substance that can be a target of abuse,
and Chisatrex is not for use in pregnant women or
men with prostate or breast cancer. Safety and efficacy in
those younger than eighteen is not known. Tell your doctor
about all medical conditions and medications you're on. Serious side
effects could include increased blood pressure, worsening prostate symptoms, increase

(35:46):
risk of prostate cancer, blood clots in the legs or lungs,
decreased berm count, liver problems in large or painful breasts,
and breathing problems while you sleep. A common side effects
include swelling of the ankles, feet, or body, increase, red
blood cell count, and increase in PSA prostate and that levels.
PSA is a test used to take press the cancer.
Report these symptoms to your doctor and call your doctor
to learn more about Kaisa trecks for questions and more

(36:07):
information visit kisatrecks dot com or one eight three three
nine four nine five zero four zero. All right, good
would you would you? I can't see all Kaisa tracks.
There you go, the label has been made. There you go.

Speaker 2 (36:20):
Why doesn't it want to be clear?

Speaker 1 (36:22):
Being clear?

Speaker 2 (36:22):
Camera too close?

Speaker 1 (36:23):
Pull it away? I think cause it's white.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
You gotta away? And then there we go.

Speaker 1 (36:28):
You can't. Yeah, you don't want to inject it. You
want to just take it slowly. There we go.

Speaker 2 (36:33):
Kaisa tck so tiny. Okay, we need to make this bigger.
We'll use that with Kaisa Trecks. We'll make it bigger.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
There you go. Let's get to the injuries. Uh, some
good news and some bad news. That's that's what injuries
are about. Brandon Woodriff. There are bullpen sessions. So he's
gonna go make two more rehab starts. But love of God,
can we get Brandon Woodrift to start please? I Uh,
it's gonna be the year twenty thirty two and Brandon

(36:58):
Woodroff is still gonna be making rehab.

Speaker 2 (36:59):
Never gonna happen. It's it's gonna you actually should do
it like a live stream when he actually pitches like
it'll be incredible.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
I hope I live to see it. That's all I say.
That's it.

Speaker 2 (37:10):
You can have your next prostate.

Speaker 1 (37:12):
Example, Ksey Miz through a bullpen sessions rehabbing you darvish,
it's not going to join the rotation during the upcoming
series against the Blue Jays. So nixt to that. Hunter
Green through a bullpen session yesterday, All was well there.
Tyler O'Neal goes to the tendaill with a shoulder impingement.
Evan Carter wan wanh goes to the tendail retroacting to

(37:34):
the seventeenth with the right quad strain and spencer strider.
The good news, I saved the good news for last.
He was activated. Let's go. Are you excited here? And
are you surprised he didn't have a rehab start or
one of Brandon Woodroff's many rehab starts.

Speaker 2 (37:49):
Well, I suppose it, Like you don't hate to see it,
but some of these guys that are out, if you're
a for like two weeks, you're just not going to
see reheb assignments. You're talking about that with Tommy Edmond
a taoscar is not too in that. If it's like
a two possibly three weeks. Most of these players just
hang out at the stadiums. They're good to go. When
it gets to a month or more, or there's been
significant time like you know, leading up, like missing part

(38:11):
of the season, that's when they care about this stuff.
So no, I'm not really surprised.

Speaker 1 (38:14):
At lisaid Kaiser tricksher. Send us some swag.

Speaker 2 (38:17):
What kind of swag?

Speaker 1 (38:18):
What kind of swagging? They said, I don't know. I
think it gives you the swag. That's that's all you need.
A speaking of swag, Connor, we got some swag after
the weekend. Three and one over the weekend, It's time
for the best Bets of the Day with Joey p
and the Welsh. Let's start here with the best Bets
of today with Nick Castellanos. Oh baby, let's go because

(38:38):
Castianos has a really good track record against Kyle Freeland.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Free what happened in the world, Well.

Speaker 1 (38:44):
Yeah, actually over the weekend something did. But anyway, Kyle
Freeland three homers and seventeen at bats, a thousand ops
in his career, So let's just take it easy and
let's just bet minus one ten for him to drive
in a run today and the Phillies expected run total
is six and a half already, so the Phillies are
expected to score some runs and Nick Casianos should be
in a good position to drive some in today. So

(39:06):
give me Casianos to get an RBI minus one ten.
Also on the mound today for the Miami Marlins is
Edward Cabrera, the human gas can, and he, I think,
is going to give up some total bases to Kyle Tucker.
Give me two plus total bases at minus one fifteen
on the FanDuel machine. And then the Tampa Bay Rays
on the run line. Pepio's on the mound. He's pitched

(39:28):
really well lately, he has not He's got a quality
start in four of his last five appearances, but he's winless.
It's time. It's time to get a win here. Let's go.
The Astros lineup is defunct right now. They're missing a
ton of pieces. Still give me the Rays on the
run line at minus one and a half for plus
one forty six Welsh, What do you have here for

(39:49):
the people on a Monday?

