Dynasty Baseball Pickups: Ep 107 - Tons of Promotions and Week 19 Pickups - Prospects Live Podcast

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hello, and welcome to the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast. Today
is August sixteenth. I am Kyle Santeg and I am
joined as always by Taylor Corso, how are you doing today, Taylor?

Speaker 2 (00:17):
I'll do it pretty good. Giants managed to lose another
game last night, so I think it's now thirteen out
of fourteen or fourteen out of fifteen or something like that.
It's like they're the first time they've done that since
I think nineteen oh one or some crazy stat like that.
But so, yeah, things of Giants world aren't doing good.
But I see your Your Blue Jays are continuing to
just kill it out there.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
Absolutely. Yeah. Greg keeps texting us to let us make
sure that you are aware. I think that the Jays
have stayed hot here. They hit a little bit of
a speed bump with the Dodgers, but that's understandable. They've
They've been looking really good lately though, took a couple
from Chicago. They're looking to win a series against Texas,
now a big, big competitor in the AL. So hopefully

(00:56):
they can keep things rolling here. It's been smooth sailing
as of late. Hopefully they can keep things going now
that they've got George Springer back today as well.

Speaker 2 (01:04):
Yeah, I didn't like that that meant low Berfdo got
sent down, but I'm sure we'll get to that. I
just want to correct my stat there. Giants have lost
fourteen out of their last fifteen games. The last time
that happened for that franchise was in nineteen oh one.
So uh, yeah, it's been pretty brutal. That's a very
rough stretch.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
But we will move on then, Taylor, so we don't
have to lament what your giants are doing anymore, because
we've got some stuff to talk about that we can
get pretty excited about. And that begins if I'm not
mistaken with the fact that yesterday, August fifteenth, was the
deadline for prospects to retain rookie eligibility for next year
if they are called up this season. Now we've already

(01:43):
gotten word of one call up this morning. We will
discuss him in a bit, and I'm sure we'll be
getting plenty more over the coming days that we will
probably discuss next week. But that raises the question, Taylor,
are there any prospects in particular that you want to
see called up to the big leagues to close out
this season.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Yeah, I think that the big one that everyone's waiting
for is Samuel Bissio. He's sitting there in Triple A
for the Orioles. He's obviously one of the best prospects
in the game. I think some people have him up
at number one overall. So definitely one that we want
to see in the BIGS. But with the Ools there,
you never know just how much opportunities guys are going
to get. And that's always been my hesitation with him.

(02:23):
And we saw that deadline coming pass and we saw
the Orioles make a promotion and it wasn't Samuel Bissio.
You gotta wonder does he get a promotion before the
end of the year, how much playing time does he
get all the sorts of things. Still is just super young.
But but yeah, I think he's the big one for me.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
I'm with you, He's definitely the big one. I think
Bubba Chandler is probably the next name on people's lists,
maybe Andrew Painter as well, but a few others that
I'm really looking forward to. Another really highly ranked prospect
that I want to see is JJ Weatherhold. He's been
absolutely crushing it in Triple A. I think he's got
eight home runs since getting promoted to the level, and
seven of them are to lead off the game. So

(03:02):
I don't see why a team like the Cardinals, who
is still alive in the playoff race, I don't see
why they wouldn't want him leading off for their team.
And then somebody that I have been calling out for years, really,
but someone that I called out in the off season
and I think has more than earned his chance is
Robbie Snelling in Miami. I would love to see him

(03:23):
come up and get a few starts for the Marlins
to end the year here, and then, if you want
to get real crazy, I think it would be fun
to see names like Peyton, Toley or Connolly early coming
up and letting their stuff loose in the bullpen for
Boston as Boston tries to hunt down a playoff spot here.
So there are plenty of high upside options that we
could be seeing in the coming weeks here. Fingers crossed

(03:44):
that we actually get some of these big names promoted
to the big leagues though.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Yeah, I agree, those are all really fun names and
hopefully we see some of us.

Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, as I said, fingers cross, but we've got a
lot more great baseball discussion coming today, and that includes,
unfortunately some more injuries, some more demotions, but a ton
of promotions as well as some professional assignments, first professional
assignments for some recent draftees. And then we've got some
big league debuts to discuss, and as always, we will

(04:14):
get into a discussion focused on some of the names
you can find in our Dynasty Baseball Pickups written articles
this week. But before we get to any of that,
I do want to remind everyone about all of the
incredible content that we have been pumping out at Prospects Live,
including the Daily Sheets, the Dynasty Prospect and Open Universe lists,

(04:35):
the Trade Analyzer and Trade Matchmaker. There's p Live Plus
and Hobby Plus, the Dynasty Closer Hierarchy. There are our
Dynasty Baseball Pickups written articles. There's Sunday Smoke from Darren Eisenhower,
Diamond Diplomas from Lucas Morrell, three Up, three Down from
Tom Gates, and Andrew Dahl just wrote another article discussing

(04:55):
many of the prospects whose autograph cards have gained the
most value as of late. On the podcast front, Nate,
Drew and Reese released episode twenty six of the On
Deck podcast as they drafted their prospect Crush teams, and
they also released episode twenty seven with Will Thompson in
which they discuss, among a number of baseball topics, whether

(05:17):
or not the Brewers should be considered World Series favorites.
And then the p Live Dynasty podcast dropped episode seventy
nine as I joined Greg Hucamp and Lucas Morell to
protict the top prospects at each position this time next year. So,
as you can tell, there's a lot of awesome work
being done up and down Prospects Live. Whether you like

(05:39):
to read your articles or listen to podcasts to consume
your content, whether you are into fantasy baseball, the amateur
side of things, card collecting, you name it. We have
something for every kind of baseball fan and it is
all available for as little as five dollars per month
in one convenient place at prospectslive dot com. And if
you enjoy our podcast, please rate and review us. We

(06:01):
really appreciate the support and please give us a follow
as well. You can find me at Sonny Underscore one
eight on X and Sonny oneh eight on Blue Sky,
and you can find Taylor at Dynasty Pickups on both.
You can also get a hold of us with all
of your Dynasty Baseball questions at Dynasty Baseball Pickups at
gmail dot com. Now let's get into some of the

(06:22):
news and notes from baseball this week, and that starts
with some injuries, including Luis Severino, who's down with an
oblique strain. Hunter Harvey is dealing with an adductor strain,
Josh had has a shoulder strain, Brock Stewart has shoulder inflammation,
O'Neil Cruz just recently went down with a concussion. Michael
King came back for one start only to go back

(06:44):
on the shelf with knee inflammation this time. Chase Burns
is dealing with a flexer strain, Max Munsey is back
on the shelf again with an oblique strain, and Matt
Chapman just hit the il this morning with hand inflammation.
So not a great sign for your giants there, Tailor.
But a number of these are not great signs for
our Dynasty teams either. Is there anything here that is

(07:06):
overly concerning for you?

Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yeah, I think there's two injuries that stand out here.
So one is Josh Hater's shoulder strain, it sounds like
that's going to keep him out for the rest of
the year. He also received multiple medical opinions on it,
according to reports, which is usually not a good thing.
So right now it sounds like he's gonna be shut
down for a few weeks. But you wonder if you

(07:29):
know there's further surgery or a procedure coming up on him.
And he had a really nice year this year too,
really bounced back from not a bad year last year,
but just not his typical dominant self. So right now,
in terms of the Astros closer situation to close out
the year, I think Brian abray You is probably the guy.
He got the first save, but Bennett Suza has four

(07:50):
saves on the year and could be in that mix
as well. So he's out there in a ton of leagues.
I've picked up a couple shares this last week in
some leagues, So yeah, if you are desperate for saves
and want a piece of maybe the Astros bullpen there
with hater out be ATSUSA is a guy to look at.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Yeah, I think, as you said, abray You is probably
the guy, but I wouldn't be shocked to see Bennett
Susa or even I think it's Brian King has been
getting some leverage opportunities really all year for them. He
probably steps into a little bit of a more consistent role.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
Now, yeah, I agree as well. The other one I
want to call out on this list is Chase Burns.
Flexer strain is an elbow injury that's never a good thing.
It's supposedly pretty minor, but we've talked about this before.
It's always minor until it's tj. And for somebody who
throws as hard as Chase Burns, does you have to
wonder does this linger? Does this eventually lead to a surgery?

