The Fantasy Baseball Beat Talks Diamondbacks With Jack Sommers from Sports Illustrated!

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Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Beat. Welcome to the Fantasy Baseball Beat, part of the Triple Play Fantasy Network ORG.

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Thank you so much for joining us. My name is Chris Torres PERSON. I'll be your host today. I'll be flying solo for our first segment again. You know, because my co-host, Mike, he likes to prioritize his actual job over this podcast, which, listen, I absolutely refuse to do that. So you, the listener, I think it might just mean my mom, but will always come first. Hi, Mom, by the way.But for this segment, I will be interviewing Jack Summers PERSON, who writes for Inside the Diamondbacks at s.i.com. And then I'll be joined by my co-host, Mike Carter, hopefully, for our fantasy follow-up segment. So let's get right to it and bring in Jack. This is Jack's second time on the show. Really enjoyed having him on last time and wanted to get him back on.I remember he brought the heat. He really, he brought great information and spoke our language. I remember that. So thank you so much for joining us, Jack PERSON. How are you doing? I'm doing great, Chris PERSON. Great to be back. Thanks for having me on.No problem. All right. So let's get right into it. I think the biggest story around the Diamondbacks ORG so far this season is, pun intended, they've been snake bitten with injuries so far. Pun intended, they've been snake bitten with injuries so far. And the other thing is in addition to these injuries, they've had several of these players experienced setbacks during their rehabs. So I want to get your opinion, and I know you wrote about this recently, but do you see this as a case of just bad luck that this keeps happening, or do you think that this might be a larger issue

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within the organization? Well, I want to preface my comments by saying that the Diamondbacks have a very highly respected medical team and apparatus in place and the trainers and medical staff there. They really are great. They're great people and they do a good job. And we're dealing with high level athletes. So a lot of this is unpredictable. But I did write an opinion piece where it seemed to me like the Diamondbacks ORG were indeed rushing guys back a little bit or potentially rushing them back with some not-so-great results. They had nine players on the injured list prior to Paul Seawaldbeing activated yesterday. And some teams have more. They're not the most injured team in MLB ORG, but in their case, they really have been key injuries. I mean, they've had, they've been hit in the starting rotation with two important guys in Merrill Kelly and Eduardo Rodriguez PERSON going down. Of course, Seawald, their clothes are just pitched in their first game yesterday. They're starting center fielder Alec Thomas and shortstop for all the Podomo, two starters up the middle out.You know, so a lot of missing, a couple of relievers got hurt. They just lost left-handed Kyle Nelson for the year due to thoracic outlet syndrome. So there's a lot going on there. And the team got off to a slow start. So it's very possible that they were feeling some pressure to bring guys back quickly. In the case of Eduardo Rodriguez PERSON,they admitted that they may have made a mistake and pushed it too hard. You know, he had this latch strain, you know, which is kind of the muscle in the upper back near the shoulder area. And he said himself, he was really surprised by the MRI report. In other words, he didn't feel as bad as that report indicated. Well, a week less than 10 days after he was injured and put,he ended up starting a throwing program. And he ended up re-injuring himself and then landed on the 60-day IL. Tori Lavello PERSON said, yeah, we might have gone too fast there. So, I mean, that's definitely a case and point. Alec Thomas, he has a hamstring string.At the time, they fudged a little bit and said, well, this could be a high grade one or a low grade two. They weren't really clear about where it was, but it's a grade two hand string string. Those take four to eight weeks to heal. I mean, that's the standard. I'm not a doctor, but there's a lot of evidence out there that it takes four to eight weeks for a grade two

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hammy to heal. 17 days after he went on the injured list, he was already running the bases and taking

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swings. And he seemed to be progressing, okay, had a little bit of a setback with a illness, not a hamstring issue. But then after playing in three rehab games, it's bothering him enough that he couldn't be activated. And he had to come back to Phoenix last night and get an MRI,which we don't know the result of, to see if he's re-injured it. So, you know, should he have been shut down a little bit longer? Possibly. I mean, I'm not there. I'm not the doctor. I can't say for sure, but it's part of a potential pattern.Seawald PERSON had a setback. Again, he had a grade two oblique strain. If you research on MLB.com ORG, when they discuss these kinds of oblique strains, they say it takes, you know, a long time. Again, like a couple months generally for that to fully heal. But in less than a month's time, you know, just a few weeks on, he's throwing, moving on. Then he has a setback where he, it wasn't really a setback, he said.He felt something and he stopped throwing for a week. But he has a setback where it wasn't really a setback. He said he felt something and he stopped throwing for a week, but he had another MRI and they said, no, it's healed. Don't worry about it. Go forward. So here he is. He's activated. Fingers crossed, you know, no further issues. So there's some dots to connect there as part of a pattern, but I can't say for certain. But we have to ask the questions, and we'll continue to do so.Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

