July 18, 2020 • 53 mins
Davis Mattek hosts DailyRoto Hour and is joined by Ricky Sanders as the guys dive into the KBO and talk about how things have changed since the last time they talked about the KBO. They take a look at how the KBO Futures market has changed as well. Where can we find value? Davis and Ricky also discuss some recent news around the MLB and how it impacts fantasy baseball and the MLB betting market.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
fingertips seven as our team covers the most important topics
in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
and more want the edge than get on the grid
sports grid dot Com. Hello everyone, and welcome to the
(00:20):
daily road to Hour here on sports grid TV. I
am David's Maddock joint today by Ricky Sanders Uh and
we we haven't talked about the KBO here on the
show for a couple of weeks where key the Korea
Baseball Organization, But the last time we did, we had
a pretty in depth conversation about the uh, the KBO
outright betting markets, you know, with kind of the way
(00:42):
that things had been different this year. We talked about
how the deuce on Bears bullpen had really been letting
them down. So what what shifts have we seen in
the KBO market that has made you, you know, more
interested in what's going on with them right now? There
have been massive, massive shifts since the last time we talked.
(01:02):
I believe the last time we talked, we were telling
people to take the l G twins as a value
and for me, that hasn't changed, But I honestly think
the n C Dinos are no longer the favorite here,
which is a crazy thing to say considering they still
lead the league. But the Key Wown Heroes, I think
have made such a massive shift that I think we
(01:22):
need to discuss all the things that are going right
with this Key Wown team. First of all, Keywun might
have two MLB prospects like legitimately, I didn't realize until
basically a few weeks ago that Jim who Lead their
outfielder who was arguably the best contact guy in the
entire league, who has started to develop some power this year.
(01:44):
He's twenty one years old, So I thought Has Young
Kim was probably the best pro prospect on this team,
and right now Has Jung Kim might be the best
all around player on the team. But because we're talking
about a twenty one year old kid at Jim who Lead,
I think this guy's got the best chance in the
in the entire league to to get interest from the
MLB because you can have him for so long. And look,
(02:07):
Lee leads the team with a one sixty two w
r C plast one wOBA. He has just been unbelievable.
So I mean, just starting off with just the two
guys in the lineup that are excellent before talking about
Young Hoo Park, who's you know, hit fifty homers in
this league. You're talking about a clear good offense here.
(02:27):
But how about this edition of Addison Russell. Um, I
don't think this could be understated. Of the the foreign
players in this league, I'm not sure any one of
them are better than Addison Russell right now. And I
know Roberto Ramos was a guy that hit thirty homers
in the altitude in the minor leagues of Colorado. But
(02:47):
Addison Russell's have proven MLB guy sort of like Dan
Strayley was at the you know, at the starting pitcher,
and really what happened with Addison Russell was off the
field issues. It was some domestic violence issues and that
got him kicked out of the league. But you know,
you put him in a middle infield in the k
B O and we've seen him, you know, have a
(03:08):
decent MLB season. I think he's just gonna be one
of the best hitters immediately, like literally one of the
best five hitters in this league. We've seen Tyler Saladino
have some success. Addison Russell is better than than Tyler Saladino. Um.
I mean, Addison Russell is just an unbelievable defensive players.
So he's gonna solidify an already great key wound defense.
(03:29):
I think there's just so much to say about you know,
this offense now, and really what's been the struggles of
ku Um all year long. Look, they've had one of
the best bullpens their second in bullpen e r A.
They have some just nasty guys towards the end of
the bullpen. But is the fact that they ranked seventh
and starter e r A. But like, the reason that
was the case is because one of their foreign players
(03:50):
was Jake Briggham, who is a former MLB pitcher. He's
been out for a few months with an issue, and
he came back and through a gem his first time back.
And so if Brigham's in this rotation, all of a sudden,
they don't have to plug holes anymore. We're talking about
you know, Sung Po lead Uh as one of the
starters that that they've been using to fill in a
guy with over a five fifth wantage. Choi is the
(04:12):
guy who has had success before, but it has been
brutal this year. Basically, now you have a Yokich Brigham
one too. Like, I think this team is the favorite
and they're only plus three twenty in the outright betting
on Vanduel. Right now, I think everything tells me that
this Key Womb Heroes team is by far the best
in the league. Now, yeah, if you want to, you know,
(04:33):
if you want to think about Addison Russell. So this
is kind of what the This is kind of how
good he was in Major league baseball career one fifty
isolated slugging uh, seventeen stolen bases over fifteen games, sixty
home runs over just a shade over plate appearances, eight
percent walk rate k rate uh, and you know, a
(04:57):
a reasonable you know, not not abovely gaverage, but reasonable
weighted on base average of three oh four. And then
we compare that to someone like Tyler Saladino, who was
first of all, never even uh you know, never even
a major like, not an everyday player right when he
played for the White Sox, Like he was like a
guy who would play every once in a while. He
(05:18):
played in three twenty six major league games. He had
a two sixties seven weighted on base average, a one
oh four isolated slugging and then twenty eight steals and
nineteen home runs over just over a shade over a
thousand plate appearances. So I I think you could say
Addison Russell is probably about twice as good as Tyler Saladino,
(05:39):
just based off of that sample, you know, thinking about
the type of guy that he is as a Major
League Baseball hitter, and he is coming over and still
might not even be the best hitter on the n
C Dinos roster. Like that's how good their lineup is.
That they have Hassan Kim and Jholey who are like
legit guys who might be you know whatever in the
Yankees organization, in the Boston Red Sox organization next year,
(06:03):
and all of that talent is on one team that
also has you know, decent pitching. Yeah, And I mean
I just want to talk with Asdon Russell. Like, think
about young Hope Park is a guy who hits fifty
homers in this league multiple times. He was a guy
who was under three hundred bull bug against both sides
of the plate in the MLB. So look at Addison
Russell is the guy who was over three hundred, Like
(06:25):
that's going to translate, And then we talked about Jake Brigham,
who I mentioned basically had just a tiny bit of
big league experience. He had twelve appearances with the Braves
and two thousand fifteen he had a fIF just over
four in those appearances. So it's not like he was bad.
I mean, he was a guy who was in Triple
A for quite a while with with different organizations. But
he's coming off a year last year three two three
(06:47):
five in the KBO under a three e r A
like barely gave up any homers at all point to eight,
and he just started the year. There was something not right.
He went to the injured list and he looked better
when he's come back. But like the overall sample of
him since two thousand eighteen over k rate in this
league under point six five homers per nine, these are
(07:08):
all very solid numbers. To nine eight wOBA allowed is
basically the same as Casey Kelly, who has been a
good pitcher in this league. That's a monster guy to
get back. So yeah, I don't think we can overstate
just how good this is. I think the bet to
make now is the Key Womb Heroes future plus three twenty.
I can't I just can't say it enough. I think
this is by far the best team and we've kind
(07:28):
of seen it this series with the Dinos. Is that
the Dinos have actually, uh, you know, especially in that
first game, looked a bit overmatched, which is which is crazy. Yeah, okay, so,
uh you know, historically speaking, the deuce On Bears have
been the best team in the KBO far and away
they are. They are the Yankees plus the Dodgers. You know,
really of the of the KBO historically. Is it you know,
(07:51):
why why is it that this is a down year
for them? Is it? Is it the bullpen? Are they
just are you know some of their star players getting older? Like?
What is what is the you know, the systemic issue?
Why the Bears are listed as six to one favorites
to win the KBO outright this season, Well, the bullpen
has not helped. Let's put it that way. I mean,
the bullpen started out brutal. It has been getting better.
(08:14):
And when I say better, they're up to a five
six five e r A, which is seventh in the league.
They were, you know, at the bottom for a while.
But the starting pitching has not been great for this
team either. Chris Flexen, who left the game last night
with injury, has been inconsistent, to say the least. He
had started to get it going. But like, look at
the fips in this starting rotation. Young Holly four eight one,
(08:38):
he Quan You who just cannot strike anyone out. The
dude has an eight point eight percent k rate this year,
which is almost the same as his walk rate four
eight three five, and Wan June Choi, who's who's thrown
thirty four innings four five fIF So you look at
you know this this starting rotation, and three of the
guys are bordering on like being sp five and you've
(09:00):
got to start three of them, you know, out of
five days. It's no wonder this team has struggled. If
this flex and injury is legit all of a sudden,
you're talking about a team that has role Alcantara, who
has been coming around. I mean Alcantara has been one
of the most dominant pitchers in the league. Over the
course of the last like three to four weeks. He's
up to a twenty two point one percent k rate,
which is higher than flex and he's a guy who
(09:20):
throws ninety seven miles an hour in a league where
you just don't see that. But to just have a
bad bullpen and an offense that struggles, you know, three
out of five days, or sorry, a starting rotation that
struggles three out of five days during the week. Their
offense is awesome, but it can't plug all those holes
in the pitching. They really do need to to figure
it out because there's just too many issues in the
(09:43):
pitching staff. Maybe if they had just a few poor starters,
or maybe if the bullpen just stunk, they could get
away with it. But with both those things happening, I'm
not sure they can. So. Outside of the key Womb heroes, which,
by the way, I agree with you, I'm gonna go
ahead and uh and get on this wager as well.
Do you see any value in LG Twins, in the
(10:04):
Kia Tigers, in the lot Giants, or in the Katie Whiz.
You know, it seems like the Lions, the Wyverns, and
the Eagles are just that, you know, they are the
relegation fodder of of the KBO this year. They are
just you know, really they are are not good enough
to be considered even really contenders for the playoffs at
this point. But I mean, there were there was a
time in the season there where the Kia Tigers and
(10:25):
the lot Giants were you know, they were hot names,
especially at the beginning. Yeah, I don't think the bottom
teams have much of a chance in the Eagles and Wyverns.
The Wyverns did just signed Tyler White if you remember him,
He's an all time favorite DFS guy of mine. He
was always like minimum priced on for the Astros, for
(10:46):
the Astros left hander who had the similar ISOs that
basically everyone else and was never owned. Um. But I
don't think that's that's enough there. So I think the
LG Twins I still have some faith in them, although
there have been some concerting signs. Casey Kelly and Tyler
Wilson have not been pitching as well as I thought
they would, and these don't appear to be top tier
(11:08):
starters right now. I mean we're talking about two guys
with under eight percent k rates. They've both been struggling
with Homer's. Both these guys in the same rotation exactly
a point nine home run per nine rate fips over four.
Those were expected to be the two aces on this team.
If they're not going to be the aces, I think
the LG twins are in trouble, especially because I did
(11:29):
a you know, a breakdown last night of Chap Young Jung,
who has been there, just a guy who kind of
came out of nowhere twenty three and a half percent
k rate this year. Um. But the reason that I
liked stacking against him in his last game was that
five of his games had come against the Wyvern's Eagles
and Lions this year, and the other two games he
(11:50):
had been crushed, And so he had been excellent against
the bottom literally the bottom three teams when you look
at the futures um. But then when he faced to
do so on Bears and the n C Dinos at
an eighteen percent k rate and e r A over
five compared to like a two e r A in
the other games. And once again the lot Giants unloaded
on him last night fifteen runs. So now you look
(12:12):
at your top three is a guy who's been fortunate
because of the matchups Kelly and Wilson. And while I
still think this is a deep rotation, it just doesn't
have a true number one, and Roberto Ramos has slowed down,
So I'm showing I feel trepidation in this LG Twins
team that I didn't feel earlier in the year when
I thought we were going to get true eight seasons
(12:33):
out of the out of the two Americans at the
top of the rotation. Yeah, I think those are some
very interesting insights on the KBO I would I would
definitely say just looking at at the roster, the Keybomb Heroes,
they got to be the bet because they are. It
just seems like they're better than the Dinos, and you know,
the way things would end up playing out, like, for example,
(12:53):
of the Dinos and the Hero's played each other, you'd
be getting a worse series price than this. But we
are going to go ahead and head into break here
on the daily Road to hour on sports Gride TV.
