September 26, 2025 • 29 mins
For one final time this season, join Joe Pisapia (@JoePisapia17), Chris Welsh (@IsItTheWelsh), and Joe Orrico (@JoeOrrico99) as they recap the 2025 fantasy baseball season, give their take on the AL MVP Race, and talk about some of their biggest hits and misses of the year!
From all of us here on Leading Off, thank you so much for following along all season! We’ll be back soon to bring you offseason content, and we’ll be prepping for 2026 drafts before you know it!
Timestamps: (May be off due to ads)
Intro - 0:00:00
The AL MVP Race - 0:03:54
Our Favorite Fantasy Players in 2025 - 0:09:40
Impressive Rookie Pitchers - 0:16:02
Final SP Streamers - 0:21:07
Biggest 2025 Disappointments - 0:23:00
Final HR Board - 0:28:11
Outro - 0:29:12
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Transcript
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
my boys, the Welsh and Dark Joe a Rico. That's
right all. What's going on there dark days up in
Toronto as the Blue Jays trying to hang on there
to first place. And yes, it's so good to be
back here talking baseball with all of you, the Peanuts
and the Cracker Jacks. I missed you all and I
(00:27):
really mean that from the bottom of my heart. We
love the Baseball Show here. It is and always has
been a labor of love, and we want to share
that love with the audience today and kind of look
back at the twenty twenty five season. What's going on
through the weekend. My Mets barely hanging on by a
thread by themselves as well. You know, they've got to
(00:48):
do it right. They've got to start off great this year,
get my expectations up, then pull me back down to earth,
then give me hope again swooping the Phillies, and then
crush my hopes again and now tease me at the
end of the year on my birthday. So you know what,
Mets just once, Can we just win like ninety eight
games and just sail into the playoffs? That'd be fun.
But Welsh, good to see you, my friend. The hair
looks spectacular today. I know we're going to talk about
(01:11):
some of our favorite things this year. We're gonna talk
about some of these prospects too. At the end of
the year at Joe Rico, I just want to check
in with you and all the faithful up above the
North border there. How is blue Jay Nation doing? How
are you holding up? Number? Just getting the playoffs? Anything
can happen from then.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
On, Joe hypothetically, sure, but this is this is looking
real bad man. It's funny everybody I host shows with
that all their teams are just going down the tubes
at the end of the season. I guess the Diamondbacks
are still kind of hanging around for Welsh. But the
Mets and Bubba and Justin Mason, my the co hosts,
Giants and Paul Sport Tigers, every like I need to
(01:48):
find some new co hosts or something.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
We're all losers.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
But the Mets are in the playoffs, the Diamondbacks just.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
The toad They're done.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yeah, you're like, they are all losing Dinbacks. You're doing okay.
The dam Bats are the only ones that are out
of the playoffs that you just locked us to two
games out now, Dimondbacks are done, Mets are gonna be fine.
Baseball's amazing right now. If you're I don't know, like
how tuned in everybody. I know everyone's like locked into
their fantasy stuff and fantasy seasons are coming to a close, which,
by the way, thank you. I've gotten lots of those,
(02:21):
like we got first place, thank you for the season.
I see that in the chat. Well, it's awesome, but
there's also incredible baseball going on and finishing out this year.
You've got a tied series between the Guardians and Tigers,
or at least they are tied for the division where
one of those teams can be knocked. The East is
still crazy. You've got this last spot in the NL.
(02:42):
It's gonna be pretty awesome and it's coming down to
the wire. So God love baseball, baby.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yes, And Michael Impo saying a Jorio Welsh is the
cream filling between two joes. That's gross, gross but accurate.
And yeah, we're gonna talk about some of these standings
where they are and of course, we're going to talk
about some of our favorite plays and the ones that
did us dirty here at the end of the season
as well. But please, if you've been with us all year,
(03:08):
appreciation time, wherever you listen to your podcasts, wherever you are,
drop a five star review right of the show. We
appreciate that. It does go a long way. And we're
gonna have off season baseball coverage too. We actually just
had a meeting yesterday about it about that plan. So
we're not going dark on the channel. So if you
haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel, because most of the
content will be on there in the real season. Real quick, too,
(03:30):
real quick.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, Well, she's.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Gonna be at Arizona Fall League working out with the guys,
taking some VP. He's gonna be there. We're gonna have
a lot of that action there. We're going to have
Joe Rico live from somewhere deep in the forest, I believe,
in Canada and Saskatchewan trying to figure out what happened
to the Blue Jays. And look, the Black Book's gonna
be working too. We're gonna be starting to work on
(03:53):
that next month too. So baseball never sleeps around here.
Just want to let everybody know, Welsh, I want to
start with the MVP race because once upon, oh look
there's the ball. Look at Joe Rico. Yeah, so all
three of us again, we'll be working on that project
this year. So I want to start with the MVP
in the American League because you know, I got to
say at one point, I want to say, the Aaron
(04:13):
Judge numbers like minus twenty thousand, wells, it was like absurd.
We just kind of said, oh, it's over, and we
kept making the case. We kept making the case like, well,
what if Aaron Judge gets hurt, or what if cal
Rawley really keeps this up. You know, cal Rawley's a catcher,
and here we are the last weekend of the season
and looking at the odds for that cal Rawley minus
one ninety Aaron Judge plus one fifty five. I mean,
if I had a vote, I'd be voting for cal Rawley. Anyway.
(04:36):
I understand the Judge argument. The batting average is higher,
some of the peripherals will higher, but it's not because
cal Raley has so many more home runs. It's because
cal Rawley is also a catcher, and I think that
is something you have to take into account he has
carried this team on his back, not that Judge has not,
but I just think to me, he is undeniable. Well,
(04:57):
what's start with you? Here? A mvperiod race. If you
got vote, who are you voting for?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
For the last month, I been doing been on some
CBS sports, HQ Talk and Baseball if people have been
able to check out, and I've been asked this question
multiple times and every single time it's been cal Rawley.
And had tip to a Rico because you know, when
we were doing the betting pro shows throughout the year,
like a once a month check in, Arico was a
lot more like you know, table slamming about about cal
(05:22):
Rawley getting this. The funny thing is, though I had
painted this scenario, I was actually kind of pushing up
Turreek Schooble a little bit a couple months back. But
one of the big things I was saying that worried
me about cal and taking the bet was that he
would fall off in the second half, and from a
batting average standpoint, and from a consistency on that, he
did like he was hitting like two ten after the
(05:42):
All Star break for like a month it was bat
but the ball just kept flying. And what he's done,
Like I was taking a look at deep dives into
all these guys. You know, cal has got one of
the highest launch angles in all of baseball while putting
up like well above average like barrel and hard hitting
out like all those look really good. They're not Judge ESQ,
but they're really good while being able to pull and
(06:03):
get the ball in the air at a bigger degree
than anybody else. So you know that has like maintained
this ridiculous sixty home run marker. But just getting back
to what you were saying before, Yes, Judge has got
an absurd like three four six slash. His ops is
over like eleven hundred. But cal Raley has more RBI,
he has more homers. He's within a full war point. Actually,
(06:27):
Judge at it a little bit. But the defensive value
rating it was I chucked two days ago. It was
seventh heighst in all of baseball for cal Raley. So
considering that you know he's dhing, he's catching, his defensive
rating is up. He has the most valuable singular player
for their team. I think it's easy cal rally, but
I did find it interesting. Jeff Passon said the other
(06:47):
day if he had a vote, he would still go
with Judge, And it was cited purely on those offense
of the ops numbers, the three four to six slash,
And I don't know where you take that. Is that
like that where the voters are going to go? Is
there a good bet to go on on Judge Roa.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It's tough. It's judge where the value is. But from
a fantasy perspective, I mean going into next year, Joe,
I mean, where's cal Raley go? Like, who's your top
five overall on your board next year? Is cal Rally
in there? Based off the sixty home run.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Seas you're talking about fantasy or I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Talking fantasy now for Jill, I'm curious, Joe, do you have.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I can't go with quite that high.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Off the top of my head, the top five would
be Otani, Judge, wit Soto, Jay ram I could tinker
around a little bit there, three to five, But ROLEI
what he's done. I think he's a conversation at like
if you're picking at the turn, if you're at the
end of the first round, especially if it's a two
catcher league, it's a league where you only have to
start one catcher taking him in the first round. I
don't really love doing that. If you're playing in deeper leagues,
(07:45):
two catch or formats and you take him, you know,
in the top twenty ish area between fifteen and twenty.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I could get behind it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
But this also feels like a little bit of a risk,
right Whenever you buy off of a career year on
the high price, it is a bit of a risk.