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So let me follow up on a few of their currently injured players. So you mentioned Eduardo Rodriguez, also Merrill Kelly is on the IEL, as well as you mentioned Alec Thomas. So if you could just give me a kind of estimated timeline for those players returning to the field.

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So Thomas PERSON right now no timeline because we don't know how bad a setback he had. You know, the fact that he had a bad enough setback that he couldn't be activated and went to get another MRI probably indicates we're looking at least not a couple of weeks. But, you know, they haven't offered a timeline. Merrill Kelly was placed on a 60-day IL. And so the earliest he's eligible return is June 23rd.So he's out at least until then. And quite frankly, when we asked Torrey Lavello whether or not he'd be back before the All-Star break, he was like, I don't know. I can't say. Hard to say. The only other thing he would say is, I'm sure that Merrill will pitch again this year. So, you know, if I owned him in a league and I can continue to stash him on the IL, and that's great. But don't expect him to pitch before July 1, in my opinion.

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And then, you know, from there, we'll see what happens.

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Right. Rodriguez is reportedly asymptomatic and not feeling pain at this time. So he's due to get another MRI this week. If that MRI doesn't return a signal and he'll be cleared to begin throwing again, but from this point forward, he's going to need at least three, four weeks beyond that MRI to be able to return to the team. So I think we're looking at second week of June at theabsolute earliest for Rodriguez, and that's dependent on how that MRI works out this week. Got it.

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All right. Thank you for those updates. Let me move to a player who a lot of fantasy players have been, there's been chatter about whether this player is playing through a potential or through an injury. And that is Corby and Carroll, someone who was going in the first round of fantasy drafts people were expecting a lot out of him obviously and uh you know the thing with carolis that the speed has been there that's never been the issue but there's been questions about his power and this is really going back to the second half of last season when he kind of seemed to aggravate a shoulder injury which we know he's had major shoulder surgery before. And ever since that, the second half of last season, we really haven't seen the power be there the way that it was. And I know we were joking around on Twitter.You DM me after I sent you the outline for this, and then he goes and hits a home run last night. So maybe I spoke it into existence here. But wanted to get your thoughts on this. And then he goes and hits a home run last night. So maybe I spoke it into existence here. But wanted to get your thoughts on this. Do you think there's any chance that this shoulder is still an issue or is this just variance? Is this just an aberration and that the power that we saw

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on the first half last year will return? Oh, boy, there's so much to unpack here with Corbyn PERSON. So regarding the shoulder itself, if you go all the way back to spring of 2022 when he was on the comeback from the initial surgery, he talked about using a two-handed follow-through as opposed to his natural one-handed follow-through.And he was working on that in live BP ORG's, but then once the games got underway, he stopped doing it. And the reason he was talking about the two-handed swing was specifically to protect the shoulder. It felt that the deceleration forces that are created when you're you're you know just the top hand comes flying off and your arms coming around behind your back it's very difficult to control that and if you look at the swings that he was taking through the first half of last year and then the times that he got hurt or tweaked it I should say in mid-season that you referred to certainly those were one-handed swings with the bat coming away behind him.Not something he can easily fix or correct during season. So he tried coming out of camp utilizing a two-hand to follow through much more frequently. Now, a lot of times, you know, when you're going two-hands versus one hand, it has to do with pitch location, right?

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If the ball's up and in, it's going to be a little easier to keep both hands on the bat, a ball out and away, your top hand is going to tend to kind of come off a little easier. So it's not, you know, straight chalk. Pitch location has a lot to do with it.