When we returned, we're going to take a look at
some of the MLB player news as we get startlingly
close to the start of the MLB season. See you
guys on the other side of break here in just
a moment, sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment
(13:18):
at your fingertips as our team covers the most important
topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than Get on
the Grid sports grid dot Com. Hello everyone, and welcome
back from break Here at the Daily Road to Hour
(13:39):
on Sports Grade TV. I am Davis Mannock, joined by
Ricky Sanders, as we continue to break down the wide
world of baseball today on on the show, we are
transitioning from KBO Chatter to Major League Baseball Talk because
we are starting to get loads of news rolling in.
We have guys who are opting out of the season,
Guys who are wearing matt asks on the field. You know,
(14:01):
I think I want to talk a little bit about
that later, just how I expect that to to impact
guys swings and stuff like that. But Ricky um our boy,
Michael Kopeck, he's opted out. He's he's saying he's taking
is a hundred four mile an hour fastball and he
is going home not playing for the Chicago White Sox
this year. How do we how do we feel? Yeah,
(14:21):
it's hard to blame him. The guys dealing with anxiety,
and obviously COVID is a time that's, you know, an
anxious time for even the people who probably don't typically
suffer from anxiety. But I mean, we are talking about
things from a betting and daily fantasy perspective, So I
think we would be hard pressed not to mention just
how much this crushes what I've liked about the White Sox.
(14:45):
I really liked the thought of Michael Kopeck stepping in
and being kind of the guy to solidify everything here
with the White Sox because you look at the rest
of the pitching staff, and I think Giolito has the
potential to be an ace. He is, he also has
the potential to come back down to earth just a
little bit from last year. I mean, it was a
(15:06):
ridiculous year. Let's let's call it what it was. I
think he's a very good pitcher, but it would have
been nice to have another elite prospect arm lurking here.
Beyond him. You've got Dallas Kiko, Rainaldo Lopez, Dylan size,
Geo Gonzalez, and presumably Carlos Rodon, who I think pitches
his way into this rotation just as long as he's healthy.
(15:29):
But I don't like at the end of this rotation
having to deal with one of you know, Rainaldo Lopez,
Dylan Size, Geo Gonzalez assuming health, and I don't think
you can assume full health in a sixty game season.
So all of a sudden, if one guy gets hurt,
you're looking at a rotation of like Giolito, Carlos, Rodon Dallas,
Kaiko being it and you take one of those guys out,
(15:52):
I just think there's there's too many holes to plug
now in that, you know, starting pitching rotation without the
prospects of Kopek. And that's before we even talk about
the fact that John Makada has COVID. So I mean,
talk about the guy that we we loved in the
middle of this lineup. Not that this lineup still doesn't
have potential um but looking at the projected you know,
opening day lineups. Now you're talking about a guy like
(16:14):
Danny Mendick, who I don't think a lot of people know.
And by the way, what a great last name in Mendick.
But that's not John Macada. I mean Chesla Cuthbert's a
guy who has shown the ability to hit against left
handed pitching a bit. But if there's no yawn Mankada,
all of a sudden, this deep lineup we were talking
about with you know, Luis Robert hitting eight, Uh, now
(16:34):
you've got no more Mazzara hitting seven and it's like
that resembles the Rangers from last year. I mean, Mazara
often hit further down the lineup, so you don't have
like this crazy outlier lineup. And I think that improves
the Indians prospects of plus two sixty if we lose
faith in the White Sox, that plus three ten to
win the division. Yeah, I mean, I I think that.
(16:55):
I think that the basically just the idea that we
thought the White Sox when we were doing our division previews,
we kind of thought they were one of these high
ceiling teams, right We thought there was a chance that, okay,
if you know, four or five things go right for them,
you know, all of a sudden, they could be one
of the best teams in the division. And now it
basically appears like, you know that that's just not gonna happen.
They're not They're not going to be one of these
(17:17):
teams that hits their ceiling right away, and it it
might take a year, you know, it might take a
couple of years, or it might not happen at all.
So you know, kind of like we we are we
are we're probably kind of just all in on the
on the Cleveland Indians now. Yeah, the one good thing
about the White Sox now that I will say is
you probably see a lot of Adam Angle and Luis
Robert in the outfield at the same time. So if
(17:40):
you're trying to help out pitchers who are iffy, I mean,
that is just an unbelievable set up defensively, but you're
losing out on too much offense without Joan mccon and
you're just losing out on too much without Kopek. And yeah,
because of all the stuff you're losing out on, you
gotta like the Indians now, I mean, I love the
futures now for guys like Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindo or
(18:02):
in the m v P race, because not only does
it take out you know, copec Um having to potentially
face him every fifth day, but it increases the odds
that the Indians could be a team that shocked everyone.
And you want players on good teams when betting the
m v P. And I think Lindoor and Ramirez are
(18:24):
guys who are you know, they're they're way back in
terms of uh, you know number like look uh for
the m v P in the American League Trout Judge
nine fifty, lind Or twelve to one, Jose Ramirez twenty
five to one. So you're getting really good numbers on
these guys hitting in the middle of a team that
should be quite good. You got basically a great one
(18:47):
through six in this lineup. Depending on on where you
you know slotted Domingo Santana Oscar Mercado, you could have
a very good one through seven, and you've got just
better pitching than the White Sox Bieber Clevinger, A Rasco,
Surveill Police Sack. I mean one through three, there might
not be a better, you know, rotation in the entire
(19:08):
American League. So I was gonna say, I was gonna
say the Reds and uh in the Nationals are, but yeah,
I the American League. I think you're right exactly. So,
I mean, we we've talked about the Twins potentially being
like a shaky team to to win the division. You're
getting two point six to one with the Indians in
a lead in a year excuse me, with sixty games
(19:31):
and two teams that are probably dead from the get go.
So I mean, do you think they have more than
a one in four chance to win this division? I
certainly do. Yeah, I mean, I think when you eliminate
you know, once you once you eliminate, um, the White
Sox from a team that you expect to contend at all.
I think that it I think that it becomes a
lot closer between, you know, between the Twins and the Indians.
(19:55):
And I think the Twins hitting one through nine is
better for r but the Cleveland startners are far better,
so you know, and and over sixty games, Ricky, I
don't think I have a real opinion yet on you know,
what's like what what would I rather have like three
stud pitchers or like six, you know, three thirty wool
(20:16):
bar better hitters, like I like, I don't know, I
don't I don't know what's better because I think the
sixty game stuff is so weird. Yeah, it's honestly impossible
to know just how ready the hitters are. I think
the advantage probably goes to the pictures with how what
limited time they have to get ready without knowing what
hitters have been doing at home. But it seems very
(20:36):
difficult to come in for like three weeks, see pitching
for the first time for the entire off season which
was extended, and then just be ready to hit major
league pitching. So I wonder if pitching numbers are up
this year and strikeouts are up in concurrence with that,
and it wouldn't shock me, just like talking about these
two teams and thinking it through, like would it shock
(20:57):
you if Carlos Carrasco has a better year than Jose Barria,
if if Carrasco is fully healthy, and you're talking about
the number three on Cleveland versus the clear number one
on the Twins. So that's really scary when you think
about it like that. To go ahead and take the
Twins is a massive, massive favorite. Well, no, the hingine
rio is the is the best picture on the Twins right, Uh,
(21:21):
he's on Toronto. Now if who am I thinking of?
They have they have said, all right it is probably yeah,
well that was that was bad at me? That was
bad at me? Yeah, Kenemata is there is there number
one starter? Yeah? He probably is? Uh in all reality,
I mean, I like Burrios, but I think he's best
suited as a number two on a very good team.
(21:44):
Potentially even a number three. I just don't think you're
gonna ever get Barrios as like the dominant, dominant ace.
He's twenty six years old. Now, I think he's a
very good pitcher in this league. I don't think he's
the next Matchers or anything like that. Yeah, and I mean,
so this is why this will give people, uh maybe
a clearer view of why we are so high on
(22:07):
on the Cleveland Indians. So this is the projected e
r a s for the five guys who are projected
to start for Minnesota. It's Barrios at four thirty six,
or Reesi at four thirty four, Mada at four nine,
and I mean Ricky. This team is theoretically supposed to
win you know, uh, you know, the division. But their
(22:30):
fourth and fifth starters are Homer Bailey and rich Hill.
Like that that I mean having to start Homer Bailey
at thirty four, rich Hill at the age of forty. Uh,
It's it's not a particularly great scene for for the
Minnesota Twins. No, not at all. I mean, can you
even trust that rich Hill will be there in the playoffs?
(22:51):
I mean, he's a forty year old arm who has
been a hurt for quite some time now. I just
don't know how you can expect his health for any
length of time. I guess you could argue that like
Devid Smeltzer or some of these guys who are the
longer leivers can step in if need be. But I
don't really think there's there's a lot to love here.
Matt Whistler has some you know, starting experience two out
(23:12):
of this bullpen, but you're talking about getting really thin
towards the end of a rotation, where I think, like
Aaron Surveile, the fourth starter on Cleveland, has legitimate, like
Starter three upside. He's not a guy who misses a
ton of bats, but he pounds the strike zone. I
think he could be a good picture. I really don't
know what the upside is for the guys like Homer
(23:33):
Bailey or Rich Hill. It's just really tough to gauge,
and I don't think it's the same as it would
be for Surveil. Yeah, and okay, so to give people
an idea, you know. Again, in the difference of projections
using zips on roster resource from fan Graphs, Shane Bieber
projected three sixty three, Clevinger projected three sixty seven. Carrasco
has projected three eight four. Obviously, there is a huge
(23:56):
delta in his ceiling and his floor projection because he
has been so good in his career, and he has
also been really bad in his career. And then as
far as Savali goes, you know, what do you what
do you really want to do? He's only pitched uh
in ten games fifty seven innings at Major League Baseball.
When he was in the minor leagues, he was basically
one of the best pitchers in Triple A overall. And
(24:19):
he's only twenty five years old. So it's actually kind
of weird, you know, thinking about football, like twenty five
is old, but in baseball, five is young. Obviously a
lot of us are starting to think now about about
football more and more. But that is one of the
things I find really interesting. And then that's also you know,
they have a little bit of upside with Police Act,
not as much as with Sibali. He's also twenty five,
(24:41):
but Police Act was not quite as good for as
long in Major League Baseball. But I mean, maybe they
have Ricky, maybe they have five guys who beat a
four run e r A, which would be incredible. Yeah,
and by the way, people hate like the old guys
in fantasy. Not only has Corey Kluber looked good so far,
are but let's talk Carlos Carrasco for a second. I
(25:03):
mean he was quote unquote bad last year. In twenty
three appearances, he his x FIT was basically in line
with his career. He had a three and a half
x FIT, which for an American League picked picture is excellent,
compared to three two three for his career. He struggled
with the home run ball otherwise, I mean, I don't
really see a whole lot. The babbit was way up,
(25:24):
but he had the same k rate as his as
had been accustomed the last two years. Over for the
third straight year, he had under a five percent walk rate,
which was his lowest and it was the homers that
killed him. Two point out two home run per nine
rate was his high since his rookie year, and he
had a three fifty four BABI despite the fact that
the left on base rate was the same as usual.