His batting average could be two year, he could hit
thirty two home runs, which which will be a very
good season, but it would be like a six or
seventh round value kind of where he's been the last
couple of years. So buying off of the peak season
is not something I ever really want to do. Kind
of reminds me a little bit of what Matt Olsen
(08:13):
went crazy a couple of years ago, and then he
was a first second rounder and he returned third or
fourth round value. That's kind of what I would expect
from Cal. But he's been brilliant. If he gets the MVP,
I would have it so tough.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
In those two catcher leagues, especially too, not to look
at cal Rawley as such an advantage if he is
literally like having two catchers.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Little bit of a different argument if you do that,
Bagman and I over and in this league, we're doing
the way too early mock, which I think will be
for like Monday taking a look. We're doing a full
on draft and Cal did not go in the first round,
but he was a third pick in the second round,
and I think we're doing only twelve team on this,
so that is like a fifteen team first rounder wheel pick.
Like you guys said, I think, like I'm open to
(08:52):
it more than I've been before. I'm not into catchers,
especially drafting high. I'm usually a big fade. And if
you look at a lot of the catchers that are
not named Cal Raleigh that you got off the scrap
heap or the wire, that have Ivan Herrera, Agustin Ramirez,
I mean, you go down the list, it's huge values.
But he is different because when he is not catching,
he's out there every single day. Dhing. I still don't
(09:13):
know if I would take him that early in the
second but I do think that wheel of the second
third is a spot I'd like, but I don't think
I'll get him because I think he is a lockdown
top twenty player.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Next year, his RPV is going to be off the
chart though, because he's got twice as many home runs
as the next catcher. He has got one hundred and
nine runs score compared to eighty nine William Contreras. And
believe it or not, like William Contreras ended up scoring
eighty nine runs for everybody complaining about William Conrreres most
of the year, so that ended up coming back around
the second half of the season. It's it is a
stunning accomplishment, a studding year for him. I want to
(09:44):
talk about some of our favorite players that really kind
of you know, carried our teams this year. I know
my home league, I made it to made it to
the LCS, did not get to the World Series, lost there,
got blown out, what are you gonna do? You know happens.
But two guys really stood out for me is like
this was the year that I was so happy to
have both these guys on that team. And we talked
(10:05):
about these guys all draft season and especially early on
how aggressive to be on them in early going via
trade or via waiver wire. And for me, it's Nick
Kurtz who ended up with a spectacular season. I think
you look back at Nick Kurtz and another couple of
home runs yesterday, right, we just kind of, you know,
I was like, yeah, this is just what I'm gonna do,
or I'm just gonna continue to hit home runs at
(10:26):
a ridiculous pace. A trift season for him. And then
Junior Camonaro another one too, where I think you look
back at the Cameron Narrow season forty four homers, one
hundred and nine RBI Welsh. I mean, to me, those
were my guys like that. I just said, look, these
are my dudes. And Camnaro again last year very disapporning
this year, very slow star. People were really panicking in April,
(10:47):
people were trolling you about junior Cameronnaro. Meanwhile, I'm like,
I was a Junior Camonaro guy. And then there was
Kurt I don't know, but Kurts ending up with you know,
a short season because he did miss some time and
he came up you know later in was it April
or beginning of May, I can't remember, but Nick Kurtz
ending up with thirty five homers, hitting two ninety three
and Ony ten ops. I mean, those are two guys
(11:10):
next year that are going to be I think, highly
coveted cornerstone pieces for years to come in fantasy leagues.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Yeah, so you want me to rock a couple of
my guys.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, Or you could talk about how wonderful Nick Kurtz
is too. I mean that's fine.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
I'm I'm a huge Obviously in the Nick Kurtz, I
was trying to promote as much as I possibly can,
and now he's looking like close to a first round pick.
I mean, if you want to talk about moments on
this show, by the way, all time moment was that
guy coming in and screaming at me about forcing him
to draft Camon Earra like he was like mad? He what? Like,
there's like little banter where see you guys think you're
(11:42):
coming in and being funny and then you're you're not,
and then you're like, whoops, my bad, and then you
know there are people that are coming in hot. He
was coming in hot and we were I was like
what and called him out on it, and then it's
just look at this now, and then yeah, we had
the Carlos Wonky two guys I'll throw out to you
that I think are interesting. The highlight to me one hitter.
(12:02):
I know it kind of tapered off, but just to
you know, we talked about it in the preseason. Pete
Crow Armstrong was one that I had highlighted as like
a big breakout that I think we might have done
a review of what that show looked like. Not a
ton of ton of hits, but I did put Pete
Crow Armstrong and he's close to finishing with a twenty
nine to thirty five season. And then I'm just gonna
(12:23):
throw this out to you. This guy one hundred and
forty innings not expected this year, a sub for era,
which is really impressive and well over a six game
stretch of being good. Let's give a hat tip to
jack Lighter mister Joe Piez a Pieway era one hundred
(12:44):
and forty innings finishing out the year getting six. I mean,
I see some stretches in here with quality starts. Looks
a little bit less nepowie and a little bit more
usable he does.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I can't wait to draft him next year. I have
so many shares of the jack Lider next year. You
know it's funny. Pee Crow Armstrong a guy that we
talked about and he was one of my cell highs
at the break because of those numbers against left handed
pitching and some of those other deeper stats. Last fifty
nine games for Pete Crow, four home runs, twenty RBI,
hit just two oh seven with a five ninety four
ops after the break. Those are some dreadful numbers. We're
(13:21):
talking like full off the map kind of numbers. So
he's going to be a really, I think, divisive guy
next year because I'm sure that the cost you got
him this year. He was a league winner anyway, especially
in season long. He gave you everything you could have
possibly asked for and more in return. But next year
it's going to be at cost, and that cost is
going to be fascinating. Joe Rico twenty twenty five. As
(13:41):
Oprah always like to talk about her favorite things, what
were some of your favorite things, hitters, pitchers, whatever you'd
like to discuss here on the show today.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
So the first thing I'll bring up and just put
a ball on it for the year is Jacob de Gram.
I was very, very bullish on de Gram to the
point where I got two bullush on him, and I
had him as my number one starting pitcher into the season.
The reason for that is because I thought the strikeouts
were still going to be higher. I thought we'd see
a thirty plus percent strikeout right from Jake, and I
think if he had got that number, we might have
(14:09):
seen him as a top two, three four starting pitcher.
I was overly bullish, and I think that, you know,
I can kind of try and take my little victory
lap because he was good. But at the same time,
I overestimated Jacob de Grom, So I don't want to
go all out and say, like, look at Meliko smart
I am because I overestimated him, and I think I
need to just put a bow on that he had
a great year. I don't think anybody who drafted Jacob
d Grom because of me is upset about it. But
(14:30):
I was also a little bit too high on Jake.
