Now You Show Up!

It’s a late-season prospect frenzy on the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast! Grey and B_Don break down a flurry of recent call-ups, including Bryce Eldridge (Giants), Trey Yesavage (Blue Jays), Moises Ballesteros (Cubs), Connelly Early (Red Sox), and Denzer Guzman (Angels). We dig into their minor league numbers, fantasy relevance, and whether they can make an impact down the stretch or are better suited as dynasty stashes. Plus, B_Don makes a crazy comp. 

We also shift gears to look at some players heating up in the second half. Mark Vientos is flashing real power, Royce Lewis is finally showing that upside (as long as he stays healthy), and Ozzie Albies has quietly been one of the most productive 2B since the break. Is it too little too late? Or signs of things to come in 2026?

Whether you're chasing a title or scouting for next year, this episode is packed with insight, analysis, and plenty of classic Razzball banter. Tune in, subscribe, and stay ahead of the game!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
You like fantasy ball, sense a chasm that I shall
not me hear myself stun spans and they can't even
count some of unifor gas I surround.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
It ain't even.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Matter be health well, yeah, several charges on everyone, nothing
else and I'm alreadium to.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hear my baby sounds just like your name.

Speaker 1 (00:33):
Was, Mark.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
And it's a ride by podcast.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
It's a rapp podcast. It's a rapp podcast. It's a
ride bo podcast.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
It's a rap up podcast. I don't have a rap
up podcast. Got a turn off? It should rap bo podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Hey, everybody, welcome back. In is the Rasball Fantasy Baseball Podcast.
I am beat On, joined by the one, the only,
the Fantasy Master, Lithario. Great, all right, how you doing
over there? Great?

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Hey, what's going on there?

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Beat On?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
What's up? We have a we have a rise Slam winner,
a an overall champion. That is the drum roll. Bob,
Bob won the Ralam. I think you he probably has
a last name. Imagine your name, Bob.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
This is Bob.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
Hey, what's going on?

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Bob? Bob?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Should I cle you? Bob? Or mister it's actually just Bob.
It's just Bob. Yeah, he probably doesn't want us announcing
his whole name on the show anyway, so or maybe
he doesn't care either way, Congratulations Bob. Bob is a
two time overall champion with rasball. He won the RAS Bowl,

(02:11):
I believe in twenty twenty two. I don't know he
has a trophy to prove it though, signed by be Don.
I think something like that.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, back when I was still still had a heavy
involvement in our contests, Gray, Now I've now done what
you do, and I just I've handed that off to
more qualified and better people. So you know it's I
send them a few names every year for the podcast
league winners and ARCL League winners and things like that

(02:42):
to get in. But yeah, I mean I will say
you can go out to my Twitter page at Rasbetan
and I have retweeted his announcement, so I mean, I
feel like it's not a hidden thing. But you are
in California, so we will full we will do full
data privacy. It's here Gray, and not give his full name,

(03:02):
but you can go out the you can go out
to Twitter and see who won it. I mean, he's
he's now one of football and a baseball That's that's
amazing work.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Gray.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
I don't know why he isn't here doing my job,
but I'm happy to continue here as long as you'll
have me and not replace me with Bob.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
That's actually a great segue into revealing next year's podcast.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
We got to find him a better pseudonym than mine.
You didn't do any consulting with me before I made mine,
and I'm too unoriginal to come up with anything, so
you know, it just kind of happened, and it's terrible.
We've come up with at least a half dozen that
are better by now, but we're stuck now.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Actually, I should say, podcast hosting for Rasbull is contingent
on you doing everything, So if you're not able to
do podcasting, then unfortunately, we're gonna have to rescind the offer.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
This is true, Grey Grey knows how do you turn
on his computer? Maybe the mic is already hooked up,
so that's that's good. You may have to walk him
through some things and you know, set up, but it's okay.
Then you just have to do everything else from there.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
I have. Yeah, So uh Coogs right now is uh
currently in uh Paris? She went on the she wanted
to va in case without me. So, uh so Coogs
is in Paris, so I'm in I'm in charge of
taking care of Ted the dog all on my own

(04:41):
and today, I uh today, I was going to feed
him and I accidentally called him turd.

Speaker 1 (04:47):
And Ted did not like.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
So I had to I, what dog do you know
that needs serious coaxing in order to eat? I was like, please,
I'm sorry I called you turd?

Speaker 1 (05:00):
Which blue just eat?

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Come on, man, I have to do a podcast. This
was happening right before the podcast. I was. I was
literally arguing with the dog for about ten minutes to
try and get him to eat.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Everything is, Everything's fine, though now he has eaten.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
He eats kind of, he eats around certain things. He
doesn't like it as food. He's very he's very picky.
But yeah, I'm I'm by myself, so you know the
fact that you brought up that all I can do
is turn on a computer that KU's left me home
by myself. I feel a little bit like the callister

(05:40):
kid from home alone. I'm a little lost.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
Somebody. Somebody needs to send the cops over to patrol
Gray's neighborhood for him, make sure that the burglars maybe
just set your inside alarm, Grain, just don't move like
the next forty eight hours. That might be a path
that we could go with. Hey, you can always fly
over here, Gray and stay with me for a weekend.
I don't know what we would do, but we could

(06:06):
find something to do. I'm sure, honestly I might take
you up on it.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
It might be easier for me to be to fly
across the country and to get taken care of for
a week than it is to handle handle everything that
goes on with keeping together house.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
For my house is fully prepared, Gray, there's already actually
food in the fridge, so you just warm it up,
you know, assuming you can use the microwave or air fryer.
Maybe you know that might be going too far, but
one or the other and you're you're all sat over here.

Speaker 2 (06:42):
It was so Kup's contacted me from France. She had
she had forgotten a dress that she's there for a
wedding anyway or no, actually I think it's a bar mitzvah.
It doesn't matter what event she's there for. But anyway,
she's there for an event and she forgot her dress.
So I had to go and bring the dress to FedEx.

(07:04):
Uh and she gave me like all the information of
what I needed to do.

Speaker 1 (07:09):
Like, so I go.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
So I go to the shipping store and I'm like
telling them, you know where, the address in France that
they have to send this to, and the box size.
She gave me all the information and then I get
to the very end and I'm like, and here's the
the FedEx number. And they're like, we're not a FedEx store, sir. Oh, Like,

(07:32):
oh man, wait, this is so you guys. Every shipping
store do is to do FedEx.

Speaker 1 (07:38):
Like, no, that is not how it works. Like a
name on the outside, sir that says UPS that should
say fed X the one you want. Oh.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
It was like a good fifteen minutes. The guy's like
wrapping it up. He's like, well, this is our box.
I mean you gotta get like, oh oh god, why
did I go through all that? Okay, give me everything.

Speaker 1 (08:03):
I gotta go to FedEx.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
It's the only way this works.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Man.

Speaker 2 (08:10):
Anyway back to Fantasy Baseball, I feel like she.