(25:47):
Like I think Carrasco was just unlucky last year. It
would not surprise me at all if he bounces back
and he has a sub four e R a season
like is predicted and honestly competes for the strikeout lead
in the American League. I love Carlos Spirascos. The bounced
back candidate. Yeah, I'm in on that as well. So, guys,
we are gonna go ahead and head into break here
(26:09):
real quick on the Daily Road to Hour on sports
Grid TV. When we return, we are going to go
ahead and take a look at some of the news
and notes around Major League Baseball right now, getting everyone
ready for the return from COVID nineteen and seeing baseball
inside the the theoretical bubble. So we will see you
guys on the other side of break in just a
few moments. Sports grid dot Com Betting insides and entertainment
(26:35):
at your fingertips as our team covers the most important
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expert picks, and more. Want the edge than Get on
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(27:02):
Get on the Grade. Hello everyone, and welcome back to
the Daily Road to Hour here on Sports Grade TV.
I'm Davis Mannock, joined by Ricky Sanders. Transferring now to
some MLB player news, yasal Pueeg has signed with the
(27:25):
Atlanta Braves, a pretty interesting signing, Ricky. You know, I
gotta say, lifelong Puig believer, I I'm I'm on board
with this one. Super interesting that uh you know, they
kind of had a crowded outfield. But to me, I
guess maybe this means they don't want to play Markekas.
I guess this year Markiss opted out. So I mean
(27:45):
that's rave, That's why. Yeah, this brave team is losing
guys by the minute. Freddie Freeman obviously dealing with the
virus you've got. Uh Now, Yasio Pleague kind of taking
that fourth outfielder role um from Nick mar Caicus. And
now all of a sudden you look at a team
Marcelo Zuna Ender and c RT. I guess you could
(28:06):
d H Austin Riley and obviously Ronald Acuna Jr. Are
the guys in the outfield. Like I think Yasil Pleek
is gonna play. I mean, how do you how do
you not play him? Some? Uh if you add him
to this mix. I know he has had his struggles
against left handers, still gives you a power bat against
right handed pitching. And what Yasiel Peak definitely gives you
(28:26):
is a strong outfield arm, which which you love to
see as a pitcher. I mean we kind of already
talked about like the White Sox Defensively, you look at
this rotation, even the top guy pitches to contact more
than he would like to see in Mike Saroka, Max
Freed can miss some bats. I think everyone else is
a bit of a wild card. So what better way
to kind of try and cover that up than to
(28:48):
put someone like a Yasil Peak who can throw guys
out from the outfield. Um. I think he's a meaningful addition,
but I don't think he's going to change the loss
of Freddie Freeman or anything like that. Basically, this team
is gonna go as Freddie Freeman goes, and if they
don't have Freeman, they're gonna be in a lot of trouble. Yeah,
(29:09):
I completely agree. Without Freddy Freeman, this team takes a
pretty big hit. But I mean, let's give yas puigas
do uh. He has played in over eight hundred and
fifty Major League Baseball games over thirty three plate appearances.
He has an isolated slugging of one awaited on bass
average for his career of three fifty two UM The
Bat the Bat has him this year for a two
(29:31):
seventeen ISO and a three forty one waited on bass average.
In terms of free agent signings, Like guys, you're literally
picking up two weeks before the season starts. It like
it does not get better than this. This is like
this is like the Brewers signing Mustakas for one year
five million dollars last year. Just one of those signings
that makes me look at like the economics of baseball
are messed up if this guy is not on a team. Well,
(29:55):
funny enough that we started with KBO because the rumors
were KBO teams were showing in in Yasiel League, which
I found hard to believe that, like MLB teams are
gonna pass on this guy. I know he's not a
perfect player, but I thought he was more deserving of
being like a role player or sorry, you know, a
star player in the KBO as opposed to a role
player in the NB MLB. So I'm happy he found
(30:17):
a team. I would have, for selfish reasons, love to
have seen him be the guy to join like the
s K Wiver's instead and just see how many homers
see if he get hit exactly like Eric tames Is,
a guy who was consistently crushing fifty plus. Would have
loved to see Yasi Week do the same thing. But again,
I feel like he belonged on a major league roster. Yeah,
(30:38):
I mean, I I definitely, I definitely agree that he
belonged on a major league baseball roster. So, uh. Some
of the other some of the other news that we
are getting is Charlie Blackman has been placed on the
disabled list right now. Now. It's not clear if he's
on there with an actual injury, if he's on there
because of COVID nineteen, or if he's already recovered from
(31:01):
his bout with with the coronavirus and it's on there
for procedural you know, reasons or whatever. But in terms
of fantasy baseball purposes, if Blackman was to miss you know,
let's say a month of the season or whatever, and
they're playing those games and corps, uh, that's going to
be like a massive, massive impact on fantasy baseball for sure. Yeah.
Charlie Blackman just one of the best all around players
(31:23):
in fantasy baseball especially. We can play half his games
in the corps field, and I mean, you look, you
love to look at the splits, right for guys playing
at home and playing away in course field. And Charlie
Blackman was always a guy in daily fantasy who would
get ownership at home against right handed pitching, and Charlie
is just one of those guys who's a good hit
(31:43):
or at both sides of the plate. Career three fifty
nine wolbo one on nine w r C plus against
left handed pitching almost one seventies six. So I never
thought he got enough credit for first being as good
as he did considering home against right handed pitching for
his career four two wOBA home against lefties four seventeen wOBA.
(32:03):
You look at the career on the road number just
a three oh one wOBA against lefties on the road,
So it wasn't great on the road, as we know
is the case for a lot of these Colorado hitters.
But Charlie Blackmoot was a guy that you should be
starting regardless of who he's facing at home. Was a
guy who's won me personally some tournaments, you know, against
left handed pitchers. I think Drew Pomerantz was one of
(32:25):
the games that that I wouldcall Charlie Blackman hitting multiple homers,
But without him, I guess it's a combination of Matt
Kemp and Rymel Tapia. I think Matt Kemp should get
the nod against left handed pitching against right handed pitching.
It'll be interesting to see what they do whether they
go with the twenty six year old Tapia, who I'm
(32:46):
not sure there's much potential, or they see what's left
in the tank with with Matt Kemp and just try
and win games. I think mac Kemp should probably play
three out of four days, but he was a non
roster invite, so there's still some risks to draw a thing.
Matt Camp. I think Sam Hilliard, you know, moves up
this lineup. That's the guy who, like we we feel,
probably plays every day now and should be drafted in
(33:08):
all fantasy leagues. Now. Such a shame that that Tapia
is not any good because he looks so perfect in
the Rockies uniform. He's got the cool dreadlocks, he has
a really cool swing. He's like a really good defensive
player just kind of, you know, just kind of carries
himself with some swagger out there, and uh, it's it's
just a shame that he is not a particularly good
(33:29):
baseball player, because he would be. He would be a
fantastic Rocky um if he was. Okay, moving on some
other news, seems like Jose Peraza is one out the
everyday second base job over uh Michael Chavis at at
second base for the Red Sox. So which is you know,
I think a little bit of a surprise because correct
me if I'm wrong, Ricky. But Michael Michael Schabis was
(33:52):
supposed to be like, you know, this amazing prospect for
the Red Sox. Like he was supposed to come up
and be a guy who was ready to be like
a three forty wold but guy like kind of right away,
and he was for a while. I mean, he set
the world on fire for quite a bit of time.
Eighteen homers in games last year, Like that's not bad,
(34:14):
especially for a year old. No, I'm really shocked to
see this news. I like Jose Perazzo. I think he's
more of a utility guy in all, you know, if
in an ideal world, but you look at Javis. He
did fall apart in the second half last year. In
the first half of three thirty seven wolbo one oh
(34:35):
five w r C plus after the break, I mean,
he was striking out a ton in the first half.
It went up even a little bit. He struck out
of the thirty three percent rate both halfs of the season,
but thirty three point three, so exactly a third of
his plate appearances after the All Star break with a
two seventy five WOLDBO sixty four w r C plus.
So I thought he would get another shot, being that
(34:57):
it was his first year. But I guess not. I
guess they're going with the speedy Jose Peraza. They probably,
you know, want to replace Mookie Bets towards the top
of the lineup. Want to give him a shot to
you know, steal some bases there. I don't know. I
think this should be a case where you you platoon
the two and you give them both a shot. I mean,
they're both right handed hitters, so you don't really have
(35:18):
the opportunity to go lefty righty. But I am with you,
I'm kind of shocked that a four almost twenty five
year old Chaves doesn't get a second go around after
you know, that first half, and just consider that second half,
you know, him adjusting. I don't know, I thought he
was worthy of of starting at least, you know, the
first ten games or so, and see and see what happens. Yeah,
(35:40):
I mean to me, it just it seems like a
weird decision from an organization that is like big on
analytics and you know, making the like basically making the
correct decision to you know, figure out you know, art,
like what it's going to benefit us most over the
most over the long term. And uh like like what
(36:01):
what is what is Jose Parraza gonna do for for
Boston this year? Because they're not gonna win the division,
They're not even closed to the World Series favorites. Like
Praza is a good guy to be a good bench
bat for a World Series team, but you're you're much
more likely to increase the ceiling of your team long
term if Chavis ends up being really good. Yeah, And
(36:22):
like looking at the defensive metrics from Jose Perazza, who
is very fast, I mean he's been a below average
fielder for some years now, so I really don't understand
it when you take that into consideration that below average
are below average in defensive runs saved. He's not like
not like he's uh Omar Viscaler or whatever out there,
(36:43):
you know what I mean exactly, So like if that
were the case, that would make sense, but that just
adds more context to the fact that like, at best,
this should be a split. Yeah, Okay. Uh some other
news that we have for the Texas Rangers. Isaiah Keener
Philippa is going to be the starting third base and
then every single day for the Texas Rangers, which is
(37:06):
I guess because that means Todd Fraser is too old
to play third base and they're gonna play him at
first base now. But uh, Ricky, I'm a long term
Gregory Bird truther, and uh, I was kind of looking
forward to seeing him get some everyday played appearances against
right handed pitching for Texas, which is a seance, a
little bit of a it's a little bit of a
bummer for me personally. Yeah, And what a strange third
(37:30):
baseman Isaiah kinder Felifa is. I would double check your
league to see if he qualifies a catcher, shouldn't, I
think exactly, because if you're getting a guy who plays
every day who can give you that that's where he
matters in fantasy. He doesn't really matter in reality all
that much. To be honest, He's hitting at the bottom
of a very iffy line up. There are some hitters
(37:51):
I like in this lineup, by the way, obviously, Joey
gallow I think Nick so Lock is a guy in
deeper leagues you want to give a look to. He's
a guy who just puts the ball and play at time.
But it left a singles hitter. Um. I mean, good
luck Rangers with with that guy as you're starting third basement.
He's he's a backup catcher in an ideal world. And
this is not a great team. Let's put it that way. No, no,
(38:13):
it no, it definitely is not. Uh we uh we
still do like I think Trout's gonna sit out. I
will I want to officially put this take out there.
I think I think Mike Trout is not going to
play this year. I want that to be officially on
the record. I think that's a legitimate possibility. And I
mean you talk about super prospects that you want to
(38:34):
be drafting, Uh, there is a super prospect who is
going there, They're not Joe Adele is not playing this
yere either, I don't think so. I think that gives
him a legit opportunity. There's no Trout. Well, I guess,
and we can talk about this when we come back
from break about service time stuff. But obviously you know,
if Michael Trout is not playing, the Angels are not
They might not even win twenty five games if if
(38:56):
Trout doesn't play, so there is there's absolutely no reason
and for them to start the service clock for Joe Adele,
who's like a super mega prospect who might end up
being like a franchise direction changing players, So there's no
reason for them to start the service time frame. But
we can actually have that discussion with some more player
news stuff when we get back in just a few moments.