Great season from him, and.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
He was he hadn't pitched in so long, Joe. So
in the last sixty innings for de Grom, eleven starts
there seventy two strikeouts, still just thirteen walks. He had
a point nine to four whip. I mean, look, it
was some games where maybe he just ran out of gas,
but I think that's just a fatigue. Don't you think
of not pitching for also years a full season.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
No, but also like he changed as a pitcher. That's
a big thing that ended up happening. And I think
that's the crux of it, is like he went from
being this just gas hand pitcher where it's fastballs and
sliders all day long. He started throwing the change up.
He dialed it back down. That allowed him to go
deeper into games. I think he had dropped some velo
as well, like he figured out a maintenance plan and
(15:13):
how to still be good, and that was at the
expense of some of the strikeouts, but he was still
a really great picture. I mean, can you imagine telling
anybody that de Grom would have had one hundred and
seventy innings at the end of this year. Everyone would
have lost their mind. And I know, yeah, but it happened.
It ended up happening, and he just altered who he
was as a pitcher and it really worked out. And
I think this is the formula moving forward. So he's
(15:33):
not going to be a number one I don't think.
I think he can sniff that conversation. But next year,
the conversation around him is going to be fascinating because
it's like he is less of a strikeout equity guy,
but he was able to stay healthy. And you know,
we've seen pictures do this like Ferlander did it in
his career. Kershaw kind of did it where you know,
they're getting older and they've got to like change something,
(15:55):
and we'll see did that change by de Gram a
couple more years, and I think he's a lot more
fantasy relevant. So it was a good call. He's not
the number one, but like you said, no one's gonna
be pissed about it, and he's just a he's a
new guy. He's a new man.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Also, speaking of new you had a lot of young
pitchers here in the month of September pop off. So
if a lot of teams were out of their playoffs
and not paying attention, you know you had the Noel McClain,
who in five starts in the month of September start
got thirty six guys. Now you've had Kate Horton with
a terrific second half, emmittt Sheehan pitching to a sub
one five era in his last twenty four innings. You've
(16:28):
got the kids in Boston, you got your Savage showing up.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
I got one for you, Joey that I don't know
you're gonna do. He is like a mascot of our
of our show this year, Bubba Chandler, we talked about
so so damn much and the Pirates really dropped the ball.
But also it might have been about the stuff. Bubba
Chendler came out when he finally made his debut, was
the twenty second of August comes out in relief.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He was great.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
They put him in this relief kind of situation where
he ended up in his first two starts, two starts,
you know, he was piggybacking. He went eight innings with
six strikeouts, one walk, and three hits. That was awesome.
Then they put him in a starting role, gets absolutely
blown out. And this is why I'm saying this, because
this is important. Guy's got a four and a half
era right now. But he got blown up in that
(17:12):
Milwaukee in his very first start. Then he bounced back
in his next two starts. He's gone eleven innings with
thirteen strikeouts, three hits, no walks, one earn run and
he even went five innings no hit during that. Bubba
Chandler looks sneaky because everybody who's kind of out on him.
Everyone's got this fatigue and his numbers are going to
(17:35):
be inflated by that one his very first major league
start where he got blown out. But his fastball looks incredible.
His confidence is back. That's a dude that I don't
know how people are going to treat him in the offseason.
But the end, I mean, you know, like you said,
Nolan McClain, I think has been one of the more
incredible ones. But Bubba Chandler, in the hype and the
stuff that's out there, I think has put himself in
(17:55):
a really good position for next year. In that big
grouping of amazing young Pidgi Joanah Tong had had a
run just great.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, you know Tong Tongue was so dominant the meer leagues.
I'm I'm concerned with him too, Like is this just fatigue?
Is it just intimidation? You know, he's got He's had
some moments and then some other ones where he's gotten
his doors blown off. I'm still very much in on
Tong for next year. Joe, Who were the young pitchers
that really stood out to you here in the second
half that you are going to be very aggressive on
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
One guy who is kind of in the same boat
of there was one blow up start that kind of
ruins the whole line is Kaid Cavali, who's been somebody
that I've been starting in a lot of leagues down
the stretch.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Here, the strikeouts have not been great.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
It's like a seventeen percent strikeout rate for twenty three era.
Doesn't look that great on the surface, but really all
that damage came in that Yankee start seven earned runs
over two and a third.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Every other start this year has been.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
At least five innings with three or fewer earned runs
outside of his very first start, So I'm interested in
Kaiate cavally. If I'm looking ahead to next year, I
don't think that he's going to be too expensive because
of the surface stats will keep some people away. The
stuff grades out very well. He limits hard contact better
than almost anybody. Three percent barrel rate, thirty nine percent
hard hit rate against a lot of the underlying data
(19:07):
is really really supportive for him and.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
The Nationals as a whole.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I think, you know, I was expecting a better year
from them this year, but I think they're trending in
the right direction, so it could be a better team
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
As well.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
One thing to look for and sorry you jump at this,
but Joe, you're gonna be doing the pitching profiles here
very shortly for the Black Books. You're gonna be dialed
into pitching. Just a theory thought for next season is
that I think there's going to be this glut of
upside that's going to exist, and that I usually don't
feel like we have that because none of these rookies
are gonna vault themselves into being like top twenty or
(19:38):
top twenty five pitches for the most part, Like Miserowski
is a different story. Chase Burns had a so he'll
bounce back. But my point here is is you're gonna
have the Bubba's, the mcclains, the Treyas savages. You're gonna
have this group of these pictures.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
A strategy, I feel, yeah, but no, but kind of
just hey, I'm gonna make up pitching late and you're
just gonna keep taking.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Shots kind of. But my point to this is is
like all of those guys of this crazy upside are
going to exist, and it might be something where you
can avoid the pitching at the top of the draft
and then you can take some of those boring guys,
the Logan webs, the Joe Ryan's, I mean, Perul de
vaulted himself up. You take a couple guys that are
just fine with high, high floors, and then you can
(20:18):
take your shot on upside with some of these pitchers
in later rounds like Bubba and everybody that get pressed,
and that might be a really good winning strategy instead
of having high investment on pitching. So we're always pushing
away high investing on pitching for the most part. You know,
if you take Schoogle and Skiins, that's fine, but there
might be even more reason if you want to kind
of go all out take those floor guys when everybody
(20:39):
else is trying to have fun and being like, no
I want you know, Garrett Crochet. Now in the first round,
you just get some floor guys and you might be
able to get some winners here in the bubbas. And
there are guys that are going to come up next
year which we will be talking the crap out of
in the off season, of the prospects that you're gonna need.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I love how Matt is trolling me in the chat,
because I'm sure Matt knows the two thousand and seven
and two thousand and eight collapses. The Mets happened to
be against the Marlins, and of course who were playing
this weekend the Marlins. Now luckily it's not at home,
so maybe that's the exercising of the demons. We shall see.
Joel Rico help pop a j out here? Uh starting
picture worth streaming today or tomorrow. You got Rogers against
(21:15):
the Yankees. What a season he's had, JACONI also another
strong season from him early at Detroit. So what do
you think about these options?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Here? Hey yo?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
He even threw it a hey yo. Remember the old
dame hey yo yo, and used to start the shows
with hey yo? I missed those days. That's when I
was a peanut. Oh remember that you had?