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But he seemed like he was kind of caught in between swings. Now, he described a completely different recently and said, essentially what he was trying to do was address an issue with cutters and fastballs up and in. And to do so, he made some tweaks to his swing to get too flat. And somewhat counterintuitivelyively because the swing was so flat, it actually left him less margin for error because he was either right above or right below the ball off.And a lot of pop-ups to the left side and a lot of rollovers to the right. So he seems to have made the adjustment. Finally, he was being very stubborn and he didn't want to give up the changes he was making to attack a weak spot on cutters and fastballs up and in. And therefore, he didn't abandon that swing change right away. I don't know what level you play baseball at it.If you ever played golf, I play a lot of golf and you get stuck in between two swings and then trying to work you way back to your original natural swing. It's really hard. Over the last week, we've seen him start to come out of it. We've seen much better swings, much better quality of contact. And then last night, he had the breakout game.

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He had a home run in opposite field, powered one out.

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And, you know, he had five RBIs in game. He also had an RBI base hit. We've seen some deep fly balls to center field, which in Chasefield FAC are typically outs, where in almost every other ballpark, they're homers,super deep, you know, 413 feet to just left and right of center field and Chase FAC field. A lot of home runs are lost there. Very high wall, too, with a very high yellow line. So, you know,he flew out deep there a few times recently. I think it's coming back. I don't know if he's going to ever get back to 25, you know, threatened 30 homers again. He definitely has double-digit power. He definitely has power to, you know, hit the ball well over 400 feet.I don't think he's playing injured, but I do think he was trying to protect the shoulder. And so it might be in the back of his mind. But from all indications, he's playing injured, but I do think he was trying to protect the shoulder. And so it might be in the back of his mind. But from all indications, he's not injured. Interesting.

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And not playing through injury.

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So a long-winded answer.

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Yeah, that's a really interesting break now.

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I never heard anybody talk about that in that much depth.

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So, and that makes a lot of sense how you described it. So really good stuff there. And yeah, just looking at Carol's, like his max EV is still, it's not great, but 11.5 is above average. He's still, over the past few weeks here, you're seeing a jump in the hard hit rate. So I think he just needs to start pulling the ball a little bit more.25% pull rate lately. Like that's going to be tough to get those homers out. But yeah, it seems like there is a little bit of improvement there. And hopefully we can get back to that 20 to 25 home run power that we're expecting from him. Okay.

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Quickly on that, the lack of pull power, the lack of balls in the air to the pole side, I should say. I'm sorry, was something that was really evident the first three weeks of the season.

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So that season number is you're probably seeing an increase in that poll number.

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Anyway, as we joke last night, if you gave up on him in your fantasy league,

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there may be much whaling and gnashing of teeth

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because I think he's probably ready to get going here.

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And back in the lead off spot too.

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Do you think that sticks? Do you think that was just kind of a temporary thing to help him get right when he got demoted to the bottom of the order? Tori would definitely like to have him over the top of the order. I mean, if he turns right back around, so it's slumping again and it lasts a long time,you may move him back down. But if he's, you know, even if he's just hitting 270 with a 340 OBP and, you know, reasonable power and moderate power, he's going to stay at the time. Yep.

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All right. So got time for a few more questions here. Quickly, Slay Chaconi PERSON. He's a guy that kind of, I have some interest in.I know he's kind of like a deep league name. And I play in some deep league. So he was someone that I've been strongly considering picking up. How long do you think his leash is? I know the last start started out great. Then it kind of unraveled there against the Padres ORG.He's starting in Cincinnati this week. Do you think, like, even if he doesn't do great this start, do you think he is going to stay in the rotation, or do you think it's Tommy Henry PERSON might be a threat to take that spot? What are your thoughts on Toconi PERSON?

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Well, he's going to have to perform to keep his spot. I mean, he's not the level of prospect where he could struggle for six straight starts and teams still sticks with him. He's not, you know, that's not his perceived upside within the organization. But at the same time, you know, they have a lot of injuries. We just talked about, you know, Erod and Kelly out for at least another month plus. So he's got at least a couple more starts of leash there.If he gets really banged around in those, then they may turn to somebody else. They may bring Henry PERSON back. They may bring up Lake Walston LOC. You know, there's another guy when we talk about prospects, you know, deep seed prospects to think about. I'll mention that name later. The thing with Sacconi PERSON, the biggest thing you need to know is that he sometimes has difficultymaintaining his stuff. You know, after about 60, 65 pitches, it just seems to wane a little bit.

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He throws strikes, he's got a good fastball, good slider. He's been trying to develop a better change-up, and that's been hit or miss. He was taught a change-up trip by Merrill Kelly.