(08:44):
You look at what he's done so far in his
big league career five point two four ERA, but that's
a mirage. Everything under the hood is fantastic. You look
hit the fact that in every start that he's thrown
over one inning, He's got a couple of weird starts
in there, but every start he's over one inning, he
has seven or more strikeouts, And in four of his
eight starts he has ten strikeouts. So that's just unheard

(09:07):
of for a rookie making their debut. Just absolutely dominant.
I think he's an ace if he does have to
go down with TJ or something like that. I think
it's going to be a huge, painful loss. I think
the manager said the best case scenario is that he'll
be on the injured list for only a couple of weeks.
That's best case scenario. We're talking about elbow injury. We
all know what the worst case scenario is there.

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah, we won't even discuss that. We will knock on wood.
We'll cross all of our fingers and toes and hope
that it is best case scenario for Chase Burns. But
moving on to a few injury updates, we do have
some worst case scenarios here. As Shane McClanahan has officially
had season ending arm surgery. Now it's not TJ, it's
not a internal brace or anything like that. It is

(09:52):
surgery to address a lingering nerve issue. But there is
maybe some concern that this could be an even longer
term thing than just knocking him out for the rest
of this year. Zach Eflin is also having season ending surgery.
He is having a lumbar microdiscectomy, so a back issue
for Efln and Felix Bautista has a what is being

(10:14):
called quote unquote significant shoulder injury that is also season ending,
while Tony Gonsolyn elbow surgery for him and that is
an internal brace. So the timeline there for a turn
on Gonsolin is around ten months. But Taylor a number
of arms here, a number of high profile arms, some
pretty big blows to some fantasy teams. Thankfully, these are

(10:36):
guys that have been out for a while for the
most part, so someone that you've probably already replaced on
your roster, but still these are some pretty concerning reports.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, I think the most actionable here is Gonsolin. I
think he's pretty much a drop everywhere. He recently came
back from Tommy John now he's having internal brace. The
track record there is not great for people to undergo
two of those surgeries, just ask Shane McClanahan. So yeah,
I think Gonsolin's really the one that I'm fine just
dropping wherever I have him. These other three obviously there's

(11:10):
different ranges of upside there, but there's a lot of
concern about future value with all these guys. McClanahan already
coming back from two TJ's, you know, now he's dealing
with the nerve issue. Those nerve issues can end careers.
So I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen. With McClanahan.
I think you're holding him if you have him. I
don't think you can trade him. I don't think you

(11:31):
want to trade for him. It's just one of those
old situations. Ethlyn is a fringy guy anyway. I hope
the back surgery helps him. He's probably the one I'm
least concerned on the long term impact, but he's the
one I'm least sure of as far as what his
upside is there. And Felix Fatista, he's another one where
you gotta wonder just what his future looks like because

(11:54):
coming back from Tommy John now he's looking at a
significant shoulder injury. It's not great. So I don't know
that we're going to get the same Felix Batista back eventually.
So him and McLanahan, again, I think they are both
kind of similar situations where you have to hold. But
it's pretty scary. Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, these are concerning reports for all of these names.
But Taylor, let's move on to a potential injury now,
where Yon Doron was hit in the ankle by a
comebacker last night. X rays have come back negative, but
he's going to undergo further testing today. He I saw

(12:35):
the replay. He initially sprinted after the ball but came
up hobbling afterwards, and then they took him off in
a cart. I think the cart was maybe more precautionary
than anything else. It's obviously a good sign that X
rays came back negative, but I think the testing today
is going to be the major sign that we're looking for,
because sometimes when they're swelling in the area, X rays

(12:58):
don't necessarily show the full pick sure, especially immediately after
the injury. So how concerned are you about Joan Duran.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
I'm not super concerned. Obviously it could go wrong, but
it's an ankle injury, I think. I I believe that
he'll probably be fine. Maybe he'll miss some a little
bit of time. I don't think it's gonna be a
fracture or anything like that, but if it is, I
think kirkering becomes more interesting. I guess they're in the bullpen.

(13:27):
He's probably the guy up, but I generally think that
it's gonna be like Duran's gonna be fine.

Speaker 1 (13:34):
Yeah, I think he probably needs at least a few
days off here. So in the short term, Kirkering and
Strom are the names to look at, and then if
it comes to again worst case scenario, we'll we'll have
to read in this book next week maybe and discuss
things a.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Little bit further. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
All right, now, a couple of minor league injuries, as
Thomas Harrington has hit the al as has Dakota Jordan
out on. Unfortunately, these are minor league injuries, so we
don't really know a whole lot about these at this point.
Both have been listed as undisclosed unless Taylor, you have
been able to find any more information than I have.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
No, I haven't, so.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Unfortunately, not much else can be said here. But this
is pretty disappointing for especially Dacotah Jordan, who's been putting
up a fantastic season and by all means looked like
he was deserving of a promotion here pretty soon, right, Taylor.

Speaker 2 (14:27):
Yeah, this is the second time that he's looked on
the verge of a promotion and then got hurt. So
he got hurt right during the All Star breaker, I
think was right either before or after the All Star break,
and that was the speculation was that he was going
to start the second half in Hia there, he didn't
because he was hurt. Then he came back and was
absolutely on fire, was looking better than ever, and then

(14:50):
there was a lot of speculation he was going to
get the call again, and then he gets hurt again.
I hope it's not a recurring injury issue. This is
a guy with a lot of tools, so hopefully it's
not anything serious. But yeah, he's an exciting player. I
think he needs to get promoted, and the fact that
he keeps getting hurt is definitely not helping him to
get that promotion.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
No, it absolutely is not. But Taylor, let's move on
to a couple of demotions, one that you mentioned earlier.
Joey Loperfido has been sent down by my blue Jays,
and Carson wizen Hunt was sent down by your Giants.
Now a couple of guys that are maybe not the
highest end of prospects but have shown some promise. So

(15:32):
are either of these guys that you are looking to
buy low right now?

Speaker 2 (15:37):
I think low Brafido, I'm pretty interested in. I know
it wasn't the longest tenure this time around, but significant
improvement over last time around. Won sixty WRC plus in
his thirty games in the big leagues this time around,
and I think he just showed that the improvement you
want to see they approach still wasn't great, but the
contact was better and the overall performance was better. So

(16:00):
he's one that I don't know if I'm like trading
for or anything unless he's I have a lot of
it's a deeper league and that he's more of a
throw in. But he's definitely one where if he gets
dropped to the wire, I'm going to go scoop him
up because I'm really encouraged by what he did. Less
encouraged with wizen Hunt. I think it's with the change
up first profile. I think it's going to be the

(16:21):
bit of a learning curve for him to succeed at
the big league level. And I'm not quite sure how
big the upside is there with wizen Hunt. Again, if
he gets dropped, I'll probably pick him up, but not
one that I'm training for or anything like that. I
didn't really see much to get excited about in his
big league debut.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Yeah, so I will say, Taylor, there are going to
be some opportunities for you to add some low berfedo
shares because I've dropped him in a number of places
just due to roster crunches really where I can't afford
to be messing around with a player who just got
sent down. I will also note, though, while he was
hot initially after coming up, he really slowed down as

(17:02):
of late. And while there have been some bumps and
bruises along the way that kind of slowed him down,
he never officially hit the il, but he really slowed
down in more recent days and weeks. So that is
something to maybe take a look at before you go
and grab some of those shares that I dumped onto
the wire.

Speaker 2 (17:21):
Gotcha, definitely noted there, all right.

Speaker 1 (17:23):
And we do have one player designated for assignment. That
is Nathaniel low of the Washington Nationals. This was a
player who, if I'm remembering correctly, in the offseason when
they signed him, we discussed as a weird fit for
the Nationals given just how young they are, and then
he turns in the season that he has it's been

(17:44):
a big time struggle for him and we see him
now designated for assignment. Do you think Nathaniel Lowe ends
up on another team and making significant contributions this year,
or is this somebody that we maybe need to wait
and look at next season.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Now, Taylor, he'll definitely land somewhere. I think he's probably
more of a next season guy. I don't know, I
could see him having a minor role somewhere. I don't
think he's gonna tear it up for the last month
plus of the season. So yeah, I think he can
safely be ignored this year for the most part.

Speaker 1 (18:18):
I am with you there. So let's move on to
the good news. We've got a number of promotions and
professional assignments for twenty twenty five draftees, and let's start
with players being assigned to single A, where we saw
Colorado send Ethan Holiday, Baltimore sent Vehiva Alloy, Ike Irish
and Caden Bodine. Ethan Petree was sent by Washington. Seattle

(18:41):
sent Luke Stevenson and Brendan summer Hill is now in
single A for Tampa Bay. So, Taylor, a number of
draftees in single A right now. Who are you most
excited to see play professional baseball of this group?