(39:16):
Here on the Daily Road to Hour sports grid dot com,
Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
(39:38):
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than get on the grid sports grid dot Com.
Hello everyone, and welcome back from break. Here at the
Daily Road to Hour on sports Grid TV. I am
Davis Mattock joint today by Ricky Sanders. We are going
(40:00):
around the world of baseball because we started with the
KBO chatted some key womb heroes futures, and now we're
moving back over to Major League Baseball as we are
getting exceedingly close to the restart of the I guess
not restart. They had a little bit, a little bit
of spring training. Now we're moving into full on baseball returning,
(40:21):
and uh, you know, so I think, Ricky, we need
to start with a conversation about service time. I think
that basically it seems like it's gonna be much harder
for these teams to manipulate service time this year because
one day of Major League Baseball is going to count
three x what it would have been in a regular season.
(40:41):
So one day, uh, you know, being on the forty
man roster or being up on the twenty five man
major League Baseball roster is going to count for three
days of service time. So I think teams are basically
gonna either go, you're coming up and you're staying with
the team, and we are we are converting you, we
are starting your clock, or that's it, you're staying down.
Like I don't think there's gonna be an up and
(41:03):
down purpose of of manipulation is basically kind of what
I think. So I think Nate Pierson is where we
should start with this conversation, because I was reading an
article in Forbes that basically, if they hold him back
seven days, they get an additional year on on Nate Pierson.
(41:24):
So that how is this system? I mean, it's it's
one of the worst things about sports. It really is.
It's pathetic that, you know, these guys can't just they
can't just figure it out where if they start the
season on the roster, you just get you know, you
can figure out a contract dispute where both sides are winners.
(41:45):
The fact that the fans have to suffer through a
leak of not seeing the best talent is frustrating. And
this year, you know, seven out of sixty games is
a significant chunk of the season. Yeah, no, I I
mean that is that's that's massive. It's a little bit
less obviously with a pitching prospect, because you can set
them up that like, you know, maybe they pitch one,
they pitch like four innings one day on three innings rest,
(42:08):
and then you're pretty much you're you're pretty much caught up.
There is uh, you know, there's the the other side
of this coin is teams that are bad, like we
are not going to see Casey Mays, We're not going
to see Matt Manning this year. And you know, as
someone who like loves baseball, loves like loves the prospects,
like it just were We're not going to get to
see those guys this year. And uh I I kind
(42:29):
of like, I wonder if this was this was the
MLB p A winning right, Like this was actually probably
something they put in the bargaining to, you know, get
guys their their full payment. But what's actually gonna happen
is the good, the good minor leaguers on bad teams
are just not going to get to play this year
like they like at all. Yeah, that's the problem is
(42:53):
we've already seen some of these major leaguers hold sandlot
style games. We've already heard of two of such a
parted games where like MLB players have gone out on
their own and played against one one another. Like I
think that's what these minor leaguers are gonna end up
doing because they're sitting out an entire year. Uh. And
if they're not you know, getting better during this, this
(43:15):
actually could cost them multiple years. Because what if Casey
my sits on his couch for the remainder of the
year doing the bow flex, uh, and he comes back
next year and there's not quite as much break on
his curveball, he doesn't have the command of the curveball,
all of a sudden, he's got to spend half a
season figuring his mechanics back out, figuring everything back out.
It's just not fair. So the fact that there's no
(43:37):
you know, minor league season and some of these guys
are gonna get paid, that aspect is great, but you know,
the real pay day is the major league pay day.
And if these guys can't show their talents and they
gotta you know, hone back in when the MLB players
already had sixty games of being honed in this summer,
they're playing from behind while they're already playing from behind
because they're younger. I mean, I just I don't even
(43:59):
know if they is any way to quantify how disastrous
this year is going to be. Four top prospects, right
because they are likely not going to get a face
a ton of live pitching. I mean, sure, you know,
maybe Alec Bomb and Spencer Howard. You know, they get
to go. They're gonna they're gonna be in the gym
every day. You know, those guys are gonna be what
probably hitting like slow pitch stuff or maybe hitting out
(44:22):
of a machine, but they're not gonna get to go
see you know, changeups, right, They're not gonna get to
go see twelve six curveballs, like they just are are
not going to get those reps that like basically we
know for baseball, it's the highest rep sport. It's why
guys take longer to develop. It's why you know, it's
incredibly rare to see like nineteen twenty year olds playing
in Major League Baseball because it's all about learning to
(44:44):
recognize and develop muscle memory with the reps, and these
guys are literally might go a year without getting a
real live rep. Yeah, I mean dynasty leagues this year,
if you're doing like similar payoffs to normal, this is
the year to trade your prospects. I think if we're
talking about like far away prospects, uh, if you see
yourself at the beginning of the year being competitive, I
(45:06):
would trade these like nineteen year oldsh we're gonna you
lose a year. I mean, if you thought your nineteen
year old was expected to be up in it might
be now, which is crazy to say, but you but
losing a year of not you know, for hitters, part
of the game is being able to recognize the pitch
out of a hand. So the more hand motions you
(45:28):
see from the pitcher, the more curveballs to see, the
more everything. Like you mentioned, you developed not only that
muscle memory, but the ability to act quickly and recognize
pitches quickly. And if you're sitting on the couch doing
other things or just not seeing baseballs thrown from major
league pitchers and instead from pitching machines where the spin
is so so much more obvious, you lose that and
(45:48):
you gotta gain it back. And I mean these edge
minor or sorry, major leaguers who's got like a a
loose grip on their job. The grip's gonna get a
lot tighter when you see that. These guys who haven't
been there for a while have to figure it out.
I mean it's just like you mentioned that you can't
quantify the damage. Yeah, and you know, there are guys
(46:10):
who probably could help their major league teams right now,
but because of the way that the service time was ruled,
Like Joe Adele, the guy we were just talking about
before we haded a break, I is there any doubt
that he would be the third best outfielder for Los
Angeles right now? Like Like why? Like what? What? Really?
Like he could maybe even d H for them on
(46:32):
some days. But basically the fact that that team is
not that good right there, They're just like, they're just okay,
and they're probably not gonna win the World Series, and
they would rather have Joe Adele's service time for next
year as opposed to starting his clock and gambling this year.
And the crappy thing about this service time thing is
(46:52):
now is that you see the expected dates. Joe Adele
is the number one prospect in the entire organization overall,
Number four or Brandon Marsh likely comes up ahead of
him now because they're less worried about his service time.
He's the number two prospect in the organization. He's an outfielder.
But it's clear that Joe Adele should get the call
before him if it was based purely on merit. But
(47:15):
because money is involved, I think Marsh might be the
guy sooner in a Major league line up, especially if
there's no trout, And that just sucks. You hate to see,
you know, a guy who's actually worse getting the call
just because of money. I mean that that sucks. Now.
On the other hand, you know there are some guys
(47:35):
who are gonna win as a result of this. Gavin
lux and Dustin May, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I mean Lux is probably gonna I mean they're first
of all, Lux and May are both going to start
on the major league roster, like they're already in camp
and everything. But Lux might be like kind of like
an everyday player for the Dodgers, or at least a
April tun player for them. These guys are going to
(47:56):
get to hit free agency maybe two years early, right
because because of how inflated this is. Like if you
are if you are a rookie for there, or not
a rookie, but you know, still on that that rookie
draft contract and your clock gets started and you're you're
on the roster for a whole year, and those days
get multiplied by three, like this might be like a
total windfall for Davin Lux and Dustin May. Yeah, and
(48:20):
I mean looking at the service time on these guys,
Gavin Lux still has three minor league options. But it's
funny because this year you're just not that worried about it.
You know, normally you'd be like, ah, they called this
guy up. It's probably Influx whether he's going to continue
because they can just send him back down. But where
are they going to send him down to there? Again,
I hate to keep using the couch reference, but they're
(48:41):
sending him home to watch Netflix if he's not on
that major league roster. So you might as well, when
you're a team that's the favorite from the National League,
keep developing this prospect at the bottom of your lineup.
You can literally hit him ninth. Uh. He's a big winner.
Like you mentioned, May is a big winner, and I
think May is probably the likeliest candidate to step into
(49:02):
this rotation if and when there's an injury. I think
Luis Robert, although he already signed a contract so it's
a little bit different. I mean, these guys who are
gonna get to play in the major leagues this year,
as opposed to those prospects who are gonna have to
sit out, have such a crazy advantage on prospect lists.
I think you need to move anyone who's gonna get
a bath this year up ahead of guys who are
(49:23):
just not massive. Yeah, I I agree. A couple of
the other interesting guys, Brendan McKay for the raise. Now,
they don't necessarily need Brendan McKay, but they might at
some point during the year. You know if they have
if they have two pitching injuries and like a first
base injury or something like that, that they would be
they would like McKay is such a useful guy because
he can hit and he can pitch. I would imagine
(49:45):
that they would just want to have him on the
forty man roster or I actually think it's been expanded
all the way to sixty man. Like I would just
imagine that they would want him to be with the
team from day one because they can kill two birds
with one stone for his roster spot. And the Rays
are famously, you know, one of the cheapest organizations in uh,
you know, really all of professional sports, not just professional baseball.
(50:06):
But I think that because of the unique circumstances of
the situation, it might end up being a pretty big
win for Brennan McKay. Exactly. There's just multiple ways they
can use him. They need him to figure out his
control to be able to use him in that starting rotation,
but they can also hit him in the lineup. Although
they do have a bunch of lefties and you know
they are cheap, but they did dish out for Yoshihiro
(50:28):
Satsugo this year, uh two years twelve million, so not
exactly like massive in terms of a major league contract,
but they did give him something. Um. But yeah, like
you mentioned, they're balling on a budget, and when you're
bawling on a budget, you love those guys that can
just do everything. And you you look at the lineup
against right handed pitching. They've got Tsuga who probably you know,
(50:52):
slid in there at d h and Hi Monchoy at
first base. But you can you can find opportunities for
bats for him. Uh, if you sit one of those
guys who played Setsugo, you know, potentially in the outfield.
There's ways you could you could go about getting k
enough at bats excuse me, McKay enough at bats to
to warrant him being with the team. Yeah, I think
(51:14):
that's probably true. One last guy who is probably going
to get a little bit of a little bit of
value here, Kyle Wright is probably gonna make the Atlanta
Braves opening day roster, initially as a long reliever, but
he is there kind of their best pitching prospect and
a guy with uh by the way, a mean sinker
in MLB The Show twenty, I think that uh, I
(51:35):
think he ends up being another winner of this and
and gets to uh, you know, gets to free agency
a year earlier. He might end up being the third
starter by the time the years all over. If Mike
Fulton Levite still can't figure out the velocity of Sean
Newcam is Shaan Newcam or Kyle Wright could end up
being a big part of this Braves team. And those
of you in deep leagues American League only circle this
(51:58):
guy's name because I think he could be meaningful. Yeah,
I definitely think that. So I think, you know, just
a lot of interesting stuff to think as it relates
to prospects. You know, one of the things we talk
about in the futures market is guys who are gonna get,
you know, some value from the process, like, you know,
teams that are going to get value from prospects coming up.
And we're not really going to have that this year,
(52:19):
which is one of the things that we talked about
in the second segment with the Chicago White Sox. So
I am I'm just very interested to see the way
that all of this plays out for Major League Baseball
teams in one when they're dealing with all of this
arrested development. But everyone, thank you very much for listening.
And watching the daily road to Hour here on sports
(52:39):
grade TV. When we return tomorrow, we will have even
more sports and sports betting content for all of you guys.
Sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your
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in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks,
(53:00):
and more want the edge than get on the grid.