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And, you know, he had one start where the change-up was really great. And his last start, you know, he hung a change-up. I think the corner work, I'm not sure if that's what it was.

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You know, got blasted out of there. So I would keep an eye on those two things with him. Look at his velocities after 60 pitches and see how he's doing with the change-up. Those are going to be your clues as to whether or not he's going to be able to stick or not.

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Okay, very good. So let's transition to that. You mentioned we were going to talk about a minor leaguer that we should be keeping an eye on. So who is it?

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Well, as always, I'm probably going to give you more than one. I'm sorry.

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That's all right. Christian Mena, who was brought over from the White Sox for Dominic Fletcher PERSON.

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And, you know, he's having an interesting season. The other day he had a start on April 28th, and a couple of the writers and I were just joking. It was a typical Reno GPE start. As you know, Reno, I mean, Pacific Coast League ORG is already inflated offense. And then Reno GPE is one of the most hitter-friendly parts within that inflated atmosphere. So he goes five innings, walks one, strikes out nine, but gives up two home runs and three earned runs in the five innings. You know, We just left.That's a typical good Reno GPE start.

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I was clearly dominant, but a couple of balls got over the wall.

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His ERA is 397. His FIP is like two runs higher. But it's really tough to, you've got to kind of throw all that out the window and just look at the game logs and look at his stuff start to start. that out the window and just look at the game logs and look at this stuff start to start. And then I recommend also taking a look at the baseball savant, you know, minor league section. If you go over the top now, they have minor league data for AAA ORG guys.If you go to the search page on baseball savant. And you can find, you know, if you use the drop downs and all the different included stats that you want to use, you can see things like his woba against is 343, but his ex-wova is 293. So, you know, it's a little bit different kind of viewpoint than just our typical FIPP and X-FIP when we're measuring against DRA. The guy throws hard, he's got a good slider. He's only 21 years old.If you're looking for a guy that might get a late season call up, he's not at the top of the pecking order right now. I mean, right now, Walsden and Henry PERSON are, you know, higher up as far as the depth charge's concern. But I really think that this guy could be in line for a September call-up, and if you're in a deeper league or a keeper league or, you know, something like that,certainly somebody in the Diamond Bucks ORG organization, keep an eye on. And then the second guy I want to mention that might have an impact this year because he's a catcher, and catchers get hurt a lot, right? Especially, unfortunately, Gabrielle Marino seems like every other week, you know, he was scratched, he's got this, he's got that.

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I have him on my most important team, and it's just been kind of a nightmare.

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So there's a maybe somewhat defensively challenged catcher that's tearing a cover off the ball on Adrian Del Castillo in AAA ORG. You know, he's got a cover off the ball on Adrian Del Castillo in AAA ORG. You know, he's got a 409 Woba. The X-WOBA was 350 and you say, well, you know, how good is he? But his exit velocities,hard hit rates and barrel rates are off the charts. His average exit velocity is 91-5. League average in a PCL is 87-6. His hard-hit rate's 49%. 49% Hard hard hit rate.League average is 37. Barrow rates 10%. The league average is 6.5. He's got six homers. He homered last night. Guy can hit.And he's left-handed. So he actually, you know, eventually, right now they're devaxes running, you know, Tucker Barnhart and Moreno PERSON out there. If anybody goes down or, you know, somebody goes into an extended slump and when they decided to replace Barnhart PERSON or something, Del Castillo PERSON is potentially a left-handed hitting catcher that could come upand, you know, get you a few points in a given week if a D-Bex ORG were facing nothing but right-hand a pitch. Or if Moreino PERSON goes down. Now, they still have Jose Herrera PERSON, who's a switch hitter, but I use the word hitter in quotes. But he's a good defensive catcher, and he's caught up in the majors for them the last few years and was even on the postseason roster. So, I mean, if somebody went down, they probably turned to him first.But keep your eyes on Del Castillo PERSON. This guy is hammering the ball and maybe breaking out. All right.

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Good stuff.

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So Christian Mina and Aiden PERSON.

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Adrian PERSON.

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What was the first name?

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I'm sorry.

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Adrian PERSON.

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Adrian PERSON.

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I'm sorry, Adrian Del Castillo PERSON.

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Two names to keep an eye on, especially for you, Dynasty League ORG players.