Speaker 4 (21:33):
You went off of that this year? I think I
don't remember hey this year?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Ye year.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Our old boss who is no longer here, didn't care
for that.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
You didn't call the one I'm thinking of.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The one you're thinking of really directsos hey yo?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
You you know what.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
He's no longer here. I am but.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Six hey yo's I want to hay show everybody.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Yes, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I don't know more of them, you know, maybe it's
too mad dog radio.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Is that what I like it? I enjoyed it too much.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
They do it too much. You gotta calm down a
little bit. And then the radio of the YouTube.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Damn it, Papa Jay. Apologies for derailing that conversation, but
I think it's gotta be I think, I know, I
know what. I think it's got to be Trevor Rodgers. Man,
But the way he's been rolling, you know, I like
slight Chaconi. Texas has been pis poor and Early gives
me a little bit of pause.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I love that expression.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But I think it's got to be Trevor Rodgers. The
fact that Trevor Rodgers is even available for streaming is
rather remarkable, but I would go with I agree.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
But I want to also point out the Tigers just
got what their first win in like nine games or
eight games? They have been absolutely atrocious. Early has been disgusting.
I don't know if you want to put your season
on a rookie Yankees are The Yankees are vying for this,
like this division title, So I'm not trying to make
a case against Rogers is the best picture here. But
I also think Early is someone to consider. If Red
(22:58):
Sox do a little pounding on the Tigers because they
have been bad, bad, bad, all.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Right, So what was your biggest disappointment of twenty twenty five?
Joy Rinco, You have a player that you were all
in on that really just oh yes, just let you
down at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Who was that? That would be mister Jonathan India.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I drafted him as much as I drafted My three
most drafted players were de gram Yes, Bashett Yes, and
Jonathan India, who I had on almost every team. I
thought it was a late source of runs. I thought
he was gonna steal a little bit leading off in
Kansas City. Eight homers, no steals, two thirty three, batting
average forty two rivs. A huge l, A massive, massive
(23:39):
l on Jonathan India. It didn't cost me a ton
base where he was getting drafted, but I have him everywhere.
So that one has been like, really my personally most
disappointing win of the year.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I think, Well, for me, it's Sandy al Contra. I thought,
you know, he looked sharpened spring. I thought we would
be all right here.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
It's like, oh, you know, maybe he's not going to
give me, you know, as many innings as I want
this year, maybe we'll am or something like that, but
the evings I'll get will be quality. And he ended
up with a ten to twelve record and a five
point four eight ERA, a one point two eight whip,
only one hundred and thirty nine strikeouts and one hundred
and sixty seven innings. Again like, he wasn't a guy
of super costs, but he was a guy that was
(24:16):
very aggressive on him and McClanahan. McClanahan, obviously we know
what happened there, but our contract to me was the
one that really hurt. I knew what I was getting
into with McClanahan, having multiple Tommy John's and all the
risk that was there. With Sandy, it felt like, oh,
buying back in. Everybody's pushing away. This is the guy
it didn't work out. How about for you? Is there
a guy he just say? If I had to do
it all over again, I wouldn't have Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I mean there's a couple like the Fantasy Side. Strider
really stands out to me and Cease just making excuses
for seesaw years. Strider just did not have his stuff
and that was it. I would have said McLanahan too,
because I was definitely into buying on him. Streider just
never got back to being that main guy. This one
is not fantasy ish relevant. It's way more betting relevant.
(24:58):
And I only say this because we we are able
to cut this guy in the first week and a half.
But I have reminders all season long about Michael Tolia
and my dumb ass take of Michael Tolia because I
got this this season long little bit with.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
The power chicks dig the long ball, and.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So I welsh. I fell in love with a guy
that was close to forty homers, who had a two
forty expected batting average thirty point increase in Colorado. I did.
I love the long ball, and I got all these
like little sprinkly things in our hot Takes episode, our breakout,
I had all this Tolia stuff out there. Blah black,
it's gross. It's such a stupid take of mine. Never again.
(25:35):
But yeah, I think like Strider and ceased for the
first one you said that came to mind where it
was like, man, yeah, Sandy's a good one, like these
pictures that we were giving the benefit of the doubt
and it never materialized.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, certainly some good, some bad, some ugly, all of
the above, and you know, it's it's very cathartic to
sit here at the end of the year too and
think about draft season. How excited we all were. I
gotta tell you the truth, like I can't wait till
next week to start digging into the I cannot wait
to start writing black book stuff. I can't and I'll
be on Amazon December fifteenth. As always. I can't wait
(26:06):
to start working with all you guys again on that.
I can't wait for our off season coverage. I'm very
excited about all of that, and I'm excited that we
have off season coverage. That baseball is not the red
headed stepchild anymore fantasy pros, And it's really because of
all the Peanuts and the Crackerjacks who watched this show,
who followed us to YouTube live, who followed us to Twitch,
(26:26):
who followed us everywhere we went, no matter where it
made sense, and it's been awesome. It's been a phenomenal ride.
It's by far, I think, the best baseball community. And
I'm gonna say that, and I don't care what anybody
has to tell me. I won't hear differently, because it's
a baseball community that understands that we can be smart
and have good conversations, have passionate disagreements, but also have
(26:46):
a really good time doing it, and bring some entertainment.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
To where we can wear we wear masks like these
are things that we can do and still have a
baseball show. And I'm gonna I'm going to second lot
of that stuff. Everybody keep tuned because we've already got
episodes planned for October. We're a little over a month
from the Arizona Fall League, which I'm gonna be out
live pretty much every single day. We'll have shorts. Two
months from now, we're gonna have the pitch conference, a
(27:11):
Rico's coming out. We're probably gonna do some episodes together.
So we are talking from October starting in we're already
hitting baseball hard. It was weird, like the season's not
even over in three days we're talking about it. But
it's just more coverage probably than we've had maybe even
in the past or you know, collectively to last year.
But we're rocking with it and hopefully keep keep I
have some things to live up to jokes. I know
(27:32):
we're coming to the end here, but like the most
important thing, and Matt said, he's tailed with me. You said,
he's tailed with me. I have to go a third
straight year of having my monster bet. Two years ago,
Ellie Da La Cruz lead the league in stolen bases
cash this year, Garrett Croche to lead the league in strikeouts.
He is up by thirteen and Scooble is lined up
(27:54):
to pitch on Sunday. We need not thirteen strikeouts from
schoobl and we cash a second straight I needed to
get there.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I already cashed my big time Brewers bet told everybody
back in I think it was June something where I
bet this because I saw the little date thing. I
was like, oh, remember when everybody thought the Brewers were done, Well,
guess what they cash before everybody else. And to leave
on a high note. I don't even realize this, but
we got to look at the home run board. Throw
that bad boy up there, seth look at this but
(28:23):
a boom? Who's on there? Top twenty Joey p Thanks
big Dumper, shout out to you. So Whips is still
at the top here to home run lead over Grouch
and Bees. So we'll see how that shakes up again.
The Samy Sosid jersey up for grabs, so hopefully one
of you beautiful people will win that. But I'm just
happy to end up on the board right behind Wonky Penguin.
It's a beautiful thing. I can't get enough of it.
(28:45):
And speaking of Wonky, shout out to Wonky Penguin, shout
out to Mayor, shout out to Joe Rico, Casey Bubba,
everybody who keeps this channel going here too, and all
the content that they all provide. It's really spectacular. And yeah, man,
like I said, it's just it's been a great season.
Our numbers were off the charts this year, blew everybody
out of the water, and it's really because of everybody
(29:07):
who's here on the YouTube channel who's listening to the podcast.
We appreciate you, and we're just gonna keep bringing it
in twenty twenty six. We're excited for it. That'll do
it for us, But the story of the game goes
on for Joe Rico and the Welsh I'm Joey P.
We'll see you next time. Kids.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast.