Speaker 1 (08:14):
I feel like Cook's probably could have just bought a dress.
I mean, I know what shipping is across across the
pond there.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
I feel like you just go by ridiculous. I was.
She was like, she was like, it costs two hundred
and eleven dollars to ship this thing. So I'm like, uh, okay,
whatever I mean this is. I didn't even get into like,
can't you just go buy dress? That was like that
was way beyond like the whole Like if I start
doing that over text, it becomes a whole thing. So

(08:44):
I'm like, fine, I'll just go through it. So then
this first shipping store I go to, I go through
all the things, and you know, before I say the
FedEx number thing, They're like, it's four hundred dollars. I'm like,
four hundred dollars really, because she said it was two
hundred and eleven, and I feel like she knows what

(09:04):
she's talking about. But I mean, if it's four hundred,
it's four hundred. And they're like yeah. I was like, well, okay,
here's the FedEx number. Thank god I didn't pay the
four hundred dollars before they were like this is not
a fax, because that would have been like, oh my god,
I would have seriously, I would have heard it.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
I would have heard it. Oh. Anyway, Yeah, I can't
help but think in my mind, you know, if you're
gonna spend four hundred dollars on shipping for this dress,
how much does said dress costs? But that's not that's
not for us to know, Gray, or or at least
not for me to know. You can just keep that information.

(09:41):
I don't I know this.

Speaker 2 (09:46):
I'm like, I don't know.

Speaker 1 (09:47):
Oh, I hope this is the one she doesn't listen to. Gray.
Let's let's move on to some baseball. Maybe we can
kind of shift in and she'll just kind of forget
about it. Here's a second. Bryce Eldred was called up
by San Francisco. He is a top thirty prospect given
you know pretty much any list you look at. He's

(10:07):
played across Double A and Triple A, thirty four games
at Double A, sixty six games at Triple A, twenty
five home runs, one stolen base. He two sixty three
thirty three five ten, did have a twenty nine point
three percent strikeout rate, but also a nine point seven
percent walk rate. Obviously high prespect pedigree. Here getting the

(10:27):
late season call up from from the Giants. What are
your thoughts on on Bryce Eldridge and are you picking
him up everywhere? What's what kind of fab is almost
like what you've got left at this point, So maybe
that's not really relevant, But what what type of leagues
are you looking at? Bryce Eldridge?

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Yeah, it's fab is like, well, in this one league,
it's for I start with one thousand and I have
six dollars left.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
So I guess it must be like four months ago. Great,
I don't know how.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
Yeah, you know I was looking at Bryce Eldridge. Actually,
Kog's just texted me good night sweet.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (11:15):
Anyway, I was looking at Bryce Eldridge and you know,
the Giants had said originally, the Giants said they weren't
going to call him up and they were going to
go with you know, Dom Smith at first base, and
the fact that Dom Smith could block anyone really really
is an issue with how MLB handles prospects. So yeah,

(11:38):
I mean Bryce Eldridge looks more or less ready. I
guess he's got some issues with his strikeouts. He's got
a huge power to me, like he's still only twenty
years old. But to me he looks like a you know,
this is more big picture. Obviously, we only have two
weeks left, so you know, it is what it is
at this point, you pick him up if you need

(11:59):
power potentially if he's playing. But you know, all that aside.
You know, at this point we might as well just
talk about keeper leagues. And to me, he looks like
a guy who is probably like Jack cagleone was this year,
I could see him being that next year. Like there
is I think there's real like contact issues in his

(12:21):
profile as of right now. Again, he's only twenty years old,
so that could straighten itself out pretty quickly. Like just
because he had a thirty percent strikeout rate in TRIPAA
does not mean he's gonna have a thirty percent strikeout
rate in say two or three years. Again, he's twenty
years old, so I mean this is like, you know,
this is very is he's very young, and he can

(12:46):
you know, grow into a all star superstar even like
I wouldn't be shocked. You know, he's got huge power,
big power, lefty corner infielder. I would say, you know,
it's impossible to really game out a twenty year old,
but if I had to guess, I would say, in

(13:09):
his prime, you're looking at a thirty five to forty
two homer to sixty ish hitter. It looks like at
least and with good walks. He's always had solid walks
in the miners, so maybe you know, a three seventy
five on base percentage when everything's said and done, he

(13:30):
he doesn't have any speed, so it's not gonna that's
not in his game. But you know, big power from
a cornerman absolutely works. I would say, you know, you
might be looking at potentially two years from now though,
when he's actually you know, when he fully clicks and
everything comes together. It depends on how quickly he can

(13:54):
figure out his contact, because he has had decent contact
going along in the miners, like earlier in his career,
and saying earlier is ridiculous because he's so young. But
when he was like when he was nineteen, he started
to figure out in like hiyay, he started to figure
out contact. And then as he started progressing through the miners,

(14:16):
he started losing contact. So at a certain point it'll
click again. It's just a matter of how long it
takes the click. Now we saw, you know, this weekend,
Anthony Rizzo retired and you know, showing my age a
little bit. But I remember when Andy Rizzo first was
called up, it looked like he was going to struggle

(14:38):
with strikeouts, and at a certain point that did not
you know, that was no longer an issue until you know,
much later on in his career. But you know, when
he's when he went into his prime, he was a
great hitter, and I think, you know, the same will
be of Eldridge at some point. I don't know if
it's going to be next year, Like I said, it

(14:59):
might be two years from now. He's either gonna be
Nick Kurtz next year or he's gonna be Jake Jack Caglione.
I would I would guess it's probably gonna be kag
leone because I think, you know, the contact issue is
that he's showing right now in tripa A are gonna
continue next year. I'd be shocked if he's suddenly fixed

(15:22):
as a twenty one year old. That doesn't mean he
can't be, but I would I would be pretty surprised.
I wouldn't be actually, I wouldn't be shocked to see
him not even get called up until you know, May June. Potentially,
I don't know if he's gonna break camp. I you know,
I don't know what they're you know, I think they're
probably looking at, you know, potentially him breaking camp I

(15:43):
think he's gonna have every opportunity in spring training to
break camp. But if he goes into spring training and
hits one eighty with a couple ding dongs, it ain't
gonna matter. If you know, if his contact isn't better
in spring training, he's gonna get sent down. He's gonna
start the year at Triple A, which wouldn't be shocking
at all. I don't think. Maybe two months in Triple

(16:06):
A and he comes up in May June potentially, or
you know, I you know, I stay corrected and he
starts a year with the Giants. It could happen. But
for right now, yeah, I mean, he's nothing but a
you know, maybe in a daily league if you're looking
for a power guy and he's playing. I don't even
know if he's gonna play every day. I want to

(16:27):
be shocked if Wilmer Flores is in front of him
in some games, so I'd be shocked if he plays
every day even this right now. So yeah, I like him, though,
I would grab him potentially if you have room to
play a guy in a daily league when he's actually playing,
But in most leagues shallower than like twelve team or shallower,

(16:51):
you probably don't need to pick him up. You probably
can find what he's going to give you off of
waivers in most in most mixed leagues at least. But yeah,
I mean he looks good though for keepers, I definitely
am interested.

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Yeah, I'm interested as well. And the strikeout rate I
know is high this year, but previously, you know, coming
through the miners, it really wasn't as bad. He's more
like a twenty six percent strikeout, right, guy. Just looking
through the numbers, Gray, it looks like they kind of
either they asked him to or he started to try
and kind of increase his launch angle. He was at

(17:29):
seven point nine last year, he was at thirteen point
two this year. So that kind of explains a little
bit of the strikeout and the average drop. Just he's
trying to find the launch angle, find more power. You know,
power big power will eventually get you kind of oooed
along to the majors as well as being able to

(17:51):
make contacts. So maybe it was something he was working
or they asked him to work on. Yeah, I agree.
I like Bryce Eldritch. He is a he is a
large man. Gray, He is six foot seven. If you
haven't looked at him yet, Wilmar Flores has gone next year,
so there's really no reason he shouldn't have every opportunity
to break camp next year. But you know, we'll see

(18:14):
if that happens or not. I will say I think, like,
if we're just looking at the profile Gray, there is
a you know, close your eyes and pass out in
dream scenario where you're like, he's six seven, he's gigantic,
big power, had some strikeout issues and the miners, Like,

(18:36):
doesn't that sound like Aaron Judge a lot? I know
we were talking about Jack hackleon He's not done. He's
not done great in his first look, and he had
much better strikeout rates and averages through the miners, but
he was also more of a polished project. He was,
you know, a college bat versus you know, eighteen year old.
But just just looking through the numbers, and that's what

(19:00):
kind of peques my interest here. Green, What are your
thoughts on that crazy statement. I'm not saying next year.