Sports grid dot Com h
Sports grid dot Com Betting insights and entertainment at your
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and more want the edge than get on the grid
sports grid dot Com. Hello everyone, and welcome to the
(00:20):
daily road to Hour here on sports grid TV. I
am David's Maddock joint today by Ricky Sanders Uh and
we we haven't talked about the KBO here on the
show for a couple of weeks where key the Korea
Baseball Organization, But the last time we did, we had
a pretty in depth conversation about the uh, the KBO
outright betting markets, you know, with kind of the way
(00:42):
that things had been different this year. We talked about
how the deuce on Bears bullpen had really been letting
them down. So what what shifts have we seen in
the KBO market that has made you, you know, more
interested in what's going on with them right now? There
have been massive, massive shifts since the last time we talked.
(01:02):
I believe the last time we talked, we were telling
people to take the l G twins as a value
and for me, that hasn't changed, But I honestly think
the n C Dinos are no longer the favorite here,
which is a crazy thing to say considering they still
lead the league. But the Key Wown Heroes, I think
have made such a massive shift that I think we
(01:22):
need to discuss all the things that are going right
with this Key Wown team. First of all, Keywun might
have two MLB prospects like legitimately, I didn't realize until
basically a few weeks ago that Jim who Lead their
outfielder who was arguably the best contact guy in the
entire league, who has started to develop some power this year.
(01:44):
He's twenty one years old, So I thought Has Young
Kim was probably the best pro prospect on this team,
and right now Has Jung Kim might be the best
all around player on the team. But because we're talking
about a twenty one year old kid at Jim who Lead,
I think this guy's got the best chance in the
in the entire league to to get interest from the
MLB because you can have him for so long. And look,
(02:07):
Lee leads the team with a one sixty two w
r C plast one wOBA. He has just been unbelievable.
So I mean, just starting off with just the two
guys in the lineup that are excellent before talking about
Young Hoo Park, who's you know, hit fifty homers in
this league. You're talking about a clear good offense here.
(02:27):
But how about this edition of Addison Russell. Um, I
don't think this could be understated. Of the the foreign
players in this league, I'm not sure any one of
them are better than Addison Russell right now. And I
know Roberto Ramos was a guy that hit thirty homers
in the altitude in the minor leagues of Colorado. But
(02:47):
Addison Russell's have proven MLB guy sort of like Dan
Strayley was at the you know, at the starting pitcher,
and really what happened with Addison Russell was off the
field issues. It was some domestic violence issues and that
got him kicked out of the league. But you know,
you put him in a middle infield in the k
B O and we've seen him, you know, have a
(03:08):
decent MLB season. I think he's just gonna be one
of the best hitters immediately, like literally one of the
best five hitters in this league. We've seen Tyler Saladino
have some success. Addison Russell is better than than Tyler Saladino. Um.
I mean, Addison Russell is just an unbelievable defensive players.
So he's gonna solidify an already great key wound defense.
(03:29):
I think there's just so much to say about you know,
this offense now, and really what's been the struggles of
ku Um all year long. Look, they've had one of
the best bullpens their second in bullpen e r A.
They have some just nasty guys towards the end of
the bullpen. But is the fact that they ranked seventh
and starter e r A. But like, the reason that
was the case is because one of their foreign players
(03:50):
was Jake Briggham, who is a former MLB pitcher. He's
been out for a few months with an issue, and
he came back and through a gem his first time back.
And so if Brigham's in this rotation, all of a sudden,
they don't have to plug holes anymore. We're talking about
you know, Sung Po lead Uh as one of the
starters that that they've been using to fill in a
guy with over a five fifth wantage. Choi is the
(04:12):
guy who has had success before, but it has been
brutal this year. Basically, now you have a Yokich Brigham
one too. Like, I think this team is the favorite
and they're only plus three twenty in the outright betting
on Vanduel. Right now, I think everything tells me that
this Key Womb Heroes team is by far the best
in the league. Now, yeah, if you want to, you know,
(04:33):
if you want to think about Addison Russell. So this
is kind of what the This is kind of how
good he was in Major league baseball career one fifty
isolated slugging uh, seventeen stolen bases over fifteen games, sixty
home runs over just a shade over plate appearances, eight
percent walk rate k rate uh, and you know, a
(04:57):
a reasonable you know, not not abovely gaverage, but reasonable
weighted on base average of three oh four. And then
we compare that to someone like Tyler Saladino, who was
first of all, never even uh you know, never even
a major like, not an everyday player right when he
played for the White Sox, Like he was like a
guy who would play every once in a while. He
(05:18):
played in three twenty six major league games. He had
a two sixties seven weighted on base average, a one
oh four isolated slugging and then twenty eight steals and
nineteen home runs over just over a shade over a
thousand plate appearances. So I I think you could say
Addison Russell is probably about twice as good as Tyler Saladino,
(05:39):
just based off of that sample, you know, thinking about
the type of guy that he is as a Major
League Baseball hitter, and he is coming over and still
might not even be the best hitter on the n
C Dinos roster. Like that's how good their lineup is.
That they have Hassan Kim and Jholey who are like
legit guys who might be you know whatever in the
Yankees organization, in the Boston Red Sox organization next year,
(06:03):
and all of that talent is on one team that
also has you know, decent pitching. Yeah, And I mean
I just want to talk with Asdon Russell. Like, think
about young Hope Park is a guy who hits fifty
homers in this league multiple times. He was a guy
who was under three hundred bull bug against both sides
of the plate in the MLB. So look at Addison
Russell is the guy who was over three hundred, Like
(06:25):
that's going to translate, And then we talked about Jake Brigham,
who I mentioned basically had just a tiny bit of
big league experience. He had twelve appearances with the Braves
and two thousand fifteen he had a fIF just over
four in those appearances. So it's not like he was bad.
I mean, he was a guy who was in Triple
A for quite a while with with different organizations. But
he's coming off a year last year three two three
(06:47):
five in the KBO under a three e r A
like barely gave up any homers at all point to eight,
and he just started the year. There was something not right.
He went to the injured list and he looked better
when he's come back. But like the overall sample of
him since two thousand eighteen over k rate in this
league under point six five homers per nine, these are
(07:08):
all very solid numbers. To nine eight wOBA allowed is
basically the same as Casey Kelly, who has been a
good pitcher in this league. That's a monster guy to
get back. So yeah, I don't think we can overstate
just how good this is. I think the bet to
make now is the Key Womb Heroes future plus three twenty.
I can't I just can't say it enough. I think
this is by far the best team and we've kind
(07:28):
of seen it this series with the Dinos. Is that
the Dinos have actually, uh, you know, especially in that
first game, looked a bit overmatched, which is which is crazy. Yeah, okay, so,
uh you know, historically speaking, the deuce On Bears have
been the best team in the KBO far and away
they are. They are the Yankees plus the Dodgers. You know,
really of the of the KBO historically. Is it you know,
(07:51):
why why is it that this is a down year
for them? Is it? Is it the bullpen? Are they
just are you know some of their star players getting older? Like?
What is what is the you know, the systemic issue?
Why the Bears are listed as six to one favorites
to win the KBO outright this season, Well, the bullpen
has not helped. Let's put it that way. I mean,
the bullpen started out brutal. It has been getting better.
(08:14):
And when I say better, they're up to a five
six five e r A, which is seventh in the league.
They were, you know, at the bottom for a while.
But the starting pitching has not been great for this
team either. Chris Flexen, who left the game last night
with injury, has been inconsistent, to say the least. He
had started to get it going. But like, look at
the fips in this starting rotation. Young Holly four eight one,
(08:38):
he Quan You who just cannot strike anyone out. The
dude has an eight point eight percent k rate this year,
which is almost the same as his walk rate four
eight three five, and Wan June Choi, who's who's thrown
thirty four innings four five fIF So you look at
you know this this starting rotation, and three of the
guys are bordering on like being sp five and you've
(09:00):
got to start three of them, you know, out of
five days. It's no wonder this team has struggled. If
this flex and injury is legit all of a sudden,
you're talking about a team that has role Alcantara, who
has been coming around. I mean Alcantara has been one
of the most dominant pitchers in the league. Over the
course of the last like three to four weeks. He's
up to a twenty two point one percent k rate,
which is higher than flex and he's a guy who
(09:20):
throws ninety seven miles an hour in a league where
you just don't see that. But to just have a
bad bullpen and an offense that struggles, you know, three
out of five days, or sorry, a starting rotation that
struggles three out of five days during the week. Their
offense is awesome, but it can't plug all those holes
in the pitching. They really do need to to figure
it out because there's just too many issues in the
(09:43):
pitching staff. Maybe if they had just a few poor starters,
or maybe if the bullpen just stunk, they could get
away with it. But with both those things happening, I'm
not sure they can. So. Outside of the key Womb heroes, which,
by the way, I agree with you, I'm gonna go
ahead and uh and get on this wager as well.
Do you see any value in LG Twins, in the
(10:04):
Kia Tigers, in the lot Giants, or in the Katie Whiz.
You know, it seems like the Lions, the Wyverns, and
the Eagles are just that, you know, they are the
relegation fodder of of the KBO this year. They are
just you know, really they are are not good enough
to be considered even really contenders for the playoffs at
this point. But I mean, there were there was a
time in the season there where the Kia Tigers and
(10:25):
the lot Giants were you know, they were hot names,
especially at the beginning. Yeah, I don't think the bottom
teams have much of a chance in the Eagles and Wyverns.
The Wyverns did just signed Tyler White if you remember him,
He's an all time favorite DFS guy of mine. He
was always like minimum priced on for the Astros, for
(10:46):
the Astros left hander who had the similar ISOs that
basically everyone else and was never owned. Um. But I
don't think that's that's enough there. So I think the
LG Twins I still have some faith in them, although
there have been some concerting signs. Casey Kelly and Tyler
Wilson have not been pitching as well as I thought
they would, and these don't appear to be top tier
(11:08):
starters right now. I mean we're talking about two guys
with under eight percent k rates. They've both been struggling
with Homer's. Both these guys in the same rotation exactly
a point nine home run per nine rate fips over four.
Those were expected to be the two aces on this team.
If they're not going to be the aces, I think
the LG twins are in trouble, especially because I did
(11:29):
a you know, a breakdown last night of Chap Young Jung,
who has been there, just a guy who kind of
came out of nowhere twenty three and a half percent
k rate this year. Um. But the reason that I
liked stacking against him in his last game was that
five of his games had come against the Wyvern's Eagles
and Lions this year, and the other two games he
(11:50):
had been crushed, And so he had been excellent against
the bottom literally the bottom three teams when you look
at the futures um. But then when he faced to
do so on Bears and the n C Dinos at
an eighteen percent k rate and e r A over
five compared to like a two e r A in
the other games. And once again the lot Giants unloaded
on him last night fifteen runs. So now you look
(12:12):
at your top three is a guy who's been fortunate
because of the matchups Kelly and Wilson. And while I
still think this is a deep rotation, it just doesn't
have a true number one, and Roberto Ramos has slowed down,
So I'm showing I feel trepidation in this LG Twins
team that I didn't feel earlier in the year when
I thought we were going to get true eight seasons
(12:33):
out of the out of the two Americans at the
top of the rotation. Yeah, I think those are some
very interesting insights on the KBO I would I would
definitely say just looking at at the roster, the Keybomb Heroes,
they got to be the bet because they are. It
just seems like they're better than the Dinos, and you know,
the way things would end up playing out, like, for example,
(12:53):
of the Dinos and the Hero's played each other, you'd
be getting a worse series price than this. But we
are going to go ahead and head into break here
on the daily Road to hour on sports Gride TV.