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Yeah, I think summer Hill is one of the guys
that I'm really excited about. Holiday as well, Irish. Really
a lot of these guys, there's some great names in
this list. It's nice to see guys like Summer, Hill, Stevenson,
Bodine and Irish and Holiday are all off to pretty
good starts. It's only been i think three games for
all of them are around there, but they're all putting

(19:18):
up the pretty nice performances so far. So Yeah, I
think there's a ton to like in this group. And
these are all names that I'll be watching pretty closely.

Speaker 1 (19:26):
Absolutely lots of reason to be monitoring this group. It's
always nice when we get some of these recent draftees
making their professional debuts and giving us a little bit
more to go off of besides just those amateur scouting reports. Yeah,
exactly all right, And with a number of players being
assigned to single A, we have seen a number of

(19:47):
players pushed up to HIA as well, where we've got
the Mariners promoting Ryan Sloan, Baltimore has promoted Nate George,
Minnesota promoted Dassan Hill, and then we've got a couple
of draftees who were assigned to HYAI in cam Canerella
for the Marlins and Andrew Fisher for the Brewers. Really

(20:07):
exciting to see Canerella and Fisher there, but Taylor, who
in this group stands out to you.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Those are all really interesting promotions here, Canarella and Fisher.
Like you mentioned, it's always good to be able to
get a look at these guys both they're off the
nice starts. Nate George, I'm really excited about what he's
done this year. I want to see more power come.
He definitely has that in the tank, but hasn't materialized
so much this year. So he's a guy I'll be
watching closely. Ryan Sloan just absolutely dominant and single day there.

(20:36):
I'm really curious to see how he closed out the
year as a nineteen year old and high a and
then Dassaun Hill is a guy who I was really
high on earlier in the year. I've soured on him
a little bit just because the walks have been a
huge issue. He's not pitching deep into games, so I'm
really curious to see if maybe a new level, a
new coaching staff can really work on some of that stuff.

(20:57):
But yeah, there's some things there with Hill that need
to be out for sure. I'm with you one hundred
percent on that.

Speaker 1 (21:03):
Sloan in particular, I am really excited to see here
on the hitting side of things. It's George, and then
of course the debuts of Fisher and Canerella in Hia
in particular are going to be fantastic to see. But
let's move on to a few players promoted to double A,
where we saw the Guardians promote Ralphie Velasquez, the Mets
promoted aj Ewing, Orioles sent Michael Ferret to double A,

(21:27):
and the Washington Nationals have promoted Alex Klemy. And I
want to pause on Klemy for a moment because while
his stuff has looked absolutely nasty and he's been nearly unhittable,
he has still shown a major walk problem. So is
he maybe a little bit of a surprise to see
getting the push to double A?

Speaker 2 (21:46):
Yeah, that was my thought too. Wrote him up earlier
this year after he had not just his first professional
start with zero walks, but he had two straight starts
with zero walks, which is the first time he had
ever had zero walks in his professional career. And then
since I wrote him up, he's had at least three
walks in each start since, so he's not fixed people.

(22:07):
So yeah, it is surprising that the walks are still there,
But I think clearly he's not getting it, but it's
not going to change. So this stuff is good enough.
Let's just see what he does in double A. Let's
put him in front of a new staff. Maybe there's
something there that'll click. But yeah, he's a guy who
I really see as a reliever at this point, like
a really high end one. But it's that Jacob Mizerowski

(22:30):
thing where it just takes one thing to click and
then all of a sudden you have a top line starter.
So he's a tough one. Tons and tons of risk there,
but tons of upside as well. A couple names. I
want to call it your boy, Ralphie Velasquez. Really slow
start to the year, but oh man, is he really
turned things around? One ninety eight ops plus since July first,

(22:50):
so just absolutely tearing it up since then deserves the promotion.
Aj Ewing another one that just he's just mashed all year.
Would like to see more power in double A. I
know the High A affiliate of the Mets there is
known for suppressing power, so I wouldn't be surprised if
the power ticks up in double A. But he's showing
everything else you want to see in just exciting prospect
and Michael Ferrett is actually a guy that I think

(23:12):
for the last few weeks, he's been on my list
right up and I just for whatever reason, I've picked
other guys over him. But he's been really impressive this year.
Four straight starts now without an earned run. So maybe
I'll write him up next week now that he got
the promo. But just a pretty exciting arm underrated to
keep an eye on there.

Speaker 1 (23:31):
Yeah, as you said with the ralphie Veles, because he's
one that I've been a fan of for a long time.
He moved down my rankings significantly this year. I have
discussed him on the Dynasty Pod earlier in the week.
I think I had him as high as fifty seven
overall in the preseason. He's down closer to two hundred now,
I believe for me, but he is going to be
moving back up. When you look at the season long line,

(23:53):
it still doesn't look great. But as you said, it's
been a story of two haves for him because he
has been just on fire of late. So he I
think is a good player to target as maybe a
by low as we continue to approach a lot of
these fantasy deadlines. He could be a player you might
even get as a throw in for a deal. So
don't discount the overall numbers for Ralphie Velaskaz. He has

(24:15):
really turned it on lately.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Yeah, he definitely has, all right.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
And then we've got a number of players moving up
to Triple A as well. The Guardians have sent the
duo of Travis Bazana and Cooper Ingle up to Triple A,
while the Mets promoted a quad of players in Carson Benge,
Jet Williams, Jonah Toong and Ryan Clifford. Baltimore sends Trey
Gibson up to Triple A. Toronto has sent Trey Yasavage,

(24:43):
the Tigers promoted Max Anderson, and the Twins just promoted
Connor Prelips. So a lot of really exciting names here.
In particular for me, I'm looking at Carson Bench, who
has just been a massive riser this year, and one
that I think both of us were in on during
f YPD season Taylor, because he was a former two
way guy who turns pro, starts focusing on one side

(25:05):
of the ball, and all of a sudden he starts
taking off. So I want to take this time to
quickly call out one of the Mets draft picks this
year too. Mitch Voight, very similar story, former two way
guy coming to the Mets. He's just going to be
hitting now, So look out for Mitch Voight in your fypds.
But getting away from that tangent real quick, Taylor, it's
a large group of promotions to Triple A here. How

(25:28):
many of these guys or rather, are there a few
specific ones that you are really excited about?

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yeah, I want to touch on bench real quick, and
then these other guys as well. So benj is interesting
because he spent thirty two games in Double A before
getting the promotion to Triple A. And you mentioned like
his stock has taken off, right, And if I ask
you right now, it is has car Is Carson benj
on a hot streak right now? What would you say?
He must be? Yeah, he's not. He's really cooled off.

(25:57):
So he had a huge July where he had a
twelve hundred oho. Seven of his twelve home runs on
the year came in July, and obviously most of that
time was there in Double A. That's what sort of
I think caused the bump the Triple A. But even
though he spent much of August in Double A, there
he just has a six twenty five OPS in August.

(26:17):
He's really cool down. So it's one of those that
we have to monitor because you think about benj you
think about, oh man, he's been so hot and everything.
He really hasn't been for the at least half a
month now. So again, like pretty small sample, we got
to watch what he does going forward. He's not off
to a particularly good start in Triple A. There, so

(26:39):
something to monitor with him. But yeah, I'm not saying
like we we shouldn't have moved him as high as
we did, and that's he's not exciting prospect. He still is,
but definitely one that I didn't realize until I looked
at the numbers how much he had he had cooled
off recently. A couple other guys to hit on here,
Travis Bozana. The season long numbers aren't super exciting, but
since he's returned from injury, he's got a one thirty

(27:01):
one WRC plus. I think this is a guy who
he's just catching back up. He's really had this weird season.
I think we're probably not going to see the best
of him until next year, so I think he's going
to be a pretty good by by low candidate this
offseason because I think people haven't really seen him. He
hasn't dominated, but I still think he's the same guy
everyone was excited about during FYPD season. Jet Williams, I've

(27:24):
always been a big fan. Fantastic year in Double A.
Already has set a new max TV in Triple A
of one to eight point four and just a handful
of games. I really think he's one that is just
going to continue to rise as we see more of
him at Triple A. Jonah Toong one of the best
pitching prospects in the game. Really exciting walks are the
only thing that can hold him back. He's definitely improved
in that regard. Ryan Clifford quietly had a really good

(27:49):
year this year. I don't think people realize just how
good Ryan Clifford's been. The contact and power have both
improved this year, and just in a handful games of
Triple A has already shown the raw power with a
one to ten point seven max. Trey Gibson has already
made his Triple A debut. It was really impressive to
back up a really impressive Double A stint. He's another
guy on the rise. Trey Yasavage is a guy who

(28:09):
really cut his walk rate going from High A to
Double A. And it's crazy to think that he's now
in Triple A after starting the season in Single A.
He's raised that many levels. Just a couple more quick
hits here. All these guys are interesting, so I'm gonna
gonna touch on almost all of them here. Max Anderson,
I'm not a huge fan, but two home runs in
four games in Triple A so far pretty impressive. And

(28:30):
then Connor Prelip. This is guy I know both you
and I were high on coming into the year, but
the strikeouts have really fallen this year. Everything else has
looked pretty good, but it's been short outings and the
timing of approach is a little weird because his last
three starts at Double A there he had a seven
point four five ERA. So I just want to hit
on those guys. I think the only one I didn't
touch on was Cooper Engle, who's an interesting ratio guy

(28:52):
but probably not going to be super impactful for fantasy.