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All right. So if we have time for one more question, I wanted to just ask you. And we like to do this sometimes with our guests because you guys are in the clubhouse and interacting with the players and coaches. So I always want to ask if you have any fun or interesting clubhouse stories from this season, either spring training or regular season,that you would be able to share with our listeners. Sure, absolutely. I got one. So the most fun that we as a media member or clubhouse access guys get to have is when a guy first gets promoted for the first time to the major leagues ORG and we get to interview them. It's just such a

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cool moment. You know, these guys work their ass off so hard. You know, their old childhood and early

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adulthood, they bust it to get to the major leagues ORG. And although it's not the end point, hopefully, for most of them, just getting there is such a huge accomplishment for them and for their families. So there's a lot of cool stuff that revolves around those interviews. The last one that happened was a little bit unique, though. Blake Walson PERSON, when he got called up. He's from North Carolina and kind of, you know, folksy type of guy in the way he speaks. And he was just funny as hell.Like, you know, what's your story? You know, it wasn't a typical prank where the coach comes in and pretends that he's going to, you know, release him and then promotes him or any of that. So where were you when you found out? Well, we were in Las Vegas and I was sitting at the tables playing blackjack. And all of a sudden, you know, my buddy started gathering around. And so just the way he delivered it, the story.And of course, he lost the hand. And then he was getting teased about, well, you'll be able to afford to lose a few more hands. And then there was a classic, you know, well, who did you first call? And he goes, oh, I tried to call everybody and nobody picked up. I mean, I must have made 20 phone calls. It was in the middle of the night back east.My brother didn't pick up. My parents didn't pick up. Nobody answered the phone. Finally, I was able to get in touch with my brother. Just the way he told that story, it was quite funny. And then on top of that, his dad was trying to make it out to Arizona GPE to fly in for his debut.And he went to the wrong airport. He booked a flight, but he drove like to Wilmington GPE or something to try to get on a flight and drove to the complete wrong state at wrong airport. But he didn't make it forhis son's debut. And then unfortunately Walston PERSON was set back out right afterwards because they just needed him for some long relief. But if you have a chance to drop the link into your, you know, down below in your podcastor whatever, there is a story about Walston PERSON's debut that I put up. And within that story, there's two video embeds from Twitter ORG that are kind of him talking about the events I just mentioned. Very funny guy.

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Real good delivery. Lots of laughs.

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The last thing I'll say about that is Brandon Fought and Slade Cicone PERSON were standing off to the side, waiting for his interview to be done because they were his ride back to the apartment that they're staying at together. And they're just shaking your heads and laughing as everybody walked by on the way out of the clubhouse. And they're like,dude, we can't believe you had everybody laughing your first interview. It was a funny moment.

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That's really cool. Is Brandon Fah PERSON, is he, like, he just looks like nothing phases him. Is he that way in person?

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Absolutely. He's very

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cool, calm, collected

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all the time. He's confident but humble. You know, and he's just a great calm, collected all the time.

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He's confident but humble.

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He's just a great guy.

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He really is.

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I mean, good to talk to, interesting, intelligent.

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He doesn't like to overthink stuff, though.

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You know, he's more of a feel pitcher and just likes to get out there and do it. Like, you know, he's not super analytical like Zach Yallel PERSON. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it just seems like's not super analytical like, Jack Yowl PERSON. Yeah, yeah.

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Yeah, it just seems like a very, like I was watching the other day. And he's just like, like he said, cool is a cucumber. Like just, you know, nothing seems to phase the guy. So, but yeah, Jack PERSON, this was, this was great. I expected it to be great and you delivered. I really think like, honestly, I'm not just saying this because you're here with me,but out of all the writers that we've had on, like the depth that you go into, you do as good a job as anybody. I'll say that. I really respect your work and, you know, think you doing an awesome, awesome job. So thank you so much for making the time again to come on. If you could tell listenerswhere they could find you on social media and where they could find your work. Sure. So our website

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is s.com slash MLB slash Diamondbacks ORG. So that's where you'll find inside the Diamondbacks, part of the Sports Illustrated Network. And my Twitter handle is at Shoe Wizard 59 ORG. All right.

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Very good. Well, thank you again. We are going to take a quick break and we'll be back for our fantasy follow-up segment. Great.

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Thanks, Chris PERSON. Great being on. Thank you. Welcome back.