Speaker 2 (19:09):
I mean potentially, I guess, you know, I guess yeah,
I mean, I guess it's possible. He's uh, he has
a big boy you know, it's like Judge was, you know,
I just refreshed my memory going and looking at his stats,
I mean, Judge didn't really get going until he was

(19:31):
twenty five, and like I was, you know, like I
said numerous times before about Elbridge, he's only twenty, so
I mean he might be he might be a ways
away potentially. I mean if he's I mean, if he's
up mashing, like you know, next year at twenty one,
hitting you know, thirty five forty homers as a twenty

(19:56):
one year old, I mean that's that. I mean, then
he's like in he's immediately like Okay, this guy's going
to be a superstar for a decade at least at
least I mean, you know that's like that's like Juan
Soto type stuff. So yeah, I mean he's so young.
I don't know. I mean, Judge is a big thing

(20:16):
to put on him. It's a big comp I would
probably say, yeah, I mean maybe, but I don't. Again,
this is just I would say.

Speaker 1 (20:29):
Very big aspiration there. Just again, looking at the numbers Judges.
Last year in the minors, he hit nineteen home runs,
five stolen bases, two seventy. The year before that he
had twenty home run, seven stolen bases, hit two fifty five,
twenty six percent, twenty six and twenty four percent strikeout right, sorry,
and then he coming up to the majors and hit

(20:49):
fifty two home runs at twenty five. Again could he
was also a college bat. He was a you know,
a polished college bat. He was twenty two when he
came in versus eighteen for Eldridge. I'm not saying so.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
Judge had a twenty runs. Judge had a Judge had
a twenty four percent strikeout rate, yes, in the in
his last year at Triple A. And you know, like
we were saying before with Eldridge, he's at you know,
thirty percent. So I mean I feel like he's just
he might be a couple of years away. I mean,
maybe he's not. Maybe he's like, you know, like he

(21:24):
could come up and you know, if he puts it together,
Like I think, I don't think the powers is going
to be an issue. I just don't know if the
contact is going to be there. So if like he
comes up next year and hits thirty homers and to thirty,
I feel like that's a success. And then he gets
his strikeout rate down a little bit the following year

(21:46):
as a twenty two year old, and he hits like
thirty five homers and two sixty and then he keeps like,
you know, as a twenty four or twenty three, twenty
four year old, he lowers his strikeout rate even more,
and suddenly he's a forty homer two eighty hitter. I mean,
that's totally possible. And then you're like, and then he's

(22:06):
a step away from Judge for sure, as a twenty
four year old. But that's you know, he's got to
make that he's gonna make that progress. I don't think.
I don't think he's there yet. I mean not not
for next year at least.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
No. I wasn't saying for next year. I was again,
I was thinking long term.

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Just yeah, no here, Like sure, if we're talking twenty
as a as a twenty four to twenty five year old, sure, yeah,
that's possible. He could get he could get there in
four years. But that's four that's four years. Uh, you know,
so we're it's a it's a while, it's a it's
a little bit of a ways away. But yeah, I

(22:47):
mean possibly.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, I'm not saying he's gonna come up and hit
fifty two home runs and two eighty four like Judge David,
that is that is not what I'm saying. So if
anybody's hearing that, please do not take that to too hard,
but just say and he's a very young talent. Seems
like they were working on some things with him this year,
or he was working on some things, so it may
take some adjusting, but there is big potential there. Wouldn't

(23:12):
mind picking him up in just about any league if
you're looking for power and just seeing what happens. As
you mentioned, he may not play every day though, so
you have to kind of monitor that as the Giants
are trying to chase down the last wildcard spot I
went over to totally.

Speaker 2 (23:27):
I would be totally annoyed if they don't play him
versus lefties next year too, because then it's like then
you're then you're stunting a guy's growth. I think, I
don't know, I'd be pretty frustrated if if they do
that next year, like if he starts the year with
the Giants and then doesn't play against lefties. But I
guess I could save that annoyance for next year. We

(23:49):
can go back well to.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Wait to see what they do. And wilberm Floyd's gone
and well we'll see who what veteran the Giants bring
in the block Bryce Eldridge. They're starting to start every day.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
Yeah, what's I was thinking, what's like Reese Hoskins?

Speaker 1 (24:09):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (24:10):
What's his contract? Like? I feel like he's a guy
that gets brought in like out of nowhere. It's like
the Giants bringing Reese Hoskins just as a as a bridge.
They're gonna bridge. They're gonna bridge to Eldridge.

Speaker 1 (24:25):
I believe Reese is a mutual option, so uh could
be a free agent, could be back with no wal.

Speaker 2 (24:33):
I guess we'll say probably going to.

Speaker 1 (24:35):
Free agency if I have to guess, because he can't
stay healthy. But we will see on that as well.
Let's move over Toronto where they brought up Trey Yes, yes.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
Fitch Uh savage you filthy?

Speaker 1 (24:48):
Yes? He savage? Yes? Uh?

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Where are we at rent Fair?

Speaker 1 (24:58):
He has gone through three levels this year. He did
seventeen innings at high A, thirty at Double A, and
seventeen innings at Triple A. Ninety eight innings. Overall, he
has a three one, two year and ninety seven whip
one hundred and sixty strikeouts, which was a forty one
point one percent strikeout rate, it does have a ten
and a half percent walk right, a top fifty prospect

(25:20):
as a pitcher means he's pretty darn good. Gray, What
are your thoughts on yet another great arm being brought
up here at the end of the season in tray? Yes,
ye savage, yee shavage.

Speaker 2 (25:35):
I think this guy looks great, man, I'm actually really
excited about him, not for this year. You know, by
the time people listen to this, he will have already
pitched on Monday, so you know, whatever he did is
kind of irrelevant. If he if he was great, you know,
then super. But I don't know how many more starts

(25:55):
he's gonna get or how many more innings he's going
to pitch for the J's, So this is all for
next year at this point.

Speaker 1 (26:02):
You know.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
I like his like, you know, the fact that he's
got a such a refined splitter. I don't know why
they don't teach everyone to splitter like that feels like
the get out of jail pitch for everyone. Like if
you could throw his splitter, well I don't, No one
can hit it. It's like the impossible pitch to hit.