If you 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, and subscribe to our YouTube channel at YouTube
dot com Slash Fantasy Pros MLB
Welcome in everybody to Fantasy pros MLB. This is leading
off live. It is me Joey p Joe Pisapia with
my boys, the Welsh and Dark Joe a Rico. That's
right all. What's going on there dark days up in
Toronto as the Blue Jays trying to hang on there
to first place. And yes, it's so good to be
back here talking baseball with all of you, the Peanuts
and the Cracker Jacks. I missed you all and I
(00:27):
really mean that from the bottom of my heart. We
love the Baseball Show here. It is and always has
been a labor of love, and we want to share
that love with the audience today and kind of look
back at the twenty twenty five season. What's going on
through the weekend. My Mets barely hanging on by a
thread by themselves as well. You know, they've got to
(00:48):
do it right. They've got to start off great this year,
get my expectations up, then pull me back down to earth,
then give me hope again swooping the Phillies, and then
crush my hopes again and now tease me at the
end of the year on my birthday. So you know what,
Mets just once, Can we just win like ninety eight
games and just sail into the playoffs? That'd be fun.
But Welsh, good to see you, my friend. The hair
looks spectacular today. I know we're going to talk about
(01:11):
some of our favorite things this year. We're gonna talk
about some of these prospects too. At the end of
the year at Joe Rico, I just want to check
in with you and all the faithful up above the
North border there. How is blue Jay Nation doing? How
are you holding up? Number? Just getting the playoffs? Anything
can happen from then.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
On, Joe hypothetically, sure, but this is this is looking
real bad man. It's funny everybody I host shows with
that all their teams are just going down the tubes
at the end of the season. I guess the Diamondbacks
are still kind of hanging around for Welsh. But the
Mets and Bubba and Justin Mason, my the co hosts,
Giants and Paul Sport Tigers, every like I need to
(01:48):
find some new co hosts or something.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
We're all losers.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
But the Mets are in the playoffs, the Diamondbacks just.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
The toad They're done.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
Yeah, you're like, they are all losing Dinbacks. You're doing okay.
The dam Bats are the only ones that are out
of the playoffs that you just locked us to two
games out now, Dimondbacks are done, Mets are gonna be fine.
Baseball's amazing right now. If you're I don't know, like
how tuned in everybody. I know everyone's like locked into
their fantasy stuff and fantasy seasons are coming to a close, which,
by the way, thank you. I've gotten lots of those,
(02:21):
like we got first place, thank you for the season.
I see that in the chat. Well, it's awesome, but
there's also incredible baseball going on and finishing out this year.
You've got a tied series between the Guardians and Tigers,
or at least they are tied for the division where
one of those teams can be knocked. The East is
still crazy. You've got this last spot in the NL.
(02:42):
It's gonna be pretty awesome and it's coming down to
the wire. So God love baseball, baby.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yes, And Michael Impo saying a Jorio Welsh is the
cream filling between two joes. That's gross, gross but accurate.
And yeah, we're gonna talk about some of these standings
where they are and of course, we're going to talk
about some of our favorite plays and the ones that
did us dirty here at the end of the season
as well. But please, if you've been with us all year,
(03:08):
appreciation time, wherever you listen to your podcasts, wherever you are,
drop a five star review right of the show. We
appreciate that. It does go a long way. And we're
gonna have off season baseball coverage too. We actually just
had a meeting yesterday about it about that plan. So
we're not going dark on the channel. So if you
haven't subscribed to the YouTube channel, because most of the
content will be on there in the real season. Real quick, too,
(03:30):
real quick.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Yeah, Well, she's.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Gonna be at Arizona Fall League working out with the guys,
taking some VP. He's gonna be there. We're gonna have
a lot of that action there. We're going to have
Joe Rico live from somewhere deep in the forest, I believe,
in Canada and Saskatchewan trying to figure out what happened
to the Blue Jays. And look, the Black Book's gonna
be working too. We're gonna be starting to work on
(03:53):
that next month too. So baseball never sleeps around here.
Just want to let everybody know, Welsh, I want to
start with the MVP race because once upon, oh look
there's the ball. Look at Joe Rico. Yeah, so all
three of us again, we'll be working on that project
this year. So I want to start with the MVP
in the American League because you know, I got to
say at one point, I want to say, the Aaron
(04:13):
Judge numbers like minus twenty thousand, wells, it was like absurd.
We just kind of said, oh, it's over, and we
kept making the case. We kept making the case like, well,
what if Aaron Judge gets hurt, or what if cal
Rawley really keeps this up. You know, cal Rawley's a catcher,
and here we are the last weekend of the season
and looking at the odds for that cal Rawley minus
one ninety Aaron Judge plus one fifty five. I mean,
if I had a vote, I'd be voting for cal Rawley. Anyway.
(04:36):
I understand the Judge argument. The batting average is higher,
some of the peripherals will higher, but it's not because
cal Raley has so many more home runs. It's because
cal Rawley is also a catcher, and I think that
is something you have to take into account he has
carried this team on his back, not that Judge has not,
but I just think to me, he is undeniable. Well,
(04:57):
what's start with you? Here? A mvperiod race. If you
got vote, who are you voting for?
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
For the last month, I been doing been on some
CBS sports, HQ Talk and Baseball if people have been
able to check out, and I've been asked this question
multiple times and every single time it's been cal Rawley.
And had tip to a Rico because you know, when
we were doing the betting pro shows throughout the year,
like a once a month check in, Arico was a
lot more like you know, table slamming about about cal
(05:22):
Rawley getting this. The funny thing is, though I had
painted this scenario, I was actually kind of pushing up
Turreek Schooble a little bit a couple months back. But
one of the big things I was saying that worried
me about cal and taking the bet was that he
would fall off in the second half, and from a
batting average standpoint, and from a consistency on that, he
did like he was hitting like two ten after the
(05:42):
All Star break for like a month it was bat
but the ball just kept flying. And what he's done,
Like I was taking a look at deep dives into
all these guys. You know, cal has got one of
the highest launch angles in all of baseball while putting
up like well above average like barrel and hard hitting
out like all those look really good. They're not Judge ESQ,
but they're really good while being able to pull and
(06:03):
get the ball in the air at a bigger degree
than anybody else. So you know that has like maintained
this ridiculous sixty home run marker. But just getting back
to what you were saying before, Yes, Judge has got
an absurd like three four six slash. His ops is
over like eleven hundred. But cal Raley has more RBI,
he has more homers. He's within a full war point. Actually,
(06:27):
Judge at it a little bit. But the defensive value
rating it was I chucked two days ago. It was
seventh heighst in all of baseball for cal Raley. So
considering that you know he's dhing, he's catching, his defensive
rating is up. He has the most valuable singular player
for their team. I think it's easy cal rally, but
I did find it interesting. Jeff Passon said the other
(06:47):
day if he had a vote, he would still go
with Judge, And it was cited purely on those offense
of the ops numbers, the three four to six slash,
And I don't know where you take that. Is that
like that where the voters are going to go? Is
there a good bet to go on on Judge Roa.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It's tough. It's judge where the value is. But from
a fantasy perspective, I mean going into next year, Joe,
I mean, where's cal Raley go? Like, who's your top
five overall on your board next year? Is cal Rally
in there? Based off the sixty home run.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
Seas you're talking about fantasy or I'm.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Talking fantasy now for Jill, I'm curious, Joe, do you have.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
I can't go with quite that high.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Off the top of my head, the top five would
be Otani, Judge, wit Soto, Jay ram I could tinker
around a little bit there, three to five, But ROLEI
what he's done. I think he's a conversation at like
if you're picking at the turn, if you're at the
end of the first round, especially if it's a two
catcher league, it's a league where you only have to
start one catcher taking him in the first round. I
don't really love doing that. If you're playing in deeper leagues,
(07:45):
two catch or formats and you take him, you know,
in the top twenty ish area between fifteen and twenty.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
I could get behind it.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
But this also feels like a little bit of a risk,
right Whenever you buy off of a career year on
the high price, it is a bit of a risk.