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I am joined by my co-host, Mike Carter. You know him. He is right over at Fantrax ORG. Over at Rodoballer, Mike, what's going on, man? How you doing?

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It's been a week, my man. It has been a week. We're ending the school year here pretty shortly, a couple more weeks to go. And it has been a crazy time. Let me tell you something that has nothing to do with the podcast that you might find interesting. I have coached 30 baseball games in the last 34 days. Wow.

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Between Jack PERSON's team and the freshman team, yes.

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That's what we've done.

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It's kind of nuts, that's wild man well just

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knowing everything that you have going on outside of that between you know a demanding job and

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writing everywhere and managing fantasy teams and damn man i don't know that's uh i don't know how you do it but uh kudos to you. Not that anybody's keeping score besides me,

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but we're 24 and, or 25 and 5 in those 30 games. Awesome. Awesome. All right.

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I want to shout out,

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I want to shout out my guys about that, man. The freshman, tomorrow we play for the conference championship. If we win tomorrow, it's over with a week to go in the season.So that tells you a little bit about the guys that we got going there. So they know every week when I come on the podcast, I'm going to shout them out. So I'm just going to name drop them all real quick. Aidan, Andrew, Ben, Brody, Brian, Caden, Christian, Dylan, Ian, Gavin, also known as Jarvis, Jack, Jackson, Jacob, Josh, Max, and Millie PERSON. Guys are studs, man.Just unbelievable guys. Chris PERSON, you would love watching these guys play, man. They are just monsters.

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Anybody we should be having on our dynasty radars? I could talk to you offline about that.

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There are some guys on this team, boy. Let me tell you.

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The thing I love about them the most is the grit, the determination.

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You know, like there's been a couple of games where we've been down,

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and they just kind of, they come, you know, back with just great at-bats, great stuff.

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I mean, just showing people how to play baseball.

Speaker 31763.6s - 1765.84s

It has been one of the greatest

Speaker 01765.84s - 1768s

experiences of my life coaching these guys.

Speaker 21768.14s - 1769.82s

They've just been a phenomenal

Speaker 31769.82s - 1781.94s

group of kids. They're warriors. They fight. They love each other. They love to play. They've taken Jack PERSON my son on as one of their own. I mean, they've just a great group of guys and I will be rooting for them

Speaker 21781.94s - 1788s

in life and adulthood. Even after baseball is over. They're just great guys. Yeah.

Speaker 31788.12s - 1810.68s

Well, I mean, I'm sure the personality of your team is, you know, you obviously have an influence on that. Yeah, as a coach there. So, you know, and I'm sure they're going to take a lot from you and they're learning a lot from you and just these memories that you're helping create for them is uh you know that's that's priceless so that's really cool

Speaker 21810.68s - 1829.36s

and coach sherik PERSON is the guy man he's the he's running the whole show and i just help him out he's a he's a great guy young enough to be my son because i'm the old i'm the old guy on the coaching staff but man it has been a great experience it has actually kind of renewed my faith in humanity in quite a way. That's awesome.

Speaker 31830.64s - 1837.5s

All right. Very good, man. Well, we are going to transition to talking some fantasy here. Let's do it.

Speaker 01838.12s - 1838.46s

Yeah.

Speaker 21838.62s - 1840.74s

So let's take a look at the week that was.

Speaker 31840.94s - 1846.28s

You know, we've kind of had that structure where we look back at the week that just

Speaker 21846.28s - 1853.3s

happened and we look ahead the week coming up. So first thing I want to ask you is what's your

Speaker 31853.3s - 1860.82s

biggest takeaway from the past week in fantasy baseball? My biggest takeaway for myself, I think,