(26:25):
I think he's like, what is he got like four
or five pitches he's got all. He's got a variety
of pitches really good, fastball, excellent, curve, slider is amazing,
splitter is good. His strikeout rate and the miners was awesome.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
I mean, I see what you know it.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
It's just came out with a top fifty update for
his prospects, his top fifty prospects for Fantasy and you know,
I kind of understand why he's got ye Savage, Ye Savage,
he's got you average there in the top forty, because
he looks really good and he's already at the point

(27:07):
where like when you're when you're only twenty one. Well,
he's twenty two right now. He just turned twenty two
in July. But when you're twenty two and you're already
knocking on the major's door with like those kind of numbers,
I mean that is exciting, especially for keeper leagues. I
want to be shocked to see him in like, you know,

(27:27):
the rotation next year for the Jays and also a
you know, a top five bet for a Rookie of
the Year for al Like he's he looks like he's
he's got this stuff. Man. I'm I want to be shocked.
If he's probably for twelve teen mixed leagues next year,
you're looking at a guy who's probably gonna get drafted around,

(27:51):
you know, maybe two twenty five or something for like
a fifth or sixth starter in like an RCL league
as a fly. But he's the kind of guy who
could potentially be you know, a top thirty arm, top
twenty even or top twenty five something like that, with

(28:11):
like you know, maybe pro rated innings. So I mean,
he's not going to throw an entire year next year,
but if he breaks camp, he probably is gonna throw
through you know, maybe one hundred and twenty five, one
hundred and thirty five innings, which is you know, X
of excellent innings potentially, you know, everywhere he went, he

(28:35):
sort of just like blue hitters away. He hasn't he
hasn't reached a level where hitters have caught up to him,
that's for sure. So yeah, I'm really interested in him
for next year.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
For this year, you know, it is what it is.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
If people streamed him today, hopefully he did well. I
don't know if he's gonna get another start, so we'll see.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
Yeah, I think we got to name him like the
Macho Man, because I don't know. I don't have to
say his name every time. Gray, it's too much. I mean,
I feel like the splitter is an amazing pitch, but
it's probably just terrible on your arm, because like Tany
throws it, Gosman throws it, Sazaki, and you have amoto

(29:17):
throw it. Cobb, Alex Cobb has the splitter. Former cub
great Dan Herron.

Speaker 2 (29:30):
Now that's a name.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah. I mean, there's some pretty good pitchers who also
stayed healthy, like Clemens and and Bruce Shuter that through
the splitter, but there was also in a different time.
I don't I don't know, Gray, I don't have any
I don't have any good reason why the splitter was
okay for those guys but not anymore. But let's move
on to those cubs that I was talking about. They

(29:52):
recalled Moises Bellasteros. We talked about him when he got
called up initially. He's got called up for a single
game with an expanded roster again at one other point.
But he has a hit in all three games since
being recalled. He has thirteen one runs, five stone bases.
He at thirty sixteen, three, eighty five, four seventy three
in triple a this year. Are you interested in grabbing

(30:14):
Bolisterios this time around?

Speaker 2 (30:18):
I mean, if he's playing, sure, you know, again, like
I think as of right now, like if you're you know,
looking at a guy like Bolisteros, who uh you know,
catch your eligibility and that's, uh, that's good. But if
he's not playing, then it's like, you know, it doesn't
do you any good for the final two weeks to

(30:38):
have a guy who looks good on paper but isn't playing.
So uh, yeah, I mean I like him. I think,
you know, if it's between him and Carson Kelly and
Carson Kelly's actually playing, I would pick up Carson Kelly.
I mean, so it's really just a matter of like
who's playing first who isn't. But yeah, I mean he

(31:00):
looks great. I saw on i think it was Saturday,
his first major league home run. I'm sure you saw too,
where he hid it into the bleachers and Anthony Rizzo
bobbled it and nearly caught it when he was sitting
out there with the bleacher bombs. Which is it's actually
I mean, you know, it kind of warmed my my

(31:20):
grinch heart a little bit. It is pretty It is
pretty cute to have you know, a rookie hit his
first home run to Anthony Rizzo and the bleachers. That's
kind of cool. But yeah, I mean for this year, eh,
but for next year. I mean the fact that they
keep calling him up. They you know, I believe I mean,

(31:42):
I think they believe in him, which you know they should.
And again, I mean so young at you know, right now,
he's twenty one years old, just came off of you know,
a minor league season where he just I mean he
he hit three, sixteen and triple A as a twenty
one year old. I you know, I feel like he's

(32:05):
like probably a potential top ten catcher next year if
he breaks camp with the Cubs. And I don't see
why they wouldn't have him break camp because it looks
like he's, you know, just completely exhausted all minor league pitching.
So I think he's ready. He looks ready. You know,
I think he's another guy. Let's see on itches uh

(32:28):
and Itch's new top fifty Fantasy Baseball prospects. He came
in at forty two, so yeah, he's in the He's
in the top fifty as well, just below three Savage.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Yeah, Gret, I think Ballistaios is in the He's got
to be in the plans for next year. I mean,
Carson Kelly's fine and all, but he's see you know,
it feels more of a backup role, and Ballistaios will
get a shot, or they may use him like they're
using him right now, which is out of the DH.
They have some injuries. Obviously, he's been hitting clean up
the last two games out of DH. So if they're

(33:06):
gonna continue doing that, absolutely grab Ballasteros and throw him
in your catcher spot, especially if you're like me and
you lost Wili Smith last week and kind of just
jumping around from waiver wire, pick up the waiverwarter, pickup
a catcher, moving over to sorry, yes I'm saying no,

(33:27):
no I.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
I I hear you, and I agree, okay.

Speaker 1 (33:33):
Moving over to Boston where they called up Connolly early
seventy one innings in Double A and twenty eight and
two thirds in Triple A, one hundred innings altogether, two
six era A one one one whip thirty one point
nine percent strikeout rate, nine point seven percent walk rate.
He's only a top three hundred prospect gray, but these
numbers looked really good. And uh, if you know he's

(33:56):
gonna get a shot, you might as we might as
well talk about him. Yeah, no, completely really nice.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
In his first start, Yeah he did, he did. He
did well for the Red Sox when he was first
called up. Five innings, eleven strikeouts.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, it's kind of you know, it's kind of interesting
looking at his prospect grades from you know, prior to
this year, because he wasn't really highly saw it or
highly talented. I guess the Yeah, but the numbers really,
like again, they jump off the page for what he's
done so far this year in the minors and in

(34:32):
his one start in the majors, I think he's you know,
the fact that he's called up. I think he's he's
starting today Monday or is it Tuesday? I don't know
he started, Well, he's starting, Uh, he's starting this week.
He may have started already, but I mean, at this

(34:53):
point he's just like a streamer.

Speaker 1 (34:55):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (34:55):
And you know, so it is what it is as
far as this year, I think though, you know, for
next year, I do, like I wish, like his numbers
are so eye poppingly good that it's like it's hard
to not be a little bit excited, but I mean
the fact that he is, you know, somewhat he wasn't

(35:18):
well regarded as a prospect really before this year. That
you know, it's a it's a little concerning, not completely,
but the fact that his command is a little wonky.
For next year, I mean that's gonna you know, that'll
play into what the expectations will be. And if you know,
a guy with wonky command, even if he makes the

(35:41):
red Sox rotation out of spring training, which I'm sure
he's gonna be, uh, he'll be in line for the
fifth for the fourth or fifth spot, I'm sure. And
the fact that his command isn't that good in Fenway.
Fenway is a killer park for pitchers, not a great park. Uh,
not kill her asn't good, but kill her asn't bad.

(36:02):
It's not a good park. And if he's you know,
walking guys and you know, unable to uh, if he's
got too many guys on on base and you know,
his whip is a little bit high, and if it's
like a you know, if he's a guy who has
to strike out everyone, I mean, it could get worriesome.