When we returned, we're going to take a look at
some of the MLB player news as we get startlingly
close to the start of the MLB season. See you
guys on the other side of break here in just
a moment, sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment
(13:18):
at your fingertips as our team covers the most important
topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than Get on
the Grid sports grid dot Com. Hello everyone, and welcome
back from break Here at the Daily Road to Hour
(13:39):
on Sports Grade TV. I am Davis Mannock, joined by
Ricky Sanders, as we continue to break down the wide
world of baseball today on on the show, we are
transitioning from KBO Chatter to Major League Baseball Talk because
we are starting to get loads of news rolling in.
We have guys who are opting out of the season,
Guys who are wearing matt asks on the field. You know,
(14:01):
I think I want to talk a little bit about
that later, just how I expect that to to impact
guys swings and stuff like that. But Ricky um our boy,
Michael Kopeck, he's opted out. He's he's saying he's taking
is a hundred four mile an hour fastball and he
is going home not playing for the Chicago White Sox
this year. How do we how do we feel? Yeah,
(14:21):
it's hard to blame him. The guys dealing with anxiety,
and obviously COVID is a time that's, you know, an
anxious time for even the people who probably don't typically
suffer from anxiety. But I mean, we are talking about
things from a betting and daily fantasy perspective, So I
think we would be hard pressed not to mention just
how much this crushes what I've liked about the White Sox.
(14:45):
I really liked the thought of Michael Kopeck stepping in
and being kind of the guy to solidify everything here
with the White Sox because you look at the rest
of the pitching staff, and I think Giolito has the
potential to be an ace. He is, he also has
the potential to come back down to earth just a
little bit from last year. I mean, it was a
(15:06):
ridiculous year. Let's let's call it what it was. I
think he's a very good pitcher, but it would have
been nice to have another elite prospect arm lurking here.
Beyond him. You've got Dallas Kiko, Rainaldo Lopez, Dylan size,
Geo Gonzalez, and presumably Carlos Rodon, who I think pitches
his way into this rotation just as long as he's healthy.
(15:29):
But I don't like at the end of this rotation
having to deal with one of you know, Rainaldo Lopez,
Dylan Size, Geo Gonzalez assuming health, and I don't think
you can assume full health in a sixty game season.
So all of a sudden, if one guy gets hurt,
you're looking at a rotation of like Giolito, Carlos, Rodon Dallas,
Kaiko being it and you take one of those guys out,
(15:52):
I just think there's there's too many holes to plug
now in that, you know, starting pitching rotation without the
prospects of Kopek. And that's before we even talk about
the fact that John Makada has COVID. So I mean,
talk about the guy that we we loved in the
middle of this lineup. Not that this lineup still doesn't
have potential um but looking at the projected you know,
opening day lineups. Now you're talking about a guy like
(16:14):
Danny Mendick, who I don't think a lot of people know.
And by the way, what a great last name in Mendick.
But that's not John Macada. I mean Chesla Cuthbert's a
guy who has shown the ability to hit against left
handed pitching a bit. But if there's no yawn Mankada,
all of a sudden, this deep lineup we were talking
about with you know, Luis Robert hitting eight, Uh, now
(16:34):
you've got no more Mazzara hitting seven and it's like
that resembles the Rangers from last year. I mean, Mazara
often hit further down the lineup, so you don't have
like this crazy outlier lineup. And I think that improves
the Indians prospects of plus two sixty if we lose
faith in the White Sox, that plus three ten to
win the division. Yeah, I mean, I I think that.
(16:55):
I think that the basically just the idea that we
thought the White Sox when we were doing our division previews,
we kind of thought they were one of these high
ceiling teams, right We thought there was a chance that, okay,
if you know, four or five things go right for them,
you know, all of a sudden, they could be one
of the best teams in the division. And now it
basically appears like, you know that that's just not gonna happen.
They're not They're not going to be one of these
(17:17):
teams that hits their ceiling right away, and it it
might take a year, you know, it might take a
couple of years, or it might not happen at all.
So you know, kind of like we we are we
are we're probably kind of just all in on the
on the Cleveland Indians now. Yeah, the one good thing
about the White Sox now that I will say is
you probably see a lot of Adam Angle and Luis
Robert in the outfield at the same time. So if
(17:40):
you're trying to help out pitchers who are iffy, I mean,
that is just an unbelievable set up defensively, but you're
losing out on too much offense without Joan mccon and
you're just losing out on too much without Kopek. And yeah,
because of all the stuff you're losing out on, you
gotta like the Indians now, I mean, I love the
futures now for guys like Jose Ramirez, Francisco Lindo or
(18:02):
in the m v P race, because not only does
it take out you know, copec Um having to potentially
face him every fifth day, but it increases the odds
that the Indians could be a team that shocked everyone.
And you want players on good teams when betting the
m v P. And I think Lindoor and Ramirez are
(18:24):
guys who are you know, they're they're way back in
terms of uh, you know number like look uh for
the m v P in the American League Trout Judge
nine fifty, lind Or twelve to one, Jose Ramirez twenty
five to one. So you're getting really good numbers on
these guys hitting in the middle of a team that
should be quite good. You got basically a great one
(18:47):
through six in this lineup. Depending on on where you
you know slotted Domingo Santana Oscar Mercado, you could have
a very good one through seven, and you've got just
better pitching than the White Sox Bieber Clevinger, A Rasco,
Surveill Police Sack. I mean one through three, there might
not be a better, you know, rotation in the entire
(19:08):
American League. So I was gonna say, I was gonna
say the Reds and uh in the Nationals are, but yeah,
I the American League. I think you're right exactly. So,
I mean, we we've talked about the Twins potentially being
like a shaky team to to win the division. You're
getting two point six to one with the Indians in
a lead in a year excuse me, with sixty games
(19:31):
and two teams that are probably dead from the get go.
So I mean, do you think they have more than
a one in four chance to win this division? I
certainly do. Yeah, I mean, I think when you eliminate
you know, once you once you eliminate, um, the White
Sox from a team that you expect to contend at all.
I think that it I think that it becomes a
lot closer between, you know, between the Twins and the Indians.
(19:55):
And I think the Twins hitting one through nine is
better for r but the Cleveland startners are far better,
so you know, and and over sixty games, Ricky, I
don't think I have a real opinion yet on you know,
what's like what what would I rather have like three
stud pitchers or like six, you know, three thirty wool
(20:16):
bar better hitters, like I like, I don't know, I
don't I don't know what's better because I think the
sixty game stuff is so weird. Yeah, it's honestly impossible
to know just how ready the hitters are. I think
the advantage probably goes to the pictures with how what
limited time they have to get ready without knowing what
hitters have been doing at home. But it seems very
(20:36):
difficult to come in for like three weeks, see pitching
for the first time for the entire off season which
was extended, and then just be ready to hit major
league pitching. So I wonder if pitching numbers are up
this year and strikeouts are up in concurrence with that,
and it wouldn't shock me, just like talking about these
two teams and thinking it through, like would it shock
(20:57):
you if Carlos Carrasco has a better year than Jose Barria,
if if Carrasco is fully healthy, and you're talking about
the number three on Cleveland versus the clear number one
on the Twins. So that's really scary when you think
about it like that. To go ahead and take the
Twins is a massive, massive favorite. Well, no, the hingine
rio is the is the best picture on the Twins right, Uh,
(21:21):
he's on Toronto. Now if who am I thinking of?
They have they have said, all right it is probably yeah,
well that was that was bad at me? That was
bad at me? Yeah, Kenemata is there is there number
one starter? Yeah? He probably is? Uh in all reality,
I mean, I like Burrios, but I think he's best
suited as a number two on a very good team.
(21:44):
Potentially even a number three. I just don't think you're
gonna ever get Barrios as like the dominant, dominant ace.
He's twenty six years old. Now, I think he's a
very good pitcher in this league. I don't think he's
the next Matchers or anything like that. Yeah, and I mean,
so this is why this will give people, uh maybe
a clearer view of why we are so high on
(22:07):
on the Cleveland Indians. So this is the projected e
r a s for the five guys who are projected
to start for Minnesota. It's Barrios at four thirty six,
or Reesi at four thirty four, Mada at four nine,
and I mean Ricky. This team is theoretically supposed to
win you know, uh, you know, the division. But their
(22:30):
fourth and fifth starters are Homer Bailey and rich Hill.
Like that that I mean having to start Homer Bailey
at thirty four, rich Hill at the age of forty. Uh,
It's it's not a particularly great scene for for the
Minnesota Twins. No, not at all. I mean, can you
even trust that rich Hill will be there in the playoffs?
(22:51):
I mean, he's a forty year old arm who has
been a hurt for quite some time now. I just
don't know how you can expect his health for any
length of time. I guess you could argue that like
Devid Smeltzer or some of these guys who are the
longer leivers can step in if need be. But I
don't really think there's there's a lot to love here.
Matt Whistler has some you know, starting experience two out
(23:12):
of this bullpen, but you're talking about getting really thin
towards the end of a rotation, where I think, like
Aaron Surveile, the fourth starter on Cleveland, has legitimate, like
Starter three upside. He's not a guy who misses a
ton of bats, but he pounds the strike zone. I
think he could be a good picture. I really don't
know what the upside is for the guys like Homer
(23:33):
Bailey or Rich Hill. It's just really tough to gauge,
and I don't think it's the same as it would
be for Surveil. Yeah, and okay, so to give people
an idea, you know. Again, in the difference of projections
using zips on roster resource from fan Graphs, Shane Bieber
projected three sixty three, Clevinger projected three sixty seven. Carrasco
has projected three eight four. Obviously, there is a huge
(23:56):
delta in his ceiling and his floor projection because he
has been so good in his career, and he has
also been really bad in his career. And then as
far as Savali goes, you know, what do you what
do you really want to do? He's only pitched uh
in ten games fifty seven innings at Major League Baseball.
When he was in the minor leagues, he was basically
one of the best pitchers in Triple A overall. And
(24:19):
he's only twenty five years old. So it's actually kind
of weird, you know, thinking about football, like twenty five
is old, but in baseball, five is young. Obviously a
lot of us are starting to think now about about
football more and more. But that is one of the
things I find really interesting. And then that's also you know,
they have a little bit of upside with Police Act,
not as much as with Sibali. He's also twenty five,
(24:41):
but Police Act was not quite as good for as
long in Major League Baseball. But I mean, maybe they
have Ricky, maybe they have five guys who beat a
four run e r A, which would be incredible. Yeah,
and by the way, people hate like the old guys
in fantasy. Not only has Corey Kluber looked good so far,
are but let's talk Carlos Carrasco for a second. I
(25:03):
mean he was quote unquote bad last year. In twenty
three appearances, he his x FIT was basically in line
with his career. He had a three and a half
x FIT, which for an American League picked picture is excellent,
compared to three two three for his career. He struggled
with the home run ball otherwise, I mean, I don't
really see a whole lot. The babbit was way up,
(25:24):
but he had the same k rate as his as
had been accustomed the last two years. Over for the
third straight year, he had under a five percent walk rate,
which was his lowest and it was the homers that
killed him. Two point out two home run per nine
rate was his high since his rookie year, and he
had a three fifty four BABI despite the fact that
the left on base rate was the same as usual.