Speaker 21861.38s - 2037.1s

similar to what we've talked about a few times so far this season has been, I really feel like my patience has paid off in a number of different places. And that's not like me. I have a tendency to knee-jerk react to things that are happening in front of me. And I've given some players that have a track record a little bit more width and breath to be able to kind of navigate the early season struggles. And I've held on to them.And I think that that's kind of starting to turn things around for me in certain places. You know, one of the things that's happened for me in some of the higher stakes leagues that I played in has been the rostering of guys that have been injured who are now coming back and showing that they're healthy. You know, Hal Bradish PERSON has looked good so far. Don't know how long that's going to last. Braxton Gerard PERSON is back. Those are guys that fell really far in drafts that I was in,that I took chances on. And in years past, have you ever had that situation where you kind of start to panic a little bit? Your team's not doing real well. You've got two or three guys on your bench that are hurt that you're waiting on. And you just churn those guys and get rid of them. And then when the fab process comes through again, you don't get them back because it costs moremoney to roster them than what you were willing to pay or you don't get them back because it costs more money to roster them than what you were willing to pay or you don't have a good read on the fab in your league, which happens to me pretty frequently. And this year, I just decided, you know what, I'm going to kind of let the chips fall where they may with this. I believe in these guys.And really, I believe in my process of how I drafted. And I'm not going to give up on that three weeks or four weeks into the season. I believe in the theme that I put together and the reason why I put that team together. And I'm going to stick with it. And that's been my biggest takeaway so far has been like in Glarf where I've always been kind of at the bottom of the barrel. Right now I'm hovering between fourth and fifth on an almost daily basis. Even with those guys with guys injured, you know, I've got coal out, I've gotshurser out. I've got, I've been able to make do and patchwork that together. And my hope is that when those guys come back, what they give me is better than anything that I could get off a fab. That remains to be seen. That is far from a given. However, I trusted my process. And I built a team around having that. Now, obviously, Cole was my first pick.You and I talked about this, right? Chris PERSON? I went into Glarf with wanting the 12th of the 13th pick because I wanted to build the team around Cole PERSON. He hasn't even pitched yet. Right? So we'll see how that all plays out. But I feel really confident pick because I wanted to build the team around Cole PERSON. He hasn't even pitched yet, right?So we'll see how that all plays out, but I feel really confident and good about my process looking at that. That's my takeaway. How about you? What's your takeaway? You always have really good takeaways.

Speaker 32038.02s - 2072.4s

So my takeaway for this week is I think sometimes, and me especially, we overcomplicate things. Yes. And let me tell you why I say that. So, Otani PERSON has been on fire, right? Like every day where, you know, we're seeing highlights of him mashing ridiculous home runs and stealing bases.I mean, the guy, he's probably the 101 right now if we redrafted. I was going to say Ellie PERSON, but probably not because he's gone into a little bit of a slump. That's going to happen.

Speaker 22073.14s - 2073.62s

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 32073.78s - 2086.76s

So anyway, but Otani PERSON, like, I have major fomo, man. Like, I don't have him anywhere. And, you know, my thought process going into the year was he's coming off of surgery, so we don't know how that's going to affect him.

Speaker 22087.62s - 2099.86s

He's a util only. Do I really want to fill my util only spot like, you know, in the very, in the beginning of the first round. A lot of drafts, he was going more towards the end of the first round because of those question marks.

Speaker 32100.94s - 2132.46s

And I know it's easy to look in hindsight and kind of, you know, have a different thought process. But it made me think, like, if you told a casual baseball fan, you know, someone who's not into fantasy, you said, hey, I'm in this fantasy draft and I'm picking, let's say, 11th. That's, I think, around what his ADP was. Right. Do you think I take Otani PERSON?What do you think a casual baseball fan would say? Huh.

Speaker 22132.92s - 2138.04s

I would think that they probably would say no. You think so?

Speaker 32138.18s - 2147.08s

I think the casual baseball fan, in my opinion, would be like, yo, Otani PERSON is like the best player in the world. Like, what, why is Otani PERSON even there?

Speaker 22147.16s - 2148.78s

I see. Okay. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 32149s - 2157.3s

Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking about it more from the, I was thinking about it more from the idea of, like, oh, he can't pitch this year, so he's not as valuable. Sorry. Yeah.

Speaker 02157.3s - 2157.82s

Yeah.

Speaker 32157.92s - 2162.26s

I mean, I still think the average baseball fan, again, who's not thinking about all these

Speaker 02162.26s - 2165.48s

other factors, like utility only or you know he had the

Speaker 32165.48s - 2171.94s

surgery like they'd be like oh tani is amazing like how is he even falling that far and even looking at a

Speaker 02171.94s - 2178.84s

guy like uh like bryce harper Bryce harper was going usually around that one two turn and i got um like

Speaker 32178.84s - 2185.3s

my best dc team i took so to at 11 i ended up getting Harper PERSON who fell to me at like 19.

Speaker 02185.9s - 2191.4s

That's disgusting. And that's like, you know, in hindsight, I think that's insane.