His batting average could be two year, he could hit
thirty two home runs, which which will be a very
good season, but it would be like a six or
seventh round value kind of where he's been the last
couple of years. So buying off of the peak season
is not something I ever really want to do. Kind
of reminds me a little bit of what Matt Olsen
(08:13):
went crazy a couple of years ago, and then he
was a first second rounder and he returned third or
fourth round value. That's kind of what I would expect
from Cal. But he's been brilliant. If he gets the MVP,
I would have it so tough.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
In those two catcher leagues, especially too, not to look
at cal Rawley as such an advantage if he is
literally like having two catchers.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Yeah, that's a.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Little bit of a different argument if you do that,
Bagman and I over and in this league, we're doing
the way too early mock, which I think will be
for like Monday taking a look. We're doing a full
on draft and Cal did not go in the first round,
but he was a third pick in the second round,
and I think we're doing only twelve team on this,
so that is like a fifteen team first rounder wheel pick.
Like you guys said, I think, like I'm open to
(08:52):
it more than I've been before. I'm not into catchers,
especially drafting high. I'm usually a big fade. And if
you look at a lot of the catchers that are
not named Cal Raleigh that you got off the scrap
heap or the wire, that have Ivan Herrera, Agustin Ramirez,
I mean, you go down the list, it's huge values.
But he is different because when he is not catching,
he's out there every single day. Dhing. I still don't
(09:13):
know if I would take him that early in the
second but I do think that wheel of the second
third is a spot I'd like, but I don't think
I'll get him because I think he is a lockdown
top twenty player.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
Next year, his RPV is going to be off the
chart though, because he's got twice as many home runs
as the next catcher. He has got one hundred and
nine runs score compared to eighty nine William Contreras. And
believe it or not, like William Contreras ended up scoring
eighty nine runs for everybody complaining about William Conrreres most
of the year, so that ended up coming back around
the second half of the season. It's it is a
stunning accomplishment, a studding year for him. I want to
(09:44):
talk about some of our favorite players that really kind
of you know, carried our teams this year. I know
my home league, I made it to made it to
the LCS, did not get to the World Series, lost there,
got blown out, what are you gonna do? You know happens.
But two guys really stood out for me is like
this was the year that I was so happy to
have both these guys on that team. And we talked
(10:05):
about these guys all draft season and especially early on
how aggressive to be on them in early going via
trade or via waiver wire. And for me, it's Nick
Kurtz who ended up with a spectacular season. I think
you look back at Nick Kurtz and another couple of
home runs yesterday, right, we just kind of, you know,
I was like, yeah, this is just what I'm gonna do,
or I'm just gonna continue to hit home runs at
(10:26):
a ridiculous pace. A trift season for him. And then
Junior Camonaro another one too, where I think you look
back at the Cameron Narrow season forty four homers, one
hundred and nine RBI Welsh. I mean, to me, those
were my guys like that. I just said, look, these
are my dudes. And Camnaro again last year very disapporning
this year, very slow star. People were really panicking in April,
(10:47):
people were trolling you about junior Cameronnaro. Meanwhile, I'm like,
I was a Junior Camonaro guy. And then there was
Kurt I don't know, but Kurts ending up with you know,
a short season because he did miss some time and
he came up you know later in was it April
or beginning of May, I can't remember, but Nick Kurtz
ending up with thirty five homers, hitting two ninety three
and Ony ten ops. I mean, those are two guys
(11:10):
next year that are going to be I think, highly
coveted cornerstone pieces for years to come in fantasy leagues.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Yeah, so you want me to rock a couple of
my guys.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Yeah, Or you could talk about how wonderful Nick Kurtz
is too. I mean that's fine.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
I'm I'm a huge Obviously in the Nick Kurtz, I
was trying to promote as much as I possibly can,
and now he's looking like close to a first round pick.
I mean, if you want to talk about moments on
this show, by the way, all time moment was that
guy coming in and screaming at me about forcing him
to draft Camon Earra like he was like mad? He what? Like,
there's like little banter where see you guys think you're
(11:42):
coming in and being funny and then you're you're not,
and then you're like, whoops, my bad, and then you
know there are people that are coming in hot. He
was coming in hot and we were I was like
what and called him out on it, and then it's
just look at this now, and then yeah, we had
the Carlos Wonky two guys I'll throw out to you
that I think are interesting. The highlight to me one hitter.
(12:02):
I know it kind of tapered off, but just to
you know, we talked about it in the preseason. Pete
Crow Armstrong was one that I had highlighted as like
a big breakout that I think we might have done
a review of what that show looked like. Not a
ton of ton of hits, but I did put Pete
Crow Armstrong and he's close to finishing with a twenty
nine to thirty five season. And then I'm just gonna
(12:23):
throw this out to you. This guy one hundred and
forty innings not expected this year, a sub for era,
which is really impressive and well over a six game
stretch of being good. Let's give a hat tip to
jack Lighter mister Joe Piez a Pieway era one hundred
(12:44):
and forty innings finishing out the year getting six. I mean,
I see some stretches in here with quality starts. Looks
a little bit less nepowie and a little bit more
usable he does.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
I can't wait to draft him next year. I have
so many shares of the jack Lider next year. You
know it's funny. Pee Crow Armstrong a guy that we
talked about and he was one of my cell highs
at the break because of those numbers against left handed
pitching and some of those other deeper stats. Last fifty
nine games for Pete Crow, four home runs, twenty RBI,
hit just two oh seven with a five ninety four
ops after the break. Those are some dreadful numbers. We're
(13:21):
talking like full off the map kind of numbers. So
he's going to be a really, I think, divisive guy
next year because I'm sure that the cost you got
him this year. He was a league winner anyway, especially
in season long. He gave you everything you could have
possibly asked for and more in return. But next year
it's going to be at cost, and that cost is
going to be fascinating. Joe Rico twenty twenty five. As
(13:41):
Oprah always like to talk about her favorite things, what
were some of your favorite things, hitters, pitchers, whatever you'd
like to discuss here on the show today.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
So the first thing I'll bring up and just put
a ball on it for the year is Jacob de Gram.
I was very, very bullish on de Gram to the
point where I got two bullush on him, and I
had him as my number one starting pitcher into the season.
The reason for that is because I thought the strikeouts
were still going to be higher. I thought we'd see
a thirty plus percent strikeout right from Jake, and I
think if he had got that number, we might have
(14:09):
seen him as a top two, three four starting pitcher.
I was overly bullish, and I think that, you know,
I can kind of try and take my little victory
lap because he was good. But at the same time,
I overestimated Jacob de Grom, So I don't want to
go all out and say, like, look at Meliko smart
I am because I overestimated him, and I think I
need to just put a bow on that he had
a great year. I don't think anybody who drafted Jacob
d Grom because of me is upset about it. But
(14:30):
I was also a little bit too high on Jake.
Great season from him, and.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
He was he hadn't pitched in so long, Joe. So
in the last sixty innings for de Grom, eleven starts
there seventy two strikeouts, still just thirteen walks. He had
a point nine to four whip. I mean, look, it
was some games where maybe he just ran out of gas,
but I think that's just a fatigue. Don't you think
of not pitching for also years a full season.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
No, but also like he changed as a pitcher. That's
a big thing that ended up happening. And I think
that's the crux of it, is like he went from
being this just gas hand pitcher where it's fastballs and
sliders all day long. He started throwing the change up.