(36:24):
But you know, that's for next year. I guess to
you know, concern ourselves with. But yeah, I'm I'm a
little bit less excited about his Uh you know, his
command is a little bit wonky, so I'm a little
bit less excited about him and some of the other
then I guess only he Savage was the only other
pitcher we talked about. But yeah, I mean I'm still,

(36:45):
you know, interested enough where I could see potentially him
being a flyer around like two fifty next year in
redraft leagues. So yeah, I mean, definitely someone to consider
for keepers if you're looking to stash guys for next year.
Right now, I think more than likely there's gonna be

(37:05):
guys who are above him. I would say, I don't
know if he's even guaranteed a rotation spot next year.
He's absolutely will be in the running for one. It'll
depend on what he does in spring training. But yeah,
I mean he looks he looks better like stats wise
then most people give him credit for. So you know,

(37:26):
maybe maybe the scouts are missing something with him. The
command is a little bit off, so that could be
a concern.

Speaker 1 (37:35):
Yeah, that's probably the reason I wouldn't necessarily run him
out for a spot. Start here. At the end of
the season. If he gets into trouble with the walks,
it's either a big whip issue or you know, that
turns into a lot of runs potentially and destroys everything
he got going. But I am interested to see what
his starts here at the end of the season look
like and look forward to next year because that could

(37:58):
be interesting. Mentioned the numbers don't really seem to have
matched the prospect pedigree, so we'll kind of have to
maybe have to bug itch and see what's going on
with that. But being able to pitch, you know, that
feels like one of those things that doesn't always get
the credit that it should coming through the miners if

(38:18):
it's not you know, ninety eight plus or just some
nasty breaking ball or something. So he may just be
a decent pitcher who just knows how to throw the ball.
We'll love to see. Moving over to the Angels Gray,
who're making fun of him, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim,
who you got called out about not being that far

(38:41):
from Los Angeles, by the way, as far as San Francisco. No,
and it's not as far as San Francisco. It's about
as far as I drive every day to work, So
not that far really, although I know how long that
takes in Atlanta traffic, and LA traffic has to be
probably on scale with Atlanta traffic, I would guess.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
I actually I went to grad school in Orange County
UH while living in La UH, and I used to
drive past Angel Stadium, like, you know, five six days
a week, and it's pretty far close. I'll be honest,
it's a it's a hike, but you know whatever, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (39:23):
It's not a drive you really want to do, just
you know, you're you're doing it because you have to.
But hey, let's let's talk about that team that we
make fun of constantly. Well, Gray, they finally got one
of their cast offs, Kytt Kingery. They finally had enough.
They have called up denzare Guzman. He is again a
very low end prospect, and in regards to what we're

(39:45):
talking about. Normally, ninety three games in Double A, thirty
six games at Triple A, one hundred and twenty nine
games this year, he had seventeen on runs, fourteen stolen bases.
He had two forty seven three forty three four to
twenty six twenty five point four percent, So I got
rate in eleven and a half percent walk right. I mean,
obviously we're over looking at Ale only for this year,

(40:06):
but any thoughts here.

Speaker 2 (40:08):
They're the Angels are just so bad of an organization
that it's like this, it feels like this is only
an Angels problem, where I look at a hitter stats
in the minor leagues and it's like it doesn't look
like they're getting better. It just looks like they're progressing
through the through the system. It's just like they start

(40:29):
in high A or single A even with a two
thirty ish average while striking out like thirty percent of
the time, and then they slowly make their way up
for what reason.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
I don't know why.

Speaker 2 (40:45):
I don't know why they're getting promoted when they can't
seem to make contact in like the the low miners.
But then they get promoted and they can't make contact
the upper miners and they just keep It's like Joe
Adell took like I mean, he got promoted because they

(41:06):
have no coaching in the minors and it took him
like five years of major league hitting to like finally,
I don't know even what click for Joe Adell. I
imagine he went outside the organization and someone else was like, dude,
you gotta do something, man. I don't know, man, I
don't know why the Angels, they just keep promoting guys

(41:26):
who don't look like they're ready, Like Christian Moore comes
to mind. I mean, Christian Moore is probably the guy
who's actually in front of Guzman or I don't know.
Maybe I guess Guzman got called up because Nido is injured,
so Guzman gives them another shortstop potentially, I don't know. Anyway,

(41:51):
it's it's kind of irrelevant. I mean he's you know,
he was hitting two forty seven in the minor leagues
this year. That's Guzman. You're hitting forty seven in the
miners and you get promoted like okay, I mean sure whatever.
I mean, he's only twenty one, so it wasn't like
they had to promote him. He's twenty one year old

(42:11):
hitting to forty seven in the miners. Uh. I don't
think he's ready, guys, I'm just taking a wild guess here.
I don't think he's ready, but yeah, I guess we'll see. Yeah.
I don't know what his point in time will be
for this year. Neto is, you know, nursing. I think
it's his wrist, So you know, maybe Guizmond gets a

(42:33):
couple starts, well, you know, Nedo rests his wrist potentially,
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (42:40):
Yeah, I mean Adele was ready at twenty and then
they were like, no, we got to keep you on
the miners and ruin you for you with majors. That's
that's definitely what we have to do here. And just
for the record, Adele went to drive Line before the
twenty twenty three season, and so that's kind of that's

(43:01):
kind of I feel like where we're at now, drive
Line is better than the Angels, which is just sad,
sad statement. Gray, when we're talking about a professional baseball
organization in LA, that's uh, that's well an high whatever,
that's crazy. Let's move on, Grey. Let's talk about something

(43:22):
more uplifting than the Angels. Let's talk about some players
who are giving us glimpses into greatness here at the
end of the season. Let's start in New York where
Mark Bientos was.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Let's talk about something more uplifting the Angels. Let's talk
about the Mets.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Hey, at least there's one bright spot, which is Mark Fientos. Here, Gray, uh,
first half two twenty three, six home runs, second half
in twenty two last games, eleven home runs and he's
hitting two sixty four, number twenty eight on the Player
Raider at third base for the season, but number three
third basement over the last thirty days. What are your

(44:03):
thoughts on this late season charge from only Mark Fientos
in the Mets organization.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
Owan Zota has been pretty good too, but yeah, yeah, yeah,
I got on that guy. No, actually, their hitting has
been good. Their pitching has been a mess anyway, except
for Sprout. It doesn't matter, Okay, So Mark Fianto's I'll say,
you know, I really liked him coming into this year.
I wrote a sleeper post for him. I thought everything

(44:32):
was about to come together for him, and it's see.
And it's interesting because it's like he kind of strikeout
rate from last year, which I thought was gonna be
the key to his success for this year, and it
didn't really fully realize because, like I think, for whatever reason,

(44:53):
they were you know, well, he's slumped. I mean, that's
why they were doing it. But it's like they were
platooning him, which you know, I think when you get
a young player who's slumping and then you start platooning him,
I think you know, it's hard to get out of
that slump, that rot when you're not playing every day.
So I think potentially there was a little bit like

(45:14):
you know, it's like a thing that sort of spiraled
out of control when he started off cold and then
it didn't get better, and then he started losing playing time,
and you know, then the injuries hit a little bit.
I believe he was out for a little bit with injuries.
So it was all like a lot of a confluence
of like a lot of bad things happened to him,

(45:34):
and I think he finally started clicking in the second half,
and you know, I still believe in him.