Speaker 1 (28:56):
Yeah, and he's a catching prospect too, so that kind
of dulls the the fantasy intrigue a little bit. But
you did an excellent job really covering all of these names,
so I'm not gonna go in depth on anybody else.
We are going to move on to a trio of
big league promotions players returning to the big leagues, first
of which is Hurston Waldrip, who has looked really good

(29:18):
since returning. He's made some adjustments down in the minor
leagues and seems to be figuring things out now at
the big league level. Jacob Melton is back up with
the Astros. He has only played a couple of games
since being promoted, hasn't had a whole lot of opportunity,
but hasn't done a lot with it either. And then
someone you recently called out Taylor ever since Pereira was

(29:39):
brought up by the Rays, So why don't you tell
us a little bit more about Pereira and then if
you're interested at all in Melton or Waldrop.

Speaker 2 (29:46):
Yeah, Pereira is probably the least interesting the scrip to
be honest, it was cool that the Rays called him
up and we're giving him some playing time. Huge power
has never been able to get the contact together, some
of the worst contact numbers in TRIPLEA, and so far
he has a seventy percent strikeout rate. Since the Rays
called him up, so I picked him up in a
couple places. I think I've already dropped him in those
places again. One to keep an eye on if he

(30:08):
ever does figure it out, but I don't. His early
performance has not made me think that the rays have
suddenly fixed him. One that I would be very skeptical
of it working. As far as the other two guys,
I'm much more interessed in them. Hirston Waldrip, like you mentioned,
it wasn't just the fantastic performance he's had so far
in the bigs. His last few starts at Triple A,
the strikeouts had ticked way up, the performance had ticked

(30:30):
way up. Like he said, it seems like he figured
some stuff out and that's showing. And then Jacob Melton.
I know it hasn't been great results so far, but
I'm still a really big fan. I think I would
be buying any sort of discount this offseason on him.
Ground Ball rate has been an issue, but the evs
are good. There's speed there. He's already posted a one
to eleven point three max already in the MLB. I

(30:51):
think it's one thirteen in the minors. So he's got
the power. He just has to lift the ball a
little bit more, pull it a little bit more. He's
in a great home ballpark there. I just I think
Milton is a guy who is just going to be
underrated right now because the performance hasn't been there. But
I would expect, maybe not this season for him to
have an impact. But he's the guy who I'll be
trying to add this offseason because I think people will
be down on him. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:13):
I think some really good points on all of those names.
I do want to point out with Waldrop a couple
of the adjustments he has made. When Sean Murphy was
down there, he reportedly talked to Waldrop about adding a
sinker and that's made a big difference for him. And
then he's really toned down his leg kick lately too,
and that seems to be helping him just get to
more consistency in his delivery, and that has allowed him

(31:35):
to fill up the strike zone and really attack hitters
a lot better than he was before when he was
a little bit more big and wild and inconsistent with
that with his mechanics.

Speaker 2 (31:46):
That's great insight. I hadn't heard that, so that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
Yeah, So there are things going into why he has
improved so much, so I think a lot of reason
to believe, and he's someone that I've got a few
shares of, and he is probably the one player of
this group, at least of these players returning to the
big leagues that I have been using for my rosters.

(32:10):
Melton I have one share of. He's been on my bench,
and as we discussed last week, I just really haven't
been very interested in Pereiras, so I don't have any
shares of him, but Taylor. Now we move on to
some big league debuts, and we start with none other
than today's starting pitcher for the New York Mets, Nolan McClain,
who has been dominant this year, working his way up

(32:32):
from DOUBLEA now to the big leagues. I think I
can speak for both of us when I say that
we were expecting a breakout with him finally focusing on
just one side of the ball, but I don't think
we saw quite this level of dominance coming.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
Now.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Everyone listening might already know the outcome of his big
league debut by the time they're listening to this, But
what are you expecting out of McLain today and going forward?

Speaker 2 (32:58):
Yeah, just a really exciting debut. I picked him up
in a redraft league, so that shows you what I
expect the impact to be this year. You never know
with these debuts, they can go south. I try not
to read too much into a big, big debut, but
I think Noel McLain's got really exciting stuff. He's one
of the higher upside guys in the miners there. So yeah,
if he's available in the re draft leagu unless it's

(33:20):
super shallow, I'm gonna pick him up and speculate on him.
I don't know how much he impact he's gonna have
this year, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has
quite a bit.

Speaker 1 (33:29):
Yeah, and I know there's been some maybe questioning as
to why it was McClain versus Sprot, but I think
when you look at the stuff, you look at the arsenals,
McClain maybe fits a little bit better in a bullpen role.
If they choose to slide him there, then Sprot would.
I think if we see McClain move to the bullpen,
his fastball, his slider, he's going to be a big

(33:50):
problem for opposing hitters. I think regardless whether he's starting
or relieving, he's gonna be a big problem. But I
think the reason we see McClain today over sprote is
because he would fit a little bit better in the bullpen.

Speaker 2 (34:04):
Yeah, that's a good call out, all right.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Next, we have one of the most highly ranked Canadian
prospects in the game, Owen Casey, who got to make
his big league debut in Toronto this past Thursday, and
in his first career at bat, on his first swing
in the major leagues, he roped a line drive into
the left center gap off future Hall of Famer Max

(34:27):
Scherzer that ended with a diving catch by the Jays
left fielder. So Casey did end the day zero for four,
but still very exciting for him to get to debut
in his home country. And he's from Ontario too, He's
from the Toronto area, so really exciting for him to
get to debut in front of friends and family. But Taylor,
what are you expecting from Casey going forward? And maybe

(34:48):
the bigger question this year is do you think he
can stick in the big leagues and be an impactful
fantasy player?

Speaker 2 (34:56):
No, I just I don't see him having a clear role.
I feel like this is a Kobe Mayo, Heston kirsh
Dad thing where he's gonna get called up, he's gonna
sit on the bench, play occasionally, then struggle, get sent down,
and then we're gonna go through this whole thing again
at some point. I'll be honest, I've never been a
big O and Case guy. I just there's enough contact

(35:19):
concerns there that I don't I don't think it's gonna
work that well. He's definitely improved in that regard this year,
which was nice to see, but I think he's gonna
have a hard time breaking into that lineup this year.
Maybe we see more of him next year, particularly if
he does well in a small sample here. But he's
one that I just I think he's it's gonna take

(35:40):
some time for him to get there, and I don't
think the Cubs are gonna give him that time. Yeah,
I think this year it's gonna be difficult for him
to crack that lineup consistently. Next year might be a
different story. We'll see if they are going to re
sign Kyle Tucker and who else they bring back. But
twenty twenty six might be a more reasonable fantasy season

(36:01):
for Owen Casey. I will note as far as the
contact concerns and everything go Taylor. If you look at
what he's done as of late, and if everybody wants
to go listen to the Dynasty podcast that I just
did with Greg and Lucas. Greg called out I believe
it was Greg, but one of them called out that
Owen Casey has actually really been trending in the right direction,

(36:22):
and the strikeout rates have been dropping and the contact
rates have been rising over the last month or so.
So if that is something that can stick going forward,
he might be able to put up enough of a
show here to end the year to maybe cement his
spot on the opening day roster next year. Yeah, that's
a good call out. Just a twenty three point eight

(36:42):
percent k rate from June on, nineteen point seven from
July on, and then in August it's around twenty percent
as well, So yeah, I hadn't realized that. Definitely, you
must have been just horrendous in the beginning of the year,
but definitely the last few months it's taken major improvements.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
There.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
See what he was through May there, Yeah, thirty two
percent through May. So that's why those season long numbers
look pretty bad. But that's really encouraging. I still think
this is a guy that's not quite gonna get it
right away, particularly if he's not getting every day playing time.