(25:47):
Like I think Carrasco was just unlucky last year. It
would not surprise me at all if he bounces back
and he has a sub four e R a season
like is predicted and honestly competes for the strikeout lead
in the American League. I love Carlos Spirascos. The bounced
back candidate. Yeah, I'm in on that as well. So, guys,
we are gonna go ahead and head into break here
(26:09):
real quick on the Daily Road to Hour on sports
Grid TV. When we return, we are going to go
ahead and take a look at some of the news
and notes around Major League Baseball right now, getting everyone
ready for the return from COVID nineteen and seeing baseball
inside the the theoretical bubble. So we will see you
guys on the other side of break in just a
few moments. Sports grid dot Com Betting insides and entertainment
(26:35):
at your fingertips as our team covers the most important
topics in sports wagering, real time odds, predictive betting models,
expert picks, and more. Want the edge than Get on
the grid sports grid dot com, you're watching Sports Grade
(27:02):
Get on the Grade. Hello everyone, and welcome back to
the Daily Road to Hour here on Sports Grade TV.
I'm Davis Mannock, joined by Ricky Sanders. Transferring now to
some MLB player news, yasal Pueeg has signed with the
(27:25):
Atlanta Braves, a pretty interesting signing, Ricky. You know, I
gotta say, lifelong Puig believer, I I'm I'm on board
with this one. Super interesting that uh you know, they
kind of had a crowded outfield. But to me, I
guess maybe this means they don't want to play Markekas.
I guess this year Markiss opted out. So I mean
(27:45):
that's rave, That's why. Yeah, this brave team is losing
guys by the minute. Freddie Freeman obviously dealing with the
virus you've got. Uh Now, Yasio Pleague kind of taking
that fourth outfielder role um from Nick mar Caicus. And
now all of a sudden you look at a team
Marcelo Zuna Ender and c RT. I guess you could
(28:06):
d H Austin Riley and obviously Ronald Acuna Jr. Are
the guys in the outfield. Like I think Yasil Pleek
is gonna play. I mean, how do you how do
you not play him? Some? Uh if you add him
to this mix. I know he has had his struggles
against left handers, still gives you a power bat against
right handed pitching. And what Yasiel Peak definitely gives you
(28:26):
is a strong outfield arm, which which you love to
see as a pitcher. I mean we kind of already
talked about like the White Sox Defensively, you look at
this rotation, even the top guy pitches to contact more
than he would like to see in Mike Saroka, Max
Freed can miss some bats. I think everyone else is
a bit of a wild card. So what better way
to kind of try and cover that up than to
(28:48):
put someone like a Yasil Peak who can throw guys
out from the outfield. Um. I think he's a meaningful addition,
but I don't think he's going to change the loss
of Freddie Freeman or anything like that. Basically, this team
is gonna go as Freddie Freeman goes, and if they
don't have Freeman, they're gonna be in a lot of trouble. Yeah,
(29:09):
I completely agree. Without Freddy Freeman, this team takes a
pretty big hit. But I mean, let's give yas puigas
do uh. He has played in over eight hundred and
fifty Major League Baseball games over thirty three plate appearances.
He has an isolated slugging of one awaited on bass
average for his career of three fifty two UM The
Bat the Bat has him this year for a two
(29:31):
seventeen ISO and a three forty one waited on bass average.
In terms of free agent signings, Like guys, you're literally
picking up two weeks before the season starts. It like
it does not get better than this. This is like
this is like the Brewers signing Mustakas for one year
five million dollars last year. Just one of those signings
that makes me look at like the economics of baseball
are messed up if this guy is not on a team. Well,
(29:55):
funny enough that we started with KBO because the rumors
were KBO teams were showing in in Yasiel League, which
I found hard to believe that, like MLB teams are
gonna pass on this guy. I know he's not a
perfect player, but I thought he was more deserving of
being like a role player or sorry, you know, a
star player in the KBO as opposed to a role
player in the NB MLB. So I'm happy he found
(30:17):
a team. I would have, for selfish reasons, love to
have seen him be the guy to join like the
s K Wiver's instead and just see how many homers
see if he get hit exactly like Eric tames Is,
a guy who was consistently crushing fifty plus. Would have
loved to see Yasi Week do the same thing. But again,
I feel like he belonged on a major league roster. Yeah,
(30:38):
I mean, I I definitely, I definitely agree that he
belonged on a major league baseball roster. So, uh. Some
of the other some of the other news that we
are getting is Charlie Blackman has been placed on the
disabled list right now. Now. It's not clear if he's
on there with an actual injury, if he's on there
because of COVID nineteen, or if he's already recovered from
(31:01):
his bout with with the coronavirus and it's on there
for procedural you know, reasons or whatever. But in terms
of fantasy baseball purposes, if Blackman was to miss you know,
let's say a month of the season or whatever, and
they're playing those games and corps, uh, that's going to
be like a massive, massive impact on fantasy baseball for sure. Yeah.
Charlie Blackman just one of the best all around players
(31:23):
in fantasy baseball especially. We can play half his games
in the corps field, and I mean, you look, you
love to look at the splits, right for guys playing
at home and playing away in course field. And Charlie
Blackman was always a guy in daily fantasy who would
get ownership at home against right handed pitching, and Charlie
is just one of those guys who's a good hit
(31:43):
or at both sides of the plate. Career three fifty
nine wolbo one on nine w r C plus against
left handed pitching almost one seventies six. So I never
thought he got enough credit for first being as good
as he did considering home against right handed pitching for
his career four two wOBA home against lefties four seventeen wOBA.
(32:03):
You look at the career on the road number just
a three oh one wOBA against lefties on the road,
So it wasn't great on the road, as we know
is the case for a lot of these Colorado hitters.
But Charlie Blackmoot was a guy that you should be
starting regardless of who he's facing at home. Was a
guy who's won me personally some tournaments, you know, against
left handed pitchers. I think Drew Pomerantz was one of
(32:25):
the games that that I wouldcall Charlie Blackman hitting multiple homers,
But without him, I guess it's a combination of Matt
Kemp and Rymel Tapia. I think Matt Kemp should get
the nod against left handed pitching against right handed pitching.
It'll be interesting to see what they do whether they
go with the twenty six year old Tapia, who I'm
(32:46):
not sure there's much potential, or they see what's left
in the tank with with Matt Kemp and just try
and win games. I think mac Kemp should probably play
three out of four days, but he was a non
roster invite, so there's still some risks to draw a thing.
Matt Camp. I think Sam Hilliard, you know, moves up
this lineup. That's the guy who, like we we feel,
probably plays every day now and should be drafted in
(33:08):
all fantasy leagues. Now. Such a shame that that Tapia
is not any good because he looks so perfect in
the Rockies uniform. He's got the cool dreadlocks, he has
a really cool swing. He's like a really good defensive
player just kind of, you know, just kind of carries
himself with some swagger out there, and uh, it's it's
just a shame that he is not a particularly good
(33:29):
baseball player, because he would be. He would be a
fantastic Rocky um if he was. Okay, moving on some
other news, seems like Jose Peraza is one out the
everyday second base job over uh Michael Chavis at at
second base for the Red Sox. So which is you know,
I think a little bit of a surprise because correct
me if I'm wrong, Ricky. But Michael Michael Schabis was
(33:52):
supposed to be like, you know, this amazing prospect for
the Red Sox. Like he was supposed to come up
and be a guy who was ready to be like
a three forty wold but guy like kind of right away,
and he was for a while. I mean, he set
the world on fire for quite a bit of time.
Eighteen homers in games last year, Like that's not bad,
(34:14):
especially for a year old. No, I'm really shocked to
see this news. I like Jose Perazzo. I think he's
more of a utility guy in all, you know, if
in an ideal world, but you look at Javis. He
did fall apart in the second half last year. In
the first half of three thirty seven wolbo one oh
(34:35):
five w r C plus after the break, I mean,
he was striking out a ton in the first half.
It went up even a little bit. He struck out
of the thirty three percent rate both halfs of the season,
but thirty three point three, so exactly a third of
his plate appearances after the All Star break with a
two seventy five WOLDBO sixty four w r C plus.
So I thought he would get another shot, being that
(34:57):
it was his first year. But I guess not. I
guess they're going with the speedy Jose Peraza. They probably,
you know, want to replace Mookie Bets towards the top
of the lineup. Want to give him a shot to
you know, steal some bases there. I don't know. I
think this should be a case where you you platoon
the two and you give them both a shot. I mean,
they're both right handed hitters, so you don't really have
(35:18):
the opportunity to go lefty righty. But I am with you,
I'm kind of shocked that a four almost twenty five
year old Chaves doesn't get a second go around after
you know, that first half, and just consider that second half,
you know, him adjusting. I don't know, I thought he
was worthy of of starting at least, you know, the
first ten games or so, and see and see what happens. Yeah,
(35:40):
I mean to me, it just it seems like a
weird decision from an organization that is like big on
analytics and you know, making the like basically making the
correct decision to you know, figure out you know, art,
like what it's going to benefit us most over the
most over the long term. And uh like like what
(36:01):
what is what is Jose Parraza gonna do for for
Boston this year? Because they're not gonna win the division,
They're not even closed to the World Series favorites. Like
Praza is a good guy to be a good bench
bat for a World Series team, but you're you're much
more likely to increase the ceiling of your team long
term if Chavis ends up being really good. Yeah, And
(36:22):
like looking at the defensive metrics from Jose Perazza, who
is very fast, I mean he's been a below average
fielder for some years now, so I really don't understand
it when you take that into consideration that below average
are below average in defensive runs saved. He's not like
not like he's uh Omar Viscaler or whatever out there,
(36:43):
you know what I mean exactly, So like if that
were the case, that would make sense, but that just
adds more context to the fact that like, at best,
this should be a split. Yeah, Okay. Uh some other
news that we have for the Texas Rangers. Isaiah Keener
Philippa is going to be the starting third base and
then every single day for the Texas Rangers, which is
(37:06):
I guess because that means Todd Fraser is too old
to play third base and they're gonna play him at
first base now. But uh, Ricky, I'm a long term
Gregory Bird truther, and uh, I was kind of looking
forward to seeing him get some everyday played appearances against
right handed pitching for Texas, which is a seance, a
little bit of a it's a little bit of a
bummer for me personally. Yeah, And what a strange third
(37:30):
baseman Isaiah kinder Felifa is. I would double check your
league to see if he qualifies a catcher, shouldn't, I
think exactly, because if you're getting a guy who plays
every day who can give you that that's where he
matters in fantasy. He doesn't really matter in reality all
that much. To be honest, He's hitting at the bottom
of a very iffy line up. There are some hitters
(37:51):
I like in this lineup, by the way, obviously, Joey
gallow I think Nick so Lock is a guy in
deeper leagues you want to give a look to. He's
a guy who just puts the ball and play at time.
But it left a singles hitter. Um. I mean, good
luck Rangers with with that guy as you're starting third basement.
He's he's a backup catcher in an ideal world. And
this is not a great team. Let's put it that way. No, no,
(38:13):
it no, it definitely is not. Uh we uh we
still do like I think Trout's gonna sit out. I
will I want to officially put this take out there.
I think I think Mike Trout is not going to
play this year. I want that to be officially on
the record. I think that's a legitimate possibility. And I
mean you talk about super prospects that you want to
(38:34):
be drafting, Uh, there is a super prospect who is
going there, They're not Joe Adele is not playing this
yere either, I don't think so. I think that gives
him a legit opportunity. There's no Trout. Well, I guess,
and we can talk about this when we come back
from break about service time stuff. But obviously you know,
if Michael Trout is not playing, the Angels are not
They might not even win twenty five games if if
(38:56):
Trout doesn't play, so there is there's absolutely no reason
and for them to start the service clock for Joe Adele,
who's like a super mega prospect who might end up
being like a franchise direction changing players, So there's no
reason for them to start the service time frame. But
we can actually have that discussion with some more player
news stuff when we get back in just a few moments.