He dialed it back down. That allowed him to go
deeper into games. I think he had dropped some velo
as well, like he figured out a maintenance plan and
(15:13):
how to still be good, and that was at the
expense of some of the strikeouts, but he was still
a really great picture. I mean, can you imagine telling
anybody that de Grom would have had one hundred and
seventy innings at the end of this year. Everyone would
have lost their mind. And I know, yeah, but it happened.
It ended up happening, and he just altered who he
was as a pitcher and it really worked out. And
I think this is the formula moving forward. So he's
(15:33):
not going to be a number one I don't think.
I think he can sniff that conversation. But next year,
the conversation around him is going to be fascinating because
it's like he is less of a strikeout equity guy,
but he was able to stay healthy. And you know,
we've seen pictures do this like Ferlander did it in
his career. Kershaw kind of did it where you know,
they're getting older and they've got to like change something,
(15:55):
and we'll see did that change by de Gram a
couple more years, and I think he's a lot more
fantasy relevant. So it was a good call. He's not
the number one, but like you said, no one's gonna
be pissed about it, and he's just a he's a
new guy. He's a new man.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Also, speaking of new you had a lot of young
pitchers here in the month of September pop off. So
if a lot of teams were out of their playoffs
and not paying attention, you know you had the Noel McClain,
who in five starts in the month of September start
got thirty six guys. Now you've had Kate Horton with
a terrific second half, emmittt Sheehan pitching to a sub
one five era in his last twenty four innings. You've
(16:28):
got the kids in Boston, you got your Savage showing up.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
I got one for you, Joey that I don't know
you're gonna do. He is like a mascot of our
of our show this year, Bubba Chandler, we talked about
so so damn much and the Pirates really dropped the ball.
But also it might have been about the stuff. Bubba
Chendler came out when he finally made his debut, was
the twenty second of August comes out in relief.
Speaker 3 (16:52):
He was great.
Speaker 4 (16:52):
They put him in this relief kind of situation where
he ended up in his first two starts, two starts,
you know, he was piggybacking. He went eight innings with
six strikeouts, one walk, and three hits. That was awesome.
Then they put him in a starting role, gets absolutely
blown out. And this is why I'm saying this, because
this is important. Guy's got a four and a half
era right now. But he got blown up in that
(17:12):
Milwaukee in his very first start. Then he bounced back
in his next two starts. He's gone eleven innings with
thirteen strikeouts, three hits, no walks, one earn run and
he even went five innings no hit during that. Bubba
Chandler looks sneaky because everybody who's kind of out on him.
Everyone's got this fatigue and his numbers are going to
(17:35):
be inflated by that one his very first major league
start where he got blown out. But his fastball looks incredible.
His confidence is back. That's a dude that I don't
know how people are going to treat him in the offseason.
But the end, I mean, you know, like you said,
Nolan McClain, I think has been one of the more
incredible ones. But Bubba Chandler, in the hype and the
stuff that's out there, I think has put himself in
(17:55):
a really good position for next year. In that big
grouping of amazing young Pidgi Joanah Tong had had a
run just great.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Yeah, you know Tong Tongue was so dominant the meer leagues.
I'm I'm concerned with him too, Like is this just fatigue?
Is it just intimidation? You know, he's got He's had
some moments and then some other ones where he's gotten
his doors blown off. I'm still very much in on
Tong for next year. Joe, Who were the young pitchers
that really stood out to you here in the second
half that you are going to be very aggressive on
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
One guy who is kind of in the same boat
of there was one blow up start that kind of
ruins the whole line is Kaid Cavali, who's been somebody
that I've been starting in a lot of leagues down
the stretch.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Here, the strikeouts have not been great.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
It's like a seventeen percent strikeout rate for twenty three era.
Doesn't look that great on the surface, but really all
that damage came in that Yankee start seven earned runs
over two and a third.
Speaker 3 (18:45):
Every other start this year has been.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
At least five innings with three or fewer earned runs
outside of his very first start, So I'm interested in
Kaiate cavally. If I'm looking ahead to next year, I
don't think that he's going to be too expensive because
of the surface stats will keep some people away. The
stuff grades out very well. He limits hard contact better
than almost anybody. Three percent barrel rate, thirty nine percent
hard hit rate against a lot of the underlying data
(19:07):
is really really supportive for him and.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
The Nationals as a whole.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I think, you know, I was expecting a better year
from them this year, but I think they're trending in
the right direction, so it could be a better team
in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
As well.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
One thing to look for and sorry you jump at this,
but Joe, you're gonna be doing the pitching profiles here
very shortly for the Black Books. You're gonna be dialed
into pitching. Just a theory thought for next season is
that I think there's going to be this glut of
upside that's going to exist, and that I usually don't
feel like we have that because none of these rookies
are gonna vault themselves into being like top twenty or
(19:38):
top twenty five pitches for the most part, Like Miserowski
is a different story. Chase Burns had a so he'll
bounce back. But my point here is is you're gonna
have the Bubba's, the mcclains, the Treyas savages. You're gonna
have this group of these pictures.
Speaker 1 (19:51):
A strategy, I feel, yeah, but no, but kind of
just hey, I'm gonna make up pitching late and you're
just gonna keep taking.
Speaker 4 (19:57):
Shots kind of. But my point to this is is
like all of those guys of this crazy upside are
going to exist, and it might be something where you
can avoid the pitching at the top of the draft
and then you can take some of those boring guys,
the Logan webs, the Joe Ryan's, I mean, Perul de
vaulted himself up. You take a couple guys that are
just fine with high, high floors, and then you can
(20:18):
take your shot on upside with some of these pitchers
in later rounds like Bubba and everybody that get pressed,
and that might be a really good winning strategy instead
of having high investment on pitching. So we're always pushing
away high investing on pitching for the most part. You know,
if you take Schoogle and Skiins, that's fine, but there
might be even more reason if you want to kind
of go all out take those floor guys when everybody
(20:39):
else is trying to have fun and being like, no
I want you know, Garrett Crochet. Now in the first round,
you just get some floor guys and you might be
able to get some winners here in the bubbas. And
there are guys that are going to come up next
year which we will be talking the crap out of
in the off season, of the prospects that you're gonna need.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
I love how Matt is trolling me in the chat,
because I'm sure Matt knows the two thousand and seven
and two thousand and eight collapses. The Mets happened to
be against the Marlins, and of course who were playing
this weekend the Marlins. Now luckily it's not at home,
so maybe that's the exercising of the demons. We shall see.
Joel Rico help pop a j out here? Uh starting
picture worth streaming today or tomorrow. You got Rogers against
(21:15):
the Yankees. What a season he's had, JACONI also another
strong season from him early at Detroit. So what do
you think about these options?
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Here? Hey yo?
Speaker 2 (21:24):
He even threw it a hey yo. Remember the old
dame hey yo yo, and used to start the shows
with hey yo? I missed those days. That's when I
was a peanut. Oh remember that you had?
Speaker 4 (21:33):
You went off of that this year? I think I
don't remember hey this year?
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Ye year.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Our old boss who is no longer here, didn't care
for that.
Speaker 4 (21:42):
You didn't call the one I'm thinking of.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
The one you're thinking of really directsos hey yo?
Speaker 4 (21:50):
You you know what.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
He's no longer here. I am but.