Speaker 1 (37:16):
Yeah, I think that's gonna be the key. Here is
what the playing time looks like. We will see going forwards,
and we will see what that means for next season.
But Taylor, another exciting promotion just announced this morning. Dylan
Beavers will be getting the call for the Orioles, and
Beavers has had an excellent season in Triple A this year,
posting a one P fifty three WRC, plus he's got

(37:39):
eighteen home runs and twenty three stolen bases, and he
has shot up the ranks to one oh three overall
in our July update. Personally, I think that's too low
at this point, and I admittedly had him too low
myself at exactly one hundred. I know you were a
little bit higher on him than I was, Taylor, but
what are we expecting from Beavers to finish the year?

Speaker 2 (38:00):
Yeah? This is one bothers me because this is a
guy who, man, I was so high on last year.
I had him so many plays. It's actually similar to
Nolan McClain and then we went through his struggles and
I dropped him for other guys. And then by the
time he bounced back here this year, I'd lost a
number of those shares, but still have some shares, And yeah,
this is He's one of my favorite prospects. I for

(38:21):
a long time, I've been waiting for the everything to
click for him, because he was a guy that was
supposed to be power first when he was drafted, and
then he really made a lot of changes to improve
the hit tool. There's always been speed there. It was
just a question of can he get to some of
that raw power. And this year we're seeing everything come
together for him. The power has ticked up, the contact

(38:42):
has ticked up further, he still got the speed. I
think if he gets playing time, he could make an
impact this year. So he's a guy who again I
picked up in redraft leagues when he got the call.
I think he's he's an exciting player. But with Baltimore,
you just never know what they're going to do with
their playing time. So that's the one question I have.
But I'm more more confident in him getting playing time

(39:04):
and making an impact this year than for Casey.

Speaker 1 (39:07):
I'm definitely with you there, especially since Baltimore cleared out
much of their outfield at the deadline here, and with
Colton Kowser and Tyler O'Neill currently on the injured list,
their outfield as of late has been filled by Dylan Carlson,
Daniel Johnson, and Jeremiah Jackson. So I don't see why
he wouldn't get a shot going forward here, And even

(39:28):
when O'Neill and Kowser come back, I don't see why
Beavers wouldn't be playing over Carlson, Johnson and Jackson. So
I do think he should and will get some pretty
nice run here with the Orioles to end the year.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yeah. I think one of the telling things is that
the Orioles were initially it was discussed they were going
to bring him up after the trade deadline, but they
waited until the sixteenth to bring him up, and I
think that shows that they believe he has a legitimate
chance of the prospect promotion incentive next year. Yeah. I
think that tells you what they think of him. So
I would assume that they would get of him some

(40:01):
real run here to close out the year.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
Absolutely, and I certainly hope they do. As you said,
he's been very exciting. It's been nice to see him
put everything together. But Taylor that does it for the
News and Notes this week. So let's get into the
recommendations and please lead us off with your first name
that everybody needs to know.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
Yeah. Actually, but before we get there, I want to
circle back to one more promotion. Bob Seymour of the
Tampa Bay Rays. I completely missed that. I apologize. No worries,
not one that I'm running out to grab or anything.
But if you want some power, thirty home runs in
the minors this year twenty eight home runs last year.
Has posted a one to seventeen point nine MAXIV at

(40:41):
triple A there, which is just crazy. But he's also
twenty six years old and makes bad contact, so you
don't expect much from him this year. I think in
the Fantasy Baseball Discord Prospects channel there was some talk
about maybe he can go on like an airist, that
he's a chinotype run or a re science type run.
I could totally see that, but I think that's about
as much as you could hope for, at least at

(41:01):
this point with Bob Seymour, before we really see anything
to buy into there.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Yeah, as you said, tremendous power for Seymour. Contact is
a major concern and maybe telling that of this group
of four big league debuts, he was literally a forgotten
man for me.

Speaker 2 (41:20):
Yeah, definitely, not one you have to run out and
grab it, but maybe just keep an eye on it.
If he starts hot, maybe you can write out a
hot stretch with him. But yeah, we can move on
to my first recommendation. Not the same profile Seymour, but
a similar story, older prospect. He's twenty five years old,
first baseman outfielder in the Twins organization at Triple A,
listed at six foot to two hundred and fifteen pounds,

(41:41):
right handed hitter, one percent rostered on fan tracks. Before
my article came out, he was zero percent. So I'm
moving markets here oo. But yeah, now he's up to
one percent overall in the year, four hundred and fifty
plate appearances two sixty four three eighty five oh eight slash,
twenty three home runs, thirty one stolen bases, fourteen point
eight percent walk rate, twenty one point six percent k rate.

(42:01):
The last I checked, he's the only minor leaguer who
has twenty plus home runs and thirty plus stolen bases.
Samana had actually written him up earlier this year on
prospects live in his deep Sea Diving article, and in
it he compared FEDCO's Double A performance to that of
Blake Dunn, who a few seasons ago had put up
really good numbers in Double A that didn't really sync

(42:23):
with his track record as an older prospect, and that
really didn't pan out. I know you were a big
Blake Dun fan. I liked him a lot for a
while as well, but it just didn't really pan out.
Samata was speculating that it could be a similar situation
with Fedco here. I was pretty spent skeptical as well. Again,
twenty five year old breakout performance in Double A doesn't

(42:44):
move the needle too much for me. But he did
get promoted to Triple A on August first, and in
the thirteen games since his promotion he has a three
twenty seven four to ten five ninety six slash, three
home runs, five stolen bases. Is now showing it at
Triple A. The Twins have cleared out the cupboard during
the trade deadline. There, They've made a lot of room.

(43:05):
It's possible we see Fedco in the Biggs before the
end of the year. Now, this is a guy who,
like I mentioned, doesn't have much of a track record.
Twelfth round pick in the twenty twenty one draft, He's
one of those guys who the reason why he's twenty
five years old and was at Double A this year
is he's one of those guys that takes a little
while to get used to each level. The first run
at single A, he struggled, then he figured it out

(43:28):
his second time around. Same thing at High A, same
thing at Double A. So I think that's what's really
encouraging about his hot start at Triple A is this
is the first time in his career that he's actually
performed well at a level in his first look at
that level. So maybe there is something that's changed here.
You look at the season long numbers, the power is
way up, the ground ball rate is down, the pole

(43:50):
rate is up. He's pulling the ball in the air
at an elite rate so far at Triple A. Mate. One
of the weird things though, is that he's always been
a good contact guy, and this year he's actually posted
his worst contact rate of his career, but it's still
pretty solid at seventy five point six. The zone contact
has been really good at TRIPLEA. There again, in small sample,

(44:11):
but it's not just the power. The stolen bases are
way up, so you might think that's a bit fluky,
But then you look at the fact that he's got
thirty one steals and just six caught stealings, so the
efficiency is really good there. So I see no reason
why the stolen bases wouldn't continue. And there's really not
much you can knock on him. You can look at
him being a right handed hitter and say, Okay, this

(44:33):
is a guy who might be a short sight platoon bat,
but he's posted a nine to forty two OPS against
right handed pitching this year, so there's really not any
major platoon concerns there. And you might I describe him
as a first basement outfielder. You might think, oh, this
is a guy who's defensively limited. It's actually played most
of his games in center field this year, so I

(44:53):
don't think you can really consider him defensively limited. I
think there's some defensive flexibility there. Again, no major with
tune issues. Obviously, this is a guy who's been old
for the level everywhere. He's gone definitely old for the
level in Double A. He's going to turn twenty six
at the end of September. He's never shown this kind
of power speed before and the biggest knock on him

(45:14):
so far at the Triple A level. Despite the performance
and despite having eight extra base hits so far, he
has a MAXIV of one oh five point five somewhat
small sample, so maybe we just haven't seen him really
get into one. But I do wonder what the raw
power is like there and how much of it he
has to rely on the lift and poll approach. Shout
out to Tom, who was the only one to rank

(45:35):
Fedco and our latest rankings. I'll probably add him to
my rankings if he keeps us up, but for right now,
he's more of a deep league guy for me, a
recommendation in leagues of five hundred plus prospects. I really
need to see this Triple A performance continue. I need
to see the max TV tick up a little bit
for me to be more confident in the power there.
And with a guy like this, you always wonder just

(45:57):
how many opportunities he'll have. We've seen in Triple A
breakouts like a Shay Wickcombe struggled to get playing time
in the big leagues. I do wonder if Fedco could
be one of those guys. But again, there is room
if the Twins want to give him an opportunity as
soon as this year he could he could get that
as well. So really curious what you think on Fedco, Kyle.