Speaker 1 (45:43):
You know, he's a little bit.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Tough in uh for fantasy, because he doesn't really give
you anything as far as speed goes. He hasn't really
shown to be able to hit for a really high average.
So you're looking at a guy like, what's really the
ceiling here? Is it? You know, thirty homers and a
two seventy average? Okay, but is that really something like

(46:09):
you know, zero speed to seventy average thirty homers? That's fine,
but it's like, what's what's really the huge upside here?
And I don't know if there is any So I
still like him, though I think I'm still gonna be
in next year. I'm probably not gonna be as outspoken
about it because I've gotten burned this year, and I

(46:34):
still worry a little bit that if something happens at
the beginning of next year, like you know, burn me once,
shame on you burn me twice. I'm absolute moron. And
why do I keep getting burned? Because like, if something happens,
you know, in the early going next year and next season,
then you know, if the same thing happens again where

(46:55):
it's like, you know, he's penciled in as the DH say,
coming out of training with Brett Baty as the third basement,
and then Viento's suddenly goes into a slump in April
and before you know it, like you know, someone else's
dhing and you know, and he's on and Viento's isn't
playing every day and it becomes a you know, the

(47:17):
same issue that we had this year issues that issue
happens again next year. So so I'm a little bit
more hesitant going into next year, but I do I
still like Fiano's I still think, you know, he could
be potentially underrated slash underdrafted in drafts next year, and
I think there's real potential for him. I think there's

(47:38):
like a solid if you know, I'd probably say he's solid,
if a little bit unspectacular would probably be what I would, uh,
you know, label Viento's as, which is fine. I mean,
solid is not a bad thing if you have, you know,
as long as he has you know, third base eligibility,
because it's not really that strong of a position.

Speaker 1 (48:01):
Yeah, it's not. It's been. It's been pretty bad this season.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
Gray.

Speaker 1 (48:05):
I will say on Vento's it feels like it feels
like sometime at the end of last season, pitchers kind
of figured him out. That carried over into this season,
and now he's made his counter to it. So I
can definitely see myself back in on Vento's next year
because I don't think the price is gonna be very
high at all on him. I mean, he's a free

(48:25):
agent in a number of leagues, I believe, so you
can pretty much grab him up right now. I don't.
I don't feel like he's gonna be you know, an
expensive bube. But you mentioned the upside. I do think,
you know, the average kind of holds you back a
little bit, but he did have twenty seven home runs
in one hundred and eleven games in his first appearance

(48:47):
last year, So I do think from a power standpoint,
there is upside here and the ADP should be nice.
So I could definitely see myself getting in on him
as a power value play. But you're right, there's been
enough signs in back to back seasons where he just
goes through, you know, a significant slump where you know

(49:09):
you really can't start him for a month two months,
and that's that's pretty hard to roster in ten twelve
team leagues, and even in you know, kind of a
shallower fifteen team league where you're needing to have somebody
out there, especially in a weekly league, it gets tough.
Moving on to Minnesota, where I got to say, I

(49:31):
was watching the Vikings on Sunday Night football and I
saw this player banging the drum and I had to
think to myself, I really hope he doesn't pull anything
on national TV, just in street clothes. And this is
of course Royce Lewis uh missed time obviously. First half
two sixteen two home runs, second half two fifty three

(49:53):
to ten home runs, ten stolen bases. In September, he
has twelve games where he said two eighty three home runs,
seven stolen bases, number forty two among third basement for
the season. Again not a great crop of people, but
number five over the last thirty days. What are your
thoughts on Royce Lewis, And let's just start with whether
you would take him or Mark Vanto's next season.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Oh, definitely Biento's. I'm not really Royce Lewis guy. I mean,
I think he's fine if you're picking him up off
a waivers. I think he's okay if you're like able
to get a really good discount. I think Fiento's is
a soild like Viento's hasn't shown me that, you know,

(50:36):
he can't stay on the field at all, and he's
just like you know, I mean, Royce Lewis hasn't shown
me anything, really, I don't. I don't see anything there
other than like you know, he has had a good
second half. But I mean we've seen this before in
you know, small spurts. I don't know. I just I'm

(50:59):
not really a Loys Royce Lewis guy. I think, uh,
I think he's you know, other than the pedigree, which
you know, we've you know, for a long time. It
was like, you know, everyone considered him a future superstar.
But besides that, if you just look at his actual stats,
I mean, he kind of just looks like a guy

(51:19):
who gets hot for you know, a couple of weeks
here and there. Other than that, I mean, I don't
really see much to Royce Lewis. I don't know, I'm
not I'm not the biggest Royce Lewis fan. I guess
there's a potential where he has like a Byron Buxton
type season at some point, and Royce Lewis, you know,

(51:43):
stays healthy. As you know, I wait for the listeners
laughter to die down. If Royce Lewis stays healthy, go ahead,
finished laughing. And he uh, you know, wants to steal bases.
And you know, have you know, a huge year like

(52:06):
you know, like what we're seeing with Buckston. I guess
as possible like a year like that. But you know,
we also I mean we took it took like seven
years to get that from Buckston, and you know, like
it's like how many times are you going to get
in and get burnt? And then like you know, and
and be like oh, I'm never doing this again. Like,

(52:26):
at a certain point, maybe we get it from We'll
get you know, a full season from Royce Lewis, and
he'll put it all together and like the second half
where he hit ten homers and stole ten bags, maybe
he'll he'll stay healthy, uh and then do like, you know,
have a twenty five twenty five season, you know, potentially
at some point. But I mean you're just your rolling

(52:47):
the dice really, like there's no like, there's no way
of knowing other than like, you know, potentially knowing that
he has he has potential. But other than that, there's
nothing else you can look at and be like, oh, yeah,
this is you know, this is this is who he's
gonna be next year. I Mean, it's like it's impossible

(53:08):
to trust them. So, I mean that's a hard it's
a hard guy to get in on a guy you
can't trust.

Speaker 1 (53:15):
Yeah, would you put him over Brett Batty?

Speaker 2 (53:22):
You know, Baby's issue is he's a lefty and the
Mets have assumed that he just cannot hit lefties, which
I mean, you know, maybe that's a correct assumption, but
he's you know, Batty is gonna miss games left and right.
He has. Baby's also upside feels very minimal at this point.

(53:45):
I don't know. I guess they're close. I mean, I
don't think, like I'm not really a Baby fan. I
guess they're They're close enough, But I'd probably go Royce
Lewis for the upside because I don't know if Baty
even has that upside.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
Yeah, Baty unfortunately is doing his best Yandy Diaz impression.
So all that great power that he has is just
going straight into the ground. Yeah, and it's just not
helpful for us. If he gets the launch angle figured out,
he absolutely has legitimate power. I mean, he he crushes
the ball straight into the ground. It just you know,

(54:26):
it's just straight into the ground. Great, it's not real
helpful for anybody. So that's why he also goes through
slumps and good times because he gets bab of luck.
And right now, like I said, the second half looks better,
so maybe he's there's definitely more power here. So I'm
pulling up real quick just to see what the stat

(54:47):
Gass says in regards to his launch ale in the
second half. It is two. His launch angle in the
second half is two, So it's not getting any better. Gray,
it's getting worse. Yeah, I think I'm probably out on
Brett Baidy, So yeah, I'll go ahead and take the
chance on Royce Lewis. There, what about Noelle Bay Marte?

Speaker 2 (55:14):
I said that, and Scott, I mean, man too, what
you doing?

Speaker 1 (55:19):
What are you doing? Man?