Speaker 2 (39:51):
I am all plus moneyed here on Monday, so it
is nothing but plus money plays. We are going to
start it off with probably my favorite the day Christopher Sanchez.
We are alt lining his strikeouts to seven. You can
maybe even later it. To be honest with you, six
is like pretty decent minus money. Seven is plus one

(40:12):
twenty right now, going up against the Colorado Rockies, who
stink and give up all the strikeouts, one of the
worst teams in baseball. Give me Chris Sanchez alt line.
I might even flirt with the eight, to be honest
with you, but seven for plus money, Yes and thank you.
He had over seven in his last start. Half of
his starts this year. Four of his eight starts he

(40:33):
has had seven or more strikeouts, and he's got the
Colorado Rockies, so again, yes and thank you. Kansas City
first five money line. We're gonna be backing Chris Bubach
going up against the Giants here. Robbie Ray has been
pretty solid. Bubich has got a one six six era.
I'm getting plus money for them to have a lead
early on offense, maybe picking up a little bit, so yes, sir.

(40:55):
And then Arizona Diamondbacks first five money line. This is
against the Dodgers, which is very scary. Brendan Fought can
be very scary with his homers, but Landon Knack is
on the mound, and the Arizona Diamondbacks offense is also
pretty scary. So I think we can get one of
those early good versions of Brandon fot that holds down
the homers and the runs, and we are going to

(41:16):
get the Diamondbacks getting to Landonnac quick. It's plus money
through the first five innings plus one oh five and
like both of those first fives, if they happen to
be tied, we push and we move on. So case
Arizona first five plus money altline, Chris Sanchez strikeouts, bing
and boom.

Speaker 1 (41:33):
There you go, bing and boom. And speaking of big
and boom, why don't you make your booms bigger by
going over and using our fanduelling Fantasy Rose dot com
slash leading off. When you bet your first five dollars
boom and it wins, you get the bang with the
two fifty in bonus bets. There you go, right now,
Fantasy ros dot com slash leading off. Let's look at
the home run board because we're over time here today.
I got no home runs. Pete A. Lonzo was useless

(41:55):
to me. I got a lot of rage this morning.
Marty's at the top of twenty after the weekend, George
and out at nineteen Wonkee Penguins still holding eighteen, Razor
at seventeen. Welsh not highlighted. I just want you to
know fairly.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
Razor Ramone is the new He's part of Fantasy pros
Now he gets highlighted.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
A bad guy. The Welsh at fifteen, still on the board.
I am not at double digits, Sammy. So it's a
jersey up for grabs from Pristine Auction. Go to our
chat Fastbros dot com slash chat for our discord to
go pick your home runs. I'm gonna go with Nick
Cassianos today and you can speculate whatever why. I'm just
doing it by the numbers. That's it. Just buy the
numbers Nick Cassianos and you get a pretty good number

(42:33):
on him too. Vegas is giving me a plus four
to eighty for him to go yard today, so I
like that one. Welsh, where are you going for your
home run call today?

Speaker 2 (42:40):
I'm gonna go with Bobby Wit Bobby Witt Junior. There
is some there's some big wind here today in these
games we had I think it's like almost twenty mile
an hour wins coming in in the Cleveland game, there's
a couple that are just kind of pushing on the outskirts.
But this is one of those where it's like fifteen
to seventeen mil an hour wins going out, especially on

(43:00):
the right handed side. So we're going to tag a
really good contact hitter in Bobby quit Junior as our
boy hitting in San Francisco against Robby Ray and that
home run me a hi, hemmy highlighted. Maybe I can
get highlighted next show.

Speaker 1 (43:14):
Busy weekend, busy Monday. Thanks for joining us again. Go
find us on the twitch at Fantasy Pros, and of
course don't forget also to subscribe to the YouTube channel
Fantasy Pros MLB. That'll do it for us, but the
story of the game goes on for the Welsh. I'm
Joey P. We'll see you next time. Kids. Thanks for
listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast. If you

(43:34):
love the show, the best freeway to support us is
by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify,
follow us on x, Instagram and TikTok at Fantasy pros at,
subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube dot com slash
Fantasy Pros mlb

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