(46:19):
He is just a weird prospect, you.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
Know what, Taylor, I've actually got a bone to pick
with Fedco because a few nights ago at the Dish
when a base runner attempted to steal second base and
Fedco stepped across the plate as Carter Jensen was trying
to throw out the runner, and Jensen ended up hitting
his hand on FEDCO's helmet. Now, I haven't heard of
an injury designation for Jensen yet, but he hasn't played

(46:44):
since that happened, and he left that game early. Now,
aside from the little personal vendetta I've got against Fedco,
right now, he does look like an interesting player, but
not without his warts. As you said, he makes a
good amount of contact and he's done a really good
job pulling the ball in the air since being promoted
to Triple A. But his approach and his evs are

(47:06):
where I struggle to really value Fedco because he's been
passive in the zone and too aggressive out of it.
And that's specifically in triple A. And while his average
EV is slightly above average for the triple A level,
the ninetieth is below average, and as you said, the
max is very low. It's actually first percentile at the level. Now, again,

(47:27):
small sample, as you noted, but it seems to me
that what he's doing this year, as someone who has
never hit more than ten home runs and is now
twenty five years old, is he's really selling out for
power now and just trying to lift and pull the
ball as much as he can, and that's probably why
we are seeing this power surge along with a dip

(47:49):
in his contact rates. So I think that he's an
intriguing name and one the watch list, but he's one
that I will want to see perform in the big
leagues before I consider picking him up.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
Yeah, I definitely think you can wait right This is
not a guy that you need to rush out to
the wire for. Like I said, Leagu's a five hundred
plus prospects. Definitely agree with everything you're saying there. I
think we just need to see a bigger sample at
triple A to see what's real what isn't, particularly with
the evs, like I I'm really concerned. If we get
to a month of triple a time and we have

(48:22):
it crossed the one zero six threshold, I'm definitely gonna
be a lot less interested because a lot has to
go right to be an impactful power guy. If you're
you're max evs are that low, and yeah, it's just
one of those where it's like he's gonna have to
really perform to get a shot, and I want to
make sure that there's skills there that that will perform

(48:43):
at the big league level.

Speaker 1 (48:45):
Absolutely, But Taylor, let's move from one end of the
exit velocity spectrum to the other, because I want to
take a look at Dylan Lewis here. He is a
twenty two year old outfielder in High A right now
for the New York Yankees, listed at six foot three,
two hundred and five pounds, one percent rostered on fan
tracks and unranked in our July update. In one hundred

(49:09):
and two games this year, he's slashing two forty nine
three twenty one four seventy five, twenty home runs and
twenty two stolen bases, a twenty three point four percent
carried and a nine point one percent walk rate. Now
for the second week in a row, I am recommending
a Yankees outfielder, and I think Dylan Lewis. By the

(49:29):
end of everything, you'll see ranks pretty similarly to Brendan Jones,
who I discussed last week, even if they get to
that value in very different ways, because with Lewis it
is largely about upside and some really loud tools. Now,
going back to twenty twenty four, when he was in college,
he was one of just two Division One hitters to

(49:50):
produce twenty home runs and twenty stolen bases, the other
being Vance Honeycut. But we didn't hear nearly as much
about Lewis because he was playing for Queen's University of
Charlotte and became just the second player ever drafted out
of that school when the Yankees took him in the
thirteenth round. Now, before I get into the power, I

(50:12):
want to talk about the speed a little bit, because
the speed is a plus tool. He's got twenty two
stolen bases on twenty four attempts this year, so keep
that in mind because when I get to the power,
it is even more impressive. He's a plus runner, but
it might be double plus raw power if not better
and The best example of this is the batted ball

(50:32):
data that he displayed while playing in Single A. At
that level, he posted a one thirteen point nine mile
an hour max EV, which would put him inside the
top fifty of all Big leaguers and would rank him
alongside names like Gunner Henderson, Cam Smith, and Austin Reiley.
He also posted a very impressive one oh nine point

(50:54):
three mile an hour ninetieth percentile EV, a hard hit
rate of nearly fifty five per and a staggering ninety
three point seven mile an hour average EV, which would
tie him for six in the big leagues with Raphael Devers.
So this is a player, like I said, absolutely tooled out,
but like many tooled up prospects, there are some concerns

(51:16):
with the contact here. They aren't super significant for Lewis, though,
but his approach and contact rates tend to fall more
in the kind of average to slightly below average range
than truly being problematic or minus tools. Now, what has
presented itself as a bit of a problem is his
batted ball distribution, especially since moving up to High A,

(51:38):
where he's posted a forty two percent ground ball rate
and a forty two percent in field fly ball rate. Now,
he is still putting up really strong numbers in High
A it's a one twenty nine WRC plus, and he's
cut his k rate below twenty percent, with eleven home
runs and nine steals in fifty six games. I do
think that we likely see that krate come back up,

(52:01):
Maybe not all the way to the levels it was
in single A, where I believe it was around twenty
eight twenty nine percent, but I think Dylan Lewis is
probably around a twenty four to twenty five percent k
rate true talent wise, but I think if he can
start squaring up more baseballs, hitting more line drives with
the raw power that he has, his stock could really
take off. Until that happens, though, I've got him as

(52:23):
an ad in leagues with three hundred and fifty plus
prospects rostered, and I even dropped a couple of my
shares of Brendan Jones, who I see as a safer
prospect between the two, for a couple more high upside
shares of Dylan Lewis, but Taylor for the second week
in a row. I want to know what you think
about a Yankees outfielder.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
Yeah, I was just scanning my leagues to see where
I might be able to add him. So that tells
you that's a good sign. Good of an argument you
made there. I'm definitely gonna have to see if I
can pick up a few shares before I published this episode. No,
I think he's really exciting. Like you mentioned, big time
upside there. He struggled a little bit when he first
arrived in high A there, but has really turned it
on since July. No major platoon splits with him. He's

(53:08):
primarily played center field. Looks like he should be at
least a good defensive corner outfielder. The contact is been
good enough. I'd like to see a little bit more
walks for the upside that he shows. I think there's
a really intriguing prospect here. We'll be interesting to see
what happens when he gets to double a there. But

(53:30):
but yeah, I like him a lot, so I think
this is a great call out by you. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Worth noting he is a little bit old for the
level as a twenty two year old in hi A here,
but again coming from a relatively unknown school, just the
second player ever drafted out of Queen's University of Charlotte,
it makes a little bit of sense why he starts
a little bit lower on the totem pole. But if
this is a player who can get to forty five

(53:54):
hit with forty forty five approach and has sixty or
seventy grade raw power to go along with sixty grade speed,
this is a tremendous package that could really rise up
the ranks. And I think needs to be far more
than one percent rostered.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Yeah, I would agree, And what's worth noting he turned
twenty two in mid June, so he's a pretty young
twenty two. I'm not too concerned about the age to
level there. I think it makes sense based on where
he is. I think the biggest concern for me is
just what the the ultimate ratios look like, because they
haven't been great in the minors.

Speaker 1 (54:31):
No, And I will note with that his batting average
on balls in play in HIAI so far has been
quite low, especially when you consider how fast he is
and how hard he hits the ball. Now, some of
that is going to be the fact that he's putting
the ball on the ground a lot and popping up
on the infield a lot. So again, if he can
start to drive more balls on a line, I think

(54:53):
that everything is going to be buoyed with that.

Speaker 2 (54:56):
Yeah. Counterpoint to that, though, is he had a three
thirteen babbub in single A and just a two point
fifty average and three twenty three OBP. So even when
the Babbitt's been normal, the rates have been lower than
you want to see, particularly at the lower level there. Yeah,
I just I do think that babbitt will tick up,
But I don't think this is ever going to really

(55:18):
be a guy that is going to help you in ratios.
And I think as he progresses, he might be a
guy who struggles to put up good enough ratios for
the power of the speed to matter. But we're still
a ways off from that. Like I said, I think
he's pretty intriguing. There's time for him to figure those
things out. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (55:35):
So something that just came off the top of my head.
And this player walks more than Dylan Lewis does, But
could this maybe be like a Matt Wallner with speed
not great big time power. Again, Lewis is going to
steal some bases. It's not the sexiest profile, but when
you throw some stolen bases in there with it, it
becomes pretty valuable. Even with some just okay, ratios.