Speaker 2 (55:22):
I would take in the way of a Marte. I
would take Marte over uh over Royce Lewis.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Yeah, And I think the big distinction here between Royce
Lewis and like you said, Byron Buxton, is it as
an example of a guy who's kind of injured and
took time. Byron Buckston had a lot of injuries, but
they weren't ever really that big of an injury, like
he had had a bunch of different issues as well,
whereas Royce Lewis just doesn't have a right leg. And uh,

(55:52):
you know, tell me if I'm wrong here, Gray, it's
hard to play baseball without a right leg, especially if.

Speaker 2 (56:01):
Myself. I don't really consider myself a scout, So I
don't know for sure if that's true. I mean, it
sounds like you're right, but I don't want to say definitively.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
Yeah, I think we'll just go ahead with that one. Then,
and we'll move on to Atlanta, where an equally disappointing
player is turning it on for the last month. Here, Gray,
just to really confuse us for next season, and that
is Ozzi Alby's. The first half ninety five games, he
hit two twenty with seven home runs and seven stolen bases.

(56:34):
The second half fifty four games, two seventy three, nine
home run, seventh stolen bases. Amazing enough, Gray, even with
that terrible first half and missing time, he is number
thirteen on the Player Raider at second base. That's just
how bad the position gets after a certain point. What
are your thoughts on Ozzie Alby's. I know that there

(56:56):
is any number of us, including myself, just yelling at
myself for having him even ranked at some point during
the season. But I mean, he's thirteen. He clawed his
way back to second back second base relevance. What are
we doing here? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (57:17):
I mean, I think you're I think you're right that
he has clawed his way back to relevance. But he
hasn't closed his way back into my good graces. Unfortunately,
if he cares. Unfortunately, he has not made you know,
made me sit up and take notice of how well

(57:40):
he's done in the second half. I am out on Alby's.
I don't know, Like if you're like, it's impossible for
a you know, for me to get excited about a
guy who is currently is September fifteenth, as we record this,
has sixteen homers, fourteen steals, and is hitting two thirty nine.

(58:02):
That's that good man. I don't I don't care. You
got better in the let in the second half. He's
just like, like, even if you take his second half
of nine homers and seven steals and you multiply it
by I don't know, even have to multiply by three
to even get me interested. I for where I for
at least for where I think he's gonna go in drafts.

(58:25):
I mean, maybe I'm wrong, maybe he he falls dramatically
in drafts, which I mean he could, but I feel
like he's still gonna be overrated. I don't get the
sense that people have completely caught on that Ozzie Albi's
is now going on two straight years of being really bad,
you know, in the in the big picture, like you said,

(58:47):
he's had you know, a solid fifty four games in
the second half, but it's just not enough for me,
I'm I'm not interested in Ozzie Alpi's for next year.
I mean unless he falls really like his numbers, if
you're if you're making a baseline and saying, okay, so
say he gets a little bit better next year, another

(59:11):
year away from his injury, he still only will be
twenty nine. To say he's a twenty two homer, fifteen
steal two sixty hitter, he'd have to be at like
one seventy five overall for me to even be interested.
And I just don't think he's gonna be that far
down in drafts. So yeah, I'm not. I don't think

(59:33):
I'm in on Alby's next year. I think I think
me and Ozier we're going our separate wayte for a
little while.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
Yeah, the second second half looks a little bit better here, Gray,
but it's just you mentioned it. It's just not an
overly exciting, you know, set of things that he's bringing
to the table. He's basically hitting the ball like Nico Horner,
but he's not fast, and that's that's not really something

(01:00:02):
that we want.

Speaker 2 (01:00:02):
Grey.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
He's not swinging hard like the bat tracking shows that
his swing is speed or his fast swing rate is
just it's just dropping. And I don't know, Gray, I
don't know what's going on. I remember in preseason I
basically said when we talked about Albie's, he's he's a
complete just I'm assuming things will go back to what

(01:00:24):
they were, because there was no reason after last year
to think anything was going to get better, and nothing
got better, really, Gray, I mean, the strikeouts are still fine,
the walks are still fine, but he's just not hitting
the ball hard. I would assume the Braves, if healthy,
probably move him to the middle or bottom of the

(01:00:47):
lineup even next year, unless it less. Maybe they're facing lefties,
he gets back up to the top, but they have
plenty of righties to shift up there as well. I
just don't know that Alsie Alby's is a great, great
bet anymore. I mean, I know there's still, like you said,
what he did in the second half, but twenty two fifteen,

(01:01:12):
like that's solid at second base. But that's that feels
like the upside at this point, not the like baseline
where we would have once said for Ozzy Alby's. Yeah, yeah, unfortunate,
unfortunate to hear, although I do have a conspiracy theory
before we move on since there's not a whole lot
more on the show notes here, Gray, he actually just

(01:01:32):
once out of his terrible contract, so he played the
last three seasons or last two seasons just awful so
the Braves would cut him, and then when he goes
a free agency, he's just gonna tell all teams like, hey, guys,
I was just getting underpaid so bad that I had
to get out of there.

Speaker 2 (01:01:48):
The uh, there's really there's really nothing that gets a
guy paid as much as playing poorly.

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
Really, that is the most galaxy. You know, how I'm
gonna make.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
Some money by playing really bad?

Speaker 1 (01:02:07):
Yeah, I mean I feel like there's probably thirty to
next second basement making more money than him, So, I mean,
at some point he's just gonna look around be like, hey,
if I'm the twenty fifth best third second baseman, I'll
still get paid more than what I'm making Right now,
I gotta I gotta do this. I want to.

Speaker 2 (01:02:22):
I want twenty fifth best second baseman type money here.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
I don't want that. I don't want that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:32):
Top ten second basement type not money.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
That's that's not good.

Speaker 2 (01:02:38):
That's not I want to. I want to. I want
to play so poorly. I actually get paid. That's good.
I like that. Actually good, Actually, I like that. Conspiras
the Rockies are gonna pay him a ton grain.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
I can promise you the Rockies will pay him here absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:02:55):
You know how excited we're both gonna be when he's
on the rock.

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Every the entire fantasy baseball world.

Speaker 2 (01:03:05):
It's gonna be like you think there was a hype
over Nolan Jones and Brenton Doyle respectively in the last
two years. Oh my god, Ozzie Alby's are the Rockies.
Oh I'm talking thirty seven homers, twenty steals, two ninety average, Like.

Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
Give it to me if you have to wonder if
that's real or not. Great, just to know that Chris
Brian is still being drafted in every draft every year somehow,
So it's definitely gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (01:03:37):
Happens Chris Brian, who has gone on the record and
said I can't really play baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:03:41):
I can't swing bats or play baseball.

Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
I literally can't. He's like he's basically been like, I
feel bad, I honestly can't play baseball.

Speaker 1 (01:03:51):
But they're gonna pay me, and they have to pay me,
so why not.

Speaker 2 (01:03:56):
Yeah, yeah, so I'll show up.

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
I mean, I'll be for spring training and you know,
for the first five games.

Speaker 2 (01:04:03):
Yeah, yeah, I'll take I'll take the money for you know,
showing up.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
But yeah, absolutely, you gotta do that. Let's let's move
on from that topic. Great, let's sagn off it up.
Let's talk about some closers over in Dodgerland. We just
get to talk about this every week because you know,
they're a good team, but kind of not a great team.
Tanner Scott got to save this week, but seems to
give you two bad outings for every good one. We

(01:04:29):
said Jack Dryer because he got the save last time.
What are your thoughts here on the Dodgers' bullpen? Still
just driver because he's the only one doing anything significantly, Okay?
Or are you willing to pick up Tanner Scott and
just roll the dice?