(39:16):
Here on the Daily Road to Hour sports grid dot com,
Betting insights and entertainment at your fingertips seven as our
(39:38):
team covers the most important topics in sports wagering, real
time odds, predictive betting models, expert picks, and more. Want
the edge than get on the grid sports grid dot Com.
Hello everyone, and welcome back from break. Here at the
Daily Road to Hour on sports Grid TV. I am
Davis Mattock joint today by Ricky Sanders. We are going
(40:00):
around the world of baseball because we started with the
KBO chatted some key womb heroes futures, and now we're
moving back over to Major League Baseball as we are
getting exceedingly close to the restart of the I guess
not restart. They had a little bit, a little bit
of spring training. Now we're moving into full on baseball returning,
(40:21):
and uh, you know, so I think, Ricky, we need
to start with a conversation about service time. I think
that basically it seems like it's gonna be much harder
for these teams to manipulate service time this year because
one day of Major League Baseball is going to count
three x what it would have been in a regular season.
(40:41):
So one day, uh, you know, being on the forty
man roster or being up on the twenty five man
major League Baseball roster is going to count for three
days of service time. So I think teams are basically
gonna either go, you're coming up and you're staying with
the team, and we are we are converting you, we
are starting your clock, or that's it, you're staying down.
Like I don't think there's gonna be an up and
(41:03):
down purpose of of manipulation is basically kind of what
I think. So I think Nate Pierson is where we
should start with this conversation, because I was reading an
article in Forbes that basically, if they hold him back
seven days, they get an additional year on on Nate Pierson.
(41:24):
So that how is this system? I mean, it's it's
one of the worst things about sports. It really is.
It's pathetic that, you know, these guys can't just they
can't just figure it out where if they start the
season on the roster, you just get you know, you
can figure out a contract dispute where both sides are winners.
(41:45):
The fact that the fans have to suffer through a
leak of not seeing the best talent is frustrating. And
this year, you know, seven out of sixty games is
a significant chunk of the season. Yeah, no, I I
mean that is that's that's massive. It's a little bit
less obviously with a pitching prospect, because you can set
them up that like, you know, maybe they pitch one,
they pitch like four innings one day on three innings rest,
(42:08):
and then you're pretty much you're you're pretty much caught up.
There is uh, you know, there's the the other side
of this coin is teams that are bad, like we
are not going to see Casey Mays, We're not going
to see Matt Manning this year. And you know, as
someone who like loves baseball, loves like loves the prospects,
like it just were We're not going to get to
see those guys this year. And uh I I kind
(42:29):
of like, I wonder if this was this was the
MLB p A winning right, Like this was actually probably
something they put in the bargaining to, you know, get
guys their their full payment. But what's actually gonna happen
is the good, the good minor leaguers on bad teams
are just not going to get to play this year
like they like at all. Yeah, that's the problem is
(42:53):
we've already seen some of these major leaguers hold sandlot
style games. We've already heard of two of such a
parted games where like MLB players have gone out on
their own and played against one one another. Like I
think that's what these minor leaguers are gonna end up
doing because they're sitting out an entire year. Uh. And
if they're not you know, getting better during this, this
(43:15):
actually could cost them multiple years. Because what if Casey
my sits on his couch for the remainder of the
year doing the bow flex, uh, and he comes back
next year and there's not quite as much break on
his curveball, he doesn't have the command of the curveball,
all of a sudden, he's got to spend half a
season figuring his mechanics back out, figuring everything back out.
It's just not fair. So the fact that there's no
(43:37):
you know, minor league season and some of these guys
are gonna get paid, that aspect is great, but you know,
the real pay day is the major league pay day.
And if these guys can't show their talents and they
gotta you know, hone back in when the MLB players
already had sixty games of being honed in this summer,
they're playing from behind while they're already playing from behind
because they're younger. I mean, I just I don't even
(43:59):
know if they is any way to quantify how disastrous
this year is going to be. Four top prospects, right
because they are likely not going to get a face
a ton of live pitching. I mean, sure, you know,
maybe Alec Bomb and Spencer Howard. You know, they get
to go. They're gonna they're gonna be in the gym
every day. You know, those guys are gonna be what
probably hitting like slow pitch stuff or maybe hitting out
(44:22):
of a machine, but they're not gonna get to go
see you know, changeups, right, They're not gonna get to
go see twelve six curveballs, like they just are are
not going to get those reps that like basically we
know for baseball, it's the highest rep sport. It's why
guys take longer to develop. It's why you know, it's
incredibly rare to see like nineteen twenty year olds playing
in Major League Baseball because it's all about learning to
(44:44):
recognize and develop muscle memory with the reps, and these
guys are literally might go a year without getting a
real live rep. Yeah, I mean dynasty leagues this year,
if you're doing like similar payoffs to normal, this is
the year to trade your prospects. I think if we're
talking about like far away prospects, uh, if you see
yourself at the beginning of the year being competitive, I
(45:06):
would trade these like nineteen year oldsh we're gonna you
lose a year. I mean, if you thought your nineteen
year old was expected to be up in it might
be now, which is crazy to say, but you but
losing a year of not you know, for hitters, part
of the game is being able to recognize the pitch
out of a hand. So the more hand motions you
(45:28):
see from the pitcher, the more curveballs to see, the
more everything. Like you mentioned, you developed not only that
muscle memory, but the ability to act quickly and recognize
pitches quickly. And if you're sitting on the couch doing
other things or just not seeing baseballs thrown from major
league pitchers and instead from pitching machines where the spin
is so so much more obvious, you lose that and
(45:48):
you gotta gain it back. And I mean these edge
minor or sorry, major leaguers who's got like a a
loose grip on their job. The grip's gonna get a
lot tighter when you see that. These guys who haven't
been there for a while have to figure it out.
I mean it's just like you mentioned that you can't
quantify the damage. Yeah, and you know, there are guys
(46:10):
who probably could help their major league teams right now,
but because of the way that the service time was ruled,
Like Joe Adele, the guy we were just talking about
before we haded a break, I is there any doubt
that he would be the third best outfielder for Los
Angeles right now? Like Like why? Like what? What? Really?
Like he could maybe even d H for them on
(46:32):
some days. But basically the fact that that team is
not that good right there, They're just like, they're just okay,
and they're probably not gonna win the World Series, and
they would rather have Joe Adele's service time for next
year as opposed to starting his clock and gambling this year.
And the crappy thing about this service time thing is
(46:52):
now is that you see the expected dates. Joe Adele
is the number one prospect in the entire organization overall,
Number four or Brandon Marsh likely comes up ahead of
him now because they're less worried about his service time.
He's the number two prospect in the organization. He's an outfielder.
But it's clear that Joe Adele should get the call
before him if it was based purely on merit. But
(47:15):
because money is involved, I think Marsh might be the
guy sooner in a Major league line up, especially if
there's no trout, And that just sucks. You hate to see,
you know, a guy who's actually worse getting the call
just because of money. I mean that that sucks. Now.
On the other hand, you know there are some guys
(47:35):
who are gonna win as a result of this. Gavin
lux and Dustin May, who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
I mean Lux is probably gonna I mean they're first
of all, Lux and May are both going to start
on the major league roster, like they're already in camp
and everything. But Lux might be like kind of like
an everyday player for the Dodgers, or at least a
April tun player for them. These guys are going to
(47:56):
get to hit free agency maybe two years early, right
because because of how inflated this is. Like if you
are if you are a rookie for there, or not
a rookie, but you know, still on that that rookie
draft contract and your clock gets started and you're you're
on the roster for a whole year, and those days
get multiplied by three, like this might be like a
total windfall for Davin Lux and Dustin May. Yeah, and
(48:20):
I mean looking at the service time on these guys,
Gavin Lux still has three minor league options. But it's
funny because this year you're just not that worried about it.
You know, normally you'd be like, ah, they called this
guy up. It's probably Influx whether he's going to continue
because they can just send him back down. But where
are they going to send him down to there? Again,
I hate to keep using the couch reference, but they're
(48:41):
sending him home to watch Netflix if he's not on
that major league roster. So you might as well, when
you're a team that's the favorite from the National League,
keep developing this prospect at the bottom of your lineup.
You can literally hit him ninth. Uh. He's a big winner.
Like you mentioned, May is a big winner, and I
think May is probably the likeliest candidate to step into
(49:02):
this rotation if and when there's an injury. I think
Luis Robert, although he already signed a contract so it's
a little bit different. I mean, these guys who are
gonna get to play in the major leagues this year,
as opposed to those prospects who are gonna have to
sit out, have such a crazy advantage on prospect lists.
I think you need to move anyone who's gonna get
a bath this year up ahead of guys who are
(49:23):
just not massive. Yeah, I I agree. A couple of
the other interesting guys, Brendan McKay for the raise. Now,
they don't necessarily need Brendan McKay, but they might at
some point during the year. You know if they have
if they have two pitching injuries and like a first
base injury or something like that, that they would be
they would like McKay is such a useful guy because
he can hit and he can pitch. I would imagine
(49:45):
that they would just want to have him on the
forty man roster or I actually think it's been expanded
all the way to sixty man. Like I would just
imagine that they would want him to be with the
team from day one because they can kill two birds
with one stone for his roster spot. And the Rays
are famously, you know, one of the cheapest organizations in uh,
you know, really all of professional sports, not just professional baseball.
(50:06):
But I think that because of the unique circumstances of
the situation, it might end up being a pretty big
win for Brennan McKay. Exactly. There's just multiple ways they
can use him. They need him to figure out his
control to be able to use him in that starting rotation,
but they can also hit him in the lineup. Although
they do have a bunch of lefties and you know
they are cheap, but they did dish out for Yoshihiro
(50:28):
Satsugo this year, uh two years twelve million, so not
exactly like massive in terms of a major league contract,
but they did give him something. Um. But yeah, like
you mentioned, they're balling on a budget, and when you're
bawling on a budget, you love those guys that can
just do everything. And you you look at the lineup
against right handed pitching. They've got Tsuga who probably you know,
(50:52):
slid in there at d h and Hi Monchoy at
first base. But you can you can find opportunities for
bats for him. Uh, if you sit one of those
guys who played Setsugo, you know, potentially in the outfield.
There's ways you could you could go about getting k
enough at bats excuse me, McKay enough at bats to
to warrant him being with the team. Yeah, I think
(51:14):
that's probably true. One last guy who is probably going
to get a little bit of a little bit of
value here, Kyle Wright is probably gonna make the Atlanta
Braves opening day roster, initially as a long reliever, but
he is there kind of their best pitching prospect and
a guy with uh by the way, a mean sinker
in MLB The Show twenty, I think that uh, I
(51:35):
think he ends up being another winner of this and
and gets to uh, you know, gets to free agency
a year earlier. He might end up being the third
starter by the time the years all over. If Mike
Fulton Levite still can't figure out the velocity of Sean
Newcam is Shaan Newcam or Kyle Wright could end up
being a big part of this Braves team. And those
of you in deep leagues American League only circle this
(51:58):
guy's name because I think he could be meaningful. Yeah,
I definitely think that. So I think, you know, just
a lot of interesting stuff to think as it relates
to prospects. You know, one of the things we talk
about in the futures market is guys who are gonna get,
you know, some value from the process, like, you know,
teams that are going to get value from prospects coming up.
And we're not really going to have that this year,
(52:19):
which is one of the things that we talked about
in the second segment with the Chicago White Sox. So
I am I'm just very interested to see the way
that all of this plays out for Major League Baseball
teams in one when they're dealing with all of this
arrested development. But everyone, thank you very much for listening.
And watching the daily road to Hour here on sports
(52:39):
grade TV. When we return tomorrow, we will have even
more sports and sports betting content for all of you guys.
Sports grid dot Com betting insights and entertainment at your
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(53:00):
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