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, a little bit. Yeah, I've bought a
big Walner guy either, So I don't know that really
moves the needle for me. I think these kind of
guys are the guys who, if all goes well, they're
valuable with good babbic luck, and with bad babbic luck
they're not getting an opportunity. So I just feel like

(56:21):
with these guys, they're generally ones that are gonna be
fairly fringy on and off your roster and have maybe
a few peak years where they're useful and then fall
off after that. Yeah, I don't know that what Walner
would be my better one picked out. I was thinking
more of like a I don't even I don't even

(56:42):
know if this is a good one either. I was
thinking more of a Dylan Moore from a ratio perspective.
There's upside there, but like the ratios just might never
be good enough for let's just let's mash wner and
more together and then we've got Dylan Wallner's power and
Moore's speed there and yeah we get some some Yeah.

(57:04):
So again, maybe it's more like what O'Neil Cruz has
done this year, where it's big time, big time power speed.
But then again, like the ratios are hurting you, So
I just I don't think he's ever gonna be an asset
in that area, I guess, is what I'm saying. But
he's got a lot of time to figure those things out.
This is his first full professional season. I'm not writing him off.
The contact rate is good enough, so yeah, I think
there's definitely a lot to be excited about there.

Speaker 1 (57:23):
Still, I think we ended on a much sexier note
there by throwing O'Neal cruise out so as that would
imply definitely a upside pick. But again there's reason to
believe that there's downside here too. But Taylor, let's move
on to a couple of arms and a couple with
some pretty nice upside themselves.

Speaker 2 (57:43):
Yeah, we's start with the one of your Blue Jays
in Silvano, Hecheveria. So this is a twenty two year
old starting pitcher in the Blue Jays organization, just got
promoted to hya listed at six four to two hundred pounds,
right handed pitcher, one percent rostered on fan track. So far,
I think we have three guys who are one percent rostered,

(58:03):
So this will be fun for ranking here on the
year between complex in single A sixty four and a
third innings pitch to one ninety six ERA one AH
one whip twenty four point eight percent, kraight just a
five point nine percent walk rate. And Etchevri is a
guy who's had a pretty unique path to professional ball.
Was originally from Cuba but signed out of the Dominican

(58:24):
Republic last June. Dominated the DSL last year, but obviously
old for the level he was twenty one years old
playing against teenagers. Was then set to Complex at the
start of this year, dominated there and then promoted to
Single A after just a few starts in Complex there so
has spent the majority of his year at Single A again.

(58:45):
Just got the call to HYA but hasn't debuted yet,
and he's posted fantastic eras at every single level, obviously
expected for an older pitcher dominating younger competition, but really
the one thing that was missing early on at least
this year, was the strikeouts. Hetche Area had a fourteen
point two percent strikeout rate through his first six outings,

(59:06):
which included his single A debut. But I think something
clicked there in single A because since June seventh, he's
got a twenty nine point five percent strikeout rate, and
that goes with a one point sixty two eer, a
zero point ninety seven whip, and he's always had good command,
so it's a five point eight percent walk rate. Matt
had wrote him up previously this year on the Daily
Sheet and he said, quote, Hetcheveria has buttery, smooth mechanics

(59:28):
and the ball just explodes out of his hand. It's
a quick, whippy arm action that seems like he repeats
it very well. And Matt went on to say that
he was a guy Matt was crushing on and that
Matt was adding him wherever he could. The stuff is
definitely there with Hetcheveria. He features a midnineties fastball that
reaches up to ninety seven. He's got a sinker variant
in the same velocity band. MLB Pipeline gave the offerings

(59:51):
collectively a fifty grade, while giving his upper ninety slider
a plus grade, and he has a developing change up
like a lot of starters. They gave it a forty five,
but they also gave him above average control. That was
the only scouting report grades I could find on him.
But he's definitely one where I think it's that fifty
grade for a mid nineties fastball that explodes out of

(01:00:11):
the head, I'm gonna say is probably a little bit low.
So I think you're looking at two above average the
plus pitches in the fastball slider. We'll see how the
third pitch develops. But he also has the really good
command and control, so I think there's a lot to
like here from an arsenal standpoint. The biggest knock on
him is just the age to level. He really should
be pitching in High A at this point, but I

(01:00:31):
give him a little bit of a pass for that,
just based on the weird sort of progression as being
a older international signee out of the Dominican so that's
where he debuted, and then just getting caught up in
state side ball this year. So I'm not holding it
against him too much, but it's definitely something that you
want to see how he performs at a more age
appropriate High A there. When I wrote him up earlier

(01:00:53):
this week, I actually wrote his section on Tuesday. Article
came out Thursday. He was also promoted on Tuesday after
I wrote him up that didn't make it into the article.
I didn't realize it, but just something to keep in
mind there that he was just promoted and like I said,
you want to see the third pitch really take a
step forward to really solidify his role as a future starter.
But I think there's maybe some mid rotation upside there,

(01:01:15):
and the fact that his performance came old for the
level I think is really going to pull down his
value along with the season long strikeout rates. So I
think he's one that right now there's more value than
what he's being valued at just one percent roster. But
I think he's one that that could rise pretty quickly
if he performs well in High A. Right now, I
don't think you need to rush out and grab him.

(01:01:38):
I think he's a pick up in leagues of four
and fifty plus prospects. He wasn't ranked in our most
recent rankings, but I do feel like he's going to
make some rankings next time around. He'll probably might make
my rankings next time around if he gets off to
a nice start here at Hia's again another one. I'm
curious with what your thoughts are, Kyle, but I really
like Hetcheveria. I think he's one that I'm not, like
I said, I'm not rushing out to grab right now,
but I'm keeping an eye on and if that ross

(01:02:00):
rate starts to rise, I'll definitely grab some shares. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:02:03):
I really like everything I'm hearing from you about Hetchevaria.
The big red flag, as you noted, obviously is the
age too level context, but also, as you noted, you
can't knock him too much for it given the backstory
here of him having to defect from Cuba and sign
out of I believe you said the Dominican.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
Yeah, which is likely why he started out there. He
was a exactly signing in the Dominican Republic, so he
didn't get signed to last June either. This wasn't like
a j fifteen signing, so that it makes sense why
he started in the DSL because that's where he was
living and it was mid season.

Speaker 1 (01:02:35):
Yeah, So when you throw all that context into it,
it makes a lot more sense as to why he
is at the level that he is. Now that he's
in Hia, it's going to be really telling how he
performs there. It's a much more age appropriate level, and
by all accounts, this is an electric arm when I
watch video of him, though, as much as the mechanics

(01:02:55):
are smooth and he repeats them.

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
I'm surprised by how well he RepA beats them because
to me, it looks like a very high effort delivery.
But that's not the biggest issue. If he's going to
continue to fill up the strike zone at the rate
that he is. I believe it was a sixty seven
to sixty eight percent strike rate when I checked, so
that's definitely not a concern. The main thing I am
seeing from a statistical standpoint is that he's getting barreled

(01:03:21):
up more than you would like to see, and he's
getting just a thirty four percent ground ball rate here.
So all that being said, I do think the main
thing is that he just needs more reps under pro instruction.
This is a pretty raw and exciting arm for a
twenty two year old in the lower levels of the miners.
I don't think we should be viewing him as a

(01:03:41):
twenty two year old given how recently he started his
professional career and the story of how he got here.
So again, I think he could be a really fast
riser if he does well in High A to end
the year, and I think he probably takes the step
into Double A into the upper miners next year and
that is where we would really see his stock takeoff.
But I think this is a fantastic call out, Taylor.

Speaker 2 (01:04:04):
Yeah, I agree with what you said there about the
performance in double A really going to be significant in
his value. And to your point, I think this is
a guy who might be flying under the radar a
little bit this year. But every off season, as people
update their organizational lists, we see some of these under
the radar guys get bumped because people realize, oh, hey,

(01:04:24):
this guy's really good and didn't notice it last year.
I feel like Etchevrie is the kind of guy who,
if he closes out the year strong and hi A,
could get a bump over the off season as more
and more people go back and take a look at
him and realize just how good he actually is.