Speaker 2 (01:04:47):
No, No, I wouldn't. If you're desperate for saves, I
would look at Tanner Scott and I would ignore everyone
else if you were. That's if you're desperate for saves.
Because he seems like he's at the top of the
food chain for for Dave Roberts, Like Dave Roberts really
wants Tanner Scott to be the closer. So if you

(01:05:08):
need saves, go with Tanner Scott. But I but that's
only if you're really desperate. Otherwise I would just ignore
the Dodgers.

Speaker 1 (01:05:16):
Look, Dave Robert, David Roberts has to have a fetch
player that he's trying to make happen. Gray, he lost
Chris Taylor. You know, Max Buntzi's never healthy, so he's
got to find a new crappy player to try and
make happen. So Tanner Scott is fetch.

Speaker 2 (01:05:36):
I mean, in Dave Roberts defense, he made Enrigue Hernandez something.
He made him fetch for like five years when there
was really nothing there, Like he was basically just a
fun guy for the clubhouse, and they're like, yeah, he's something.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
It's also amazing that they just managed to kill Tanner
Scott this season, Like he was a great pitcher for
l three seasons and now he's he's absolutely terrible. That's
it's it's awful. Moving over to Houston, Gray, Brian and
Bray you gave up has given up three runs or
run sorry, has given up runs and three of his
last five appearances. I don't know if Houston's gonna make

(01:06:15):
a change this late in the season. But who would
you look to if they did.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
Yeah, I don't think they're gonna make a change this late,
to be totally honest, but I guess I mean Brian King.
He's a lefty though. I mean, I really think it's
gonna be Brian A bray You.

Speaker 1 (01:06:32):
I don't.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
I don't really have a strong feeling for who it
would be if it's not a bray You, But I
guess I guess Brian King if you know, they they
have to if they if they really need to make
a change, But I would I would say Brian and
Brady is still the closer there.

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
Yeah, I assume they're gonna just keep rolling out Brad
or Brian bray You. They should be Brian King or
Colton Gordon or any other Santos probably doesn't deserve it either,
but somebody other than Brady probably needs to go ahead
and get in there. But it's definitely it's gonna happen.

(01:07:13):
I would go ahead and pick up Bryan King and
just have him just because he's gonna keep you better
numbers and maybe he gets a save here, just mixed
in the A's not somebody we typically talked about getting
saves since they traded the only closer that mattered there,
But Sean Newcomb gets a save? Is he the closer?

(01:07:35):
Does it matter for us? Gray?

Speaker 2 (01:07:39):
Now, I don't think it really matters, but I guess Newcomb.
If you are really desperate for saves, i'd probably go
with Newcomb, but I don't. I don't think. I don't
think he's necessarily going to get the next save. I
just think he's probably the best bet to potentially get
the next save, and otherwise I would probably ignore I

(01:07:59):
would ignore them, if you know, if you're not desperate, Yeah, I.

Speaker 1 (01:08:04):
Think it's Sean Nucum if you want somebody, and he's
actually been pretty good, so it's not like you're sacrificing
everything to go after and chase this save. But yeah,
I would go ahead and grab Nucomb if they get,
you know, any safe opportunities. Over in Minnesota, justin Topa
goes to the il Genesis. Cabrera gets to save this week.

(01:08:24):
Do you think it's Jenisa Brera? Do you think it's
a mix and match what the Twins do and who
else would be in that mix and match? Greg?

Speaker 2 (01:08:31):
Yeah, you know boll Deli. Boll Deli mixes the matches
literally every spot in his lineup and every spot in
his bullpen, so it's all it's all mix and match
for ball Deli. I don't know if that's because he
just can't keep things straight in his head, but he
does not. He does not really, he's not gonna settle
on one of these closers. So it maybe if you

(01:08:56):
grab Cole Sans or Cabrera, Jenna Cabrera, maybe you get
a save or two, but you just be lucking into it.
There's there's no rhyme or reason as to who's gonna
get the next save. So I mean, unless you're really desperate,
I don't think it's worth it.

Speaker 1 (01:09:14):
Yeah, both Carrera and Sands have been terrible. I think
if you want to look at a potential, you know,
random save, I would look at Cody Funderberg. He's a lefty,
so it's gonna be a situational save. But he's the
only one in that bullpen who's been any good that
I would even consider rostering. Really, unless you were just
absolutely trying to chase down every save in the are

(01:09:37):
and whip don't matter for you at this point. Maybe
that's where you're at. Let's move on to the Waivers
gray and give the people some batters they can look
at to help them down the stretch here.

Speaker 2 (01:09:47):
Okay, cool, So it looks like Josh Bell was hot
last week, maybe not this week, but it's hard to tell.
He is at the top of the seven Day Player
Raider though for the week because he was crazy hot.
There's also Auto Kemp. He also had a really good
week last week. Harrison Vader was hot. Michael Hellman don't

(01:10:11):
really know who he is, but he was hot. No.
I mean, I know he's a Texas Rangers outfielder, but
I don't really know. Patrick Bailey was hot. Giants catcher
Cody Clemens had a three homer game on Friday, I believe,
so that automatically puts him in the running for being hot.
Mickey Moniac had a two homer two steel game on Sunday,

(01:10:35):
and the Rockies are going to be home, so actually
the entire Rockies lineup since they're going to be home,
and also the Marlins since they're going to be in Colorado. Okay,
who else, Let's see Will Benson he had a couple homers.
He's been hot, heading over four hundred for the last week.
Caleb Durban's been hot, Carl Dylan Cruz is actually showing

(01:10:57):
up on the hot list, Okay, JP Crawford, Jose cabre
Caballerojose Cabriero, which we call Yankees guy multiple position eligibility.
The Yankees maybe finally moved on from Anthony Volpe after
it was revealed that he has been playing without a shoulder. Possibly,

(01:11:22):
Parker Meadows has been hot, Brandon Marsh, Jorge Polanco. I
feel like I mentioned him every week and then finally
Max Kepler has been hot. So there's some names for you.

Speaker 1 (01:11:35):
Yeah. One thing I know is if I pick up
Josh Bell, he will suck Gray. So official listeners, I
won't pick him up since you mentioned him here, We're
just gonna leave him out there for everybody else. Let's
move over to the streaming options. Greater Singer at Saint Louis,
kam Schitdler at Minnesota at Baltimore, Johann Oviedo versus the Cubs,

(01:11:56):
Parker Messk at Minnesota, Justin Verlander at Arizona, Braxton Ashcrat
versus the Cubs, Jake Lats versus Miami, and Chris Bassett
versus Tampa Bay Patrick Corbyn versus Miami, Played Kershaw versus
San Francisco, and Eduardo Rodriguez versus San Francisco. All those
are suitable streamers depending on what leagues you're looking in.

(01:12:19):
If you have specific questions, you can find us on Twitter.
I am at rasbeat on and Gray is of course
the owner of the at rasball accounts. If you have
anything you want us to talk about next week, go
ahead and throw that at us as well. You can
also put in the comments on rasball dot com or
on YouTube dot com slash rasball Fantasy Until next week.
May your lineups be perfect. Maybe win your matchups and

(01:12:39):
I'll talk to you later. Gray.

Speaker 2 (01:12:41):
All right, leads, I see it