Speaker 4 (21:55):
Six hey yo's I want to hay show everybody.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
Yes, I'm good.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I don't know more of them, you know, maybe it's
too mad dog radio.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
Is that what I like it? I enjoyed it too much.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
They do it too much. You gotta calm down a
little bit. And then the radio of the YouTube.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Damn it, Papa Jay. Apologies for derailing that conversation, but
I think it's gotta be I think, I know, I
know what. I think it's got to be Trevor Rodgers. Man,
But the way he's been rolling, you know, I like
slight Chaconi. Texas has been pis poor and Early gives
me a little bit of pause.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
I love that expression.
Speaker 2 (22:28):
But I think it's got to be Trevor Rodgers. The
fact that Trevor Rodgers is even available for streaming is
rather remarkable, but I would go with I agree.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
But I want to also point out the Tigers just
got what their first win in like nine games or
eight games? They have been absolutely atrocious. Early has been disgusting.
I don't know if you want to put your season
on a rookie Yankees are The Yankees are vying for this,
like this division title, So I'm not trying to make
a case against Rogers is the best picture here. But
I also think Early is someone to consider. If Red
(22:58):
Sox do a little pounding on the Tigers because they
have been bad, bad, bad, all.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Right, So what was your biggest disappointment of twenty twenty five?
Joy Rinco, You have a player that you were all
in on that really just oh yes, just let you
down at the end of the day.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Who was that? That would be mister Jonathan India.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
I drafted him as much as I drafted My three
most drafted players were de gram Yes, Bashett Yes, and
Jonathan India, who I had on almost every team. I
thought it was a late source of runs. I thought
he was gonna steal a little bit leading off in
Kansas City. Eight homers, no steals, two thirty three, batting
average forty two rivs. A huge l, A massive, massive
(23:39):
l on Jonathan India. It didn't cost me a ton
base where he was getting drafted, but I have him everywhere.
So that one has been like, really my personally most
disappointing win of the year.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I think, Well, for me, it's Sandy al Contra. I thought,
you know, he looked sharpened spring. I thought we would
be all right here.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
You know.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
It's like, oh, you know, maybe he's not going to
give me, you know, as many innings as I want
this year, maybe we'll am or something like that, but
the evings I'll get will be quality. And he ended
up with a ten to twelve record and a five
point four eight ERA, a one point two eight whip,
only one hundred and thirty nine strikeouts and one hundred
and sixty seven innings. Again like, he wasn't a guy
of super costs, but he was a guy that was
(24:16):
very aggressive on him and McClanahan. McClanahan, obviously we know
what happened there, but our contract to me was the
one that really hurt. I knew what I was getting
into with McClanahan, having multiple Tommy John's and all the
risk that was there. With Sandy, it felt like, oh,
buying back in. Everybody's pushing away. This is the guy
it didn't work out. How about for you? Is there
a guy he just say? If I had to do
it all over again, I wouldn't have Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:37):
I mean there's a couple like the Fantasy Side. Strider
really stands out to me and Cease just making excuses
for seesaw years. Strider just did not have his stuff
and that was it. I would have said McLanahan too,
because I was definitely into buying on him. Streider just
never got back to being that main guy. This one
is not fantasy ish relevant. It's way more betting relevant.
(24:58):
And I only say this because we we are able
to cut this guy in the first week and a half.
But I have reminders all season long about Michael Tolia
and my dumb ass take of Michael Tolia because I
got this this season long little bit with.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
The power chicks dig the long ball, and.
Speaker 4 (25:13):
So I welsh. I fell in love with a guy
that was close to forty homers, who had a two
forty expected batting average thirty point increase in Colorado. I did.
I love the long ball, and I got all these
like little sprinkly things in our hot Takes episode, our breakout,
I had all this Tolia stuff out there. Blah black,
it's gross. It's such a stupid take of mine. Never again.
(25:35):
But yeah, I think like Strider and ceased for the
first one you said that came to mind where it
was like, man, yeah, Sandy's a good one, like these
pictures that we were giving the benefit of the doubt
and it never materialized.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah, certainly some good, some bad, some ugly, all of
the above, and you know, it's it's very cathartic to
sit here at the end of the year too and
think about draft season. How excited we all were. I
gotta tell you the truth, like I can't wait till
next week to start digging into the I cannot wait
to start writing black book stuff. I can't and I'll
be on Amazon December fifteenth. As always. I can't wait
(26:06):
to start working with all you guys again on that.
I can't wait for our off season coverage. I'm very
excited about all of that, and I'm excited that we
have off season coverage. That baseball is not the red
headed stepchild anymore fantasy pros, And it's really because of
all the Peanuts and the Crackerjacks who watched this show,
who followed us to YouTube live, who followed us to Twitch,
(26:26):
who followed us everywhere we went, no matter where it
made sense, and it's been awesome. It's been a phenomenal ride.
It's by far, I think, the best baseball community. And
I'm gonna say that, and I don't care what anybody
has to tell me. I won't hear differently, because it's
a baseball community that understands that we can be smart
and have good conversations, have passionate disagreements, but also have
(26:46):
a really good time doing it, and bring some entertainment.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
To where we can wear we wear masks like these
are things that we can do and still have a
baseball show. And I'm gonna I'm going to second lot
of that stuff. Everybody keep tuned because we've already got
episodes planned for October. We're a little over a month
from the Arizona Fall League, which I'm gonna be out
live pretty much every single day. We'll have shorts. Two
months from now, we're gonna have the pitch conference, a
(27:11):
Rico's coming out. We're probably gonna do some episodes together.
So we are talking from October starting in we're already
hitting baseball hard. It was weird, like the season's not
even over in three days we're talking about it. But
it's just more coverage probably than we've had maybe even
in the past or you know, collectively to last year.
But we're rocking with it and hopefully keep keep I
have some things to live up to jokes. I know
(27:32):
we're coming to the end here, but like the most
important thing, and Matt said, he's tailed with me. You said,
he's tailed with me. I have to go a third
straight year of having my monster bet. Two years ago,
Ellie Da La Cruz lead the league in stolen bases
cash this year, Garrett Croche to lead the league in strikeouts.
He is up by thirteen and Scooble is lined up
(27:54):
to pitch on Sunday. We need not thirteen strikeouts from
schoobl and we cash a second straight I needed to
get there.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I already cashed my big time Brewers bet told everybody
back in I think it was June something where I
bet this because I saw the little date thing. I
was like, oh, remember when everybody thought the Brewers were done, Well,
guess what they cash before everybody else. And to leave
on a high note. I don't even realize this, but
we got to look at the home run board. Throw
that bad boy up there, seth look at this but
(28:23):
a boom? Who's on there? Top twenty Joey p Thanks
big Dumper, shout out to you. So Whips is still
at the top here to home run lead over Grouch
and Bees. So we'll see how that shakes up again.
The Samy Sosid jersey up for grabs, so hopefully one
of you beautiful people will win that. But I'm just
happy to end up on the board right behind Wonky Penguin.
It's a beautiful thing. I can't get enough of it.
(28:45):
And speaking of Wonky, shout out to Wonky Penguin, shout
out to Mayor, shout out to Joe Rico, Casey Bubba,
everybody who keeps this channel going here too, and all
the content that they all provide. It's really spectacular. And yeah, man,
like I said, it's just it's been a great season.
Our numbers were off the charts this year, blew everybody
out of the water, and it's really because of everybody
(29:07):
who's here on the YouTube channel who's listening to the podcast.
We appreciate you, and we're just gonna keep bringing it
in twenty twenty six. We're excited for it. That'll do
it for us, But the story of the game goes
on for Joe Rico and the Welsh I'm Joey P.
We'll see you next time. Kids.
Speaker 5 (29:23):
Thanks for listening to the Fantasy Pros Fantasy Baseball podcast.
If you love the show, the best freeway to support
us is by leaving a positive review on Apple Podcasts
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