Speaker 1 (01:04:38):
Absolutely a again, great call out, someone that should be
moving up the ranks. But Taylor, I am going to
buck the trend of players one percent rostered. My player
here is five percent roster. But this is someone that
I think needs to move way up the ranks and
I'll get to exactly where I think he lands. But
I'm looking at Caden Scarborough, a twenty year old pitch

(01:05:00):
in single a in the Texas Rangers system, listed at
six foot five one point eighty five, but I'm pretty
confident he weighs significantly more than that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:09):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:10):
I'll get into that a little bit more shortly, but
he came in to our July update at five sixteen overall,
and I gotta give props to you, Taylor and to
Matt for being the only two to rank him in
that July update. I promise you though, he will be
rising significantly in that next update. I will be part
of the reason why, because I really like what I

(01:05:31):
see in Caden Scarborough. On the year, he has a
two point eight eight ERA, a zero point ninety two whip,
a thirty two point three percent k rate, and a
six and a half percent walk rate in seventy five innings.
He's been especially dominant since the end of June, where
he's got a zero point seventy nine ERA, zero point

(01:05:53):
six to one whip and thirty nine strikeouts to just
six walks over thirty four and one third since June
twenty ninth, so he's been absolutely dominant, and his most
recent outing this past Thursday the fourteenth, was one of
his most dominant showings of the year, he pitched five
shutout innings, seven strikeouts, and the lone base runner aloud

(01:06:16):
reached via the free pass a walk, so that is
five shutout, no hit innings for Caden Scarborough. This past Thursday,
he came into the year and really has spent most
of the year under the radar, in part because he
just didn't pitch a whole lot last year. But from
what I can tell, that wasn't due to injury. Instead,
it was by design, as the Rangers had him putting

(01:06:38):
in work behind the scenes and it has really paid
off with this breakout twenty twenty five campaign. Going all
the way back to twenty twenty three, when the Rangers
drafted him out of high school, he was relatively well
regarded thanks to his projectable frame. He had good release characteristics,
and he showed an ability to spin his spin his
breaking ball, but he just around ninety miles an hour

(01:07:01):
at the time, and even that was after a bump
of a couple ticks of velocity leading into the draft. Now,
while working behind the scenes with the Rangers, Scarborough has
put on significant mass, with some reports indicating that he
may have added as much as thirty pounds to his frame.
And with it his stump. His stuff has really jumped
as well. The fastball now sits mid nineties and can

(01:07:25):
reach the upper nineties with armside run. He scrapped his
curveball that he threw in high school for a more
favorable sweeper, still shows a really strong ability to spin
that pitch, and he's been working on a splitter that's
flashed at least average potential to be a solid third
offering as well. And on top of all of the stuff,
Scarborough has displayed a significant uptick in his ability to

(01:07:48):
throw strikes. While the official game action in twenty twenty
four was limited, he walked seventeen percent of batters and
threw just sixty percent of his pitches for strikes. So
far in twenty two twenty five, though, he has slashed
that walk rate to six and a half percent while
improving his overall strike throwing to an impressive sixty seven
and a half percent. Now, I will note still a

(01:08:11):
very young arm, and while the improved velocity, stuff and
control are very encouraging, it also means that there's some
increased injury risk in the profile. Anytime we have such
a young arm throwing this hard and in particular after
such a notable velocity bump. In addition to that, he
has given up seven home runs over his sixty five
innings this year, and that is a thirteen percent home

(01:08:35):
run per fly ball rate. But those aren't terrible numbers.
They're certainly higher than you would like to see. But
it's nitpicky. But that's really all that you can point
to from a statistical standpoint as far as reason to
hesitate with Scarborough. So all that to be said, I
really like everything that I am seeing from him. He's
got a quick arm stroke, he's got a repeatable delivery,

(01:08:57):
he's filling up the zone with improving stuff, and he
is getting plenty of swings and misses. At just five
percent rostered, He's going to be available in a lot
of leagues out there, and I highly recommend you go
grab as many shares as you can, because I think
he's worth an ad in leagues as shallow as two
hundred plus prospects rostered. Now, Taylor, as I was digging in,

(01:09:18):
you saw me grab up every remaining share in the
leagues that we share, and I did so in all
of my dynasty leagues, even the ones that you are
not in. So I think that everybody out there needs
to go grab as many Cayden Scarborough shares as they can.
I know you said you grabbed what few shares were left.
Tell me, though, what do you think about Caden Scarborough?

Speaker 2 (01:09:41):
Yeah? I think this is the Kyle effect here, but
it's worth noting. In my dozen or so Dynasty leagues,
he's pretty much rostered at every single one. I'm a
mix up for Highlander, which is a weird league there. Yeah,
I think you've moved the market on him, for sure.
I like him a lot. I don't think I like
him quite as much as you do. I think he's
a pretty intriguing arm. There's a lot to there. I'm

(01:10:02):
a little bit more worried about the lack of track record,
the long term injury risk. You can't really knock what
he's done. He's been particularly awesome since June twenty ninth.
It's a zero point seventy nine ERA since then, not
Whip era, a two point nine zero FIP, so he's
been getting a little bit lucky there. Zero point six
to one whip thirty one point two percent k rate,
just a four point eight percent walk rate. Again, this

(01:10:23):
is a really intriguing arm. There's a lot to like here.
I think this is an arm on the rise. Rangers
have been pretty good with their recent pitching development, particularly
with these pop up guys, so lots to like there.
I'm just not as gung ho on him as you are,
but I definitely think he's super interesting, And like you said,
I did grab him up until one of my leagues

(01:10:44):
he was left in and I'm happy to have a share.
But I don't know if that I could recommend him
as a pick up in leagues of two hundred plus prospects.
I think I'm more of like a three hundred plus
prospect evaluation on him. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10:56):
So regardless, still a player that is really quickly up
the ranks here. I don't blame you for being a
little bit more hesitant. I, as I noted, have been
getting really excited about him as I have dug In.
But I think that then raises the question, Taylor, how
would you rank these players that we recommended Today? We've
got Kyler Fedco, Dylan Lewis, Silvano, Hetcheveria, and Caden Scarborough.

Speaker 2 (01:11:21):
Yeah, so I think for the second straight week, I'm
gonna put your guys ahead of my guys and go.
Scarborough is the clear number one here. He's the most rostered.
He's a pretty exciting arm. I think he's the guy
that you have to prioritize getting if they're all available. Lewis,
I'm actually higher on him than I was coming into
this podcast. I think you really sold him well. I

(01:11:42):
increased my evaluation of him. I think he's really interesting.
Hetcheveria is interesting, like I said, but I think he's
just a tick below Lewis there and then Fedco is
last on this list. Is more of a name to
know at this point than a guy that you really
need to go out and grab unless you're in like
a super deep sickle mode league.

Speaker 1 (01:11:58):
Yeah, I am with you one hundred on those rankings,
and I think despite the fact that Lewis, Etcheveria, and
Fedco are all just one percent rostered, I do think
that this is a pretty clear ranking with Scarborough at
the top, Lewis too, Etcheveria three and Fedco four, and Taylor.
Real quick, before we get going, I do want to
add I just took a peek over at James Anderson's

(01:12:20):
rankings because I know that this is someone that both
you and I respect a lot in the Fantasy circle.
He has Scarborough ranked two fifty six right now in
his prospect update as of three weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (01:12:33):
Yeah, I are are you trying to say that that
two hundred is not Uh, I'm just trying.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
To sell you on him a little bit more. I
don't need you to get to where I am on him.
I'm just trying to push you beyond that three hundred
number that.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
I don't I don't think that moves the needle for me.
I respect James a lot, but yeah, I think three
hundred is not that far from two fifty. Two hundred
is not that far from two to fifty. I think
anywhere in there is reasonable to land on. I'm just
not quite there as far as you are, and apparently
as far as James as well.

Speaker 1 (01:13:06):
Yeah, completely understandable. There are reasons to hesitate. It's still
a very raw.

Speaker 2 (01:13:11):
Arm, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
That is everything we have for you guys today. Thank
you all for joining us. Make sure you tune in
next week and give us a follow while you are
at it. You can find me at Sonny Underscore one
eight on X and Sonny one O eight on Blue Sky,
and you can find Taylor at Dynasty Pickups on both
You can also get a hold of us with all
of your Dynasty Baseball questions at Dynasty Baseball Pickups at

(01:13:36):
gmail dot com.

Speaker 2 (01:13:37):
All of that.

Speaker 1 (01:13:37):
Contact info will also be posted in the show notes,
and as always, please consider subscribing to Prospects Live for
as little as five dollars to gain access to a
wealth of incredible tools and content, including more from Taylor
and myself at prospectslive dot com. If you enjoyed this podcast,
please give us a rate and review. We really appreciate

(01:13:58):
the support. Thank you all for listening, and we'll see
you next time.

Speaker 2 (01:14:05):
M hm hm

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Dynasty Baseball Pickups: Ep 107 - Tons of Promotions and Week 19 Pickups

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Dynasty Baseball Pickups: Ep 107 - Tons of Promotions and Week 19 Pickups