Speaker 32191.6s - 2197.44s

Like, I think, like, Bryce Harper PERSON is a generational talent in his prime.

Speaker 02197.76s - 2208.02s

Like, why were we allowing Bryce Harper PERSON to fall that far? Like, I understand, like, he doesn't steal as many bases as, you know, some of the guys going in the top five. Right.

Speaker 32208.02s - 2214.5s

But, I mean, we're talking about a guy who is just, like, he's an amazing baseball player. Yes.

Speaker 22214.62s - 2225.04s

I was talking to my dad about this because, like, I was telling him about this team and how I got Juan Soto and Bryce Harper PERSON. And he's like, I don't understand. How did you, how did you get both of those guys? Because he's just kind of a bad, yeah. You know, and he's like, I don't understand. How did you, how did you get both of those guys?

Speaker 02225.34s - 2245.36s

Because he's just kind of a bad, man. You know, and he's like, how could you get Harper and Soto PERSON on the same team? Like, he didn't understand that. And it kind of like, it was like a light bulb moment for me. I'm like, wait a second. He's, he's, that makes sense. Like, I think sometimes we overcomplicate things. Like, yeah, just get the best player.

Speaker 32252.86s - 2253.3s

Like, and, you know, Bryce Harper PERSON, there's no way he should be going that low in a fantasy draft.

Speaker 02254.02s - 2255.9s

You know what I'm saying? So, no, you're totally right.

Speaker 32255.9s - 2262.5s

For the week, like thinking about, like, we don't, we think, like, me specifically, I know I do this.

Speaker 02262.56s - 2267.08s

Like, I'm looking so deep into these numbers and thinking about every

Speaker 32267.08s - 2277.46s

freaking angle. And that does work to a certain extent. But sometimes you just got to take a step back and be like, is this player better than the other? You know, like forget all these.

Speaker 02277.62s - 2286s

Right. Right. And all this BS. Like, it's Brett Harper PERSON. It's Joe Hottani PERSON. Like, why are we making this harder than it needs to be?

Speaker 22286.62s - 2287.72s

So that was a great point.

Speaker 32287.86s - 2288.7s

That's such a great point.

Speaker 22288.7s - 2297.36s

I love my thought for the week. I love that, Chris PERSON. You know why? Because I hear a lot of people talk about the U-Till-only guys.

Speaker 02298.24s - 2302.4s

And my advice to them, and I'll just say this to you, and you don't need my advice

Speaker 22302.4s - 2318s

because you're a better player than I am. But here's the thing. When you talk about U-Till-only we're not talking about Miguel Sinell PERSON. We're not talking about J.D. Martinez, who are like one-trick ponies. You're talking about Otani PERSON. So if you get him and you stick him in a U-Till spot, who cares?

Speaker 32318.38s - 2322.36s

I mean, it's still a great player, you know?

Speaker 22322.58s - 2322.88s

Right.

Speaker 32323.72s - 2340.16s

But like you're always, you have to have somebody in there. You don't get bonus points when you get stats from first base as opposed to you till. You know what I'm saying? Like, it counts the same and you have to put somebody in there anyway. So what's the big deal? Exactly right.

Speaker 22340.54s - 2341.74s

I'll take it, Tony PERSON, if you don't want.

Speaker 32341.74s - 2362.28s

And I wish I kind of, I've had that thought process when guys have been going later, like for years. I would take David Ortiz PERSON. And I would always get him in auction drafts super cheap because, oh, nobody wants to fill their util only. And I'd throw him out there early and get him for like eight bucks, you know, like a mixed league.

Speaker 22362.52s - 2362.64s

Right.

Speaker 32362.9s - 2380.62s

And the guy would dominate. The guy would just have an amazing year. That was kind of for me, like a mixed lead. Right. And the guy would dominate. The guy would just have an amazing year. That was kind of for me like a cheat code. For whatever reason this year, like with the util only, like having that in the first round, I was just like, do I want to do that? And in hindsight, that was just, that was wrong.That was just a silly thing to worry about.

Speaker 22381.5s - 2385.5s

Yeah, it's crazy, right? Like, Ortiz is going to hit 320 with 35 home runs. Like, you don't want that. You don't want that. Who cares what, it's crazy, right? Like, Ortiz is going to hit 320 with 35 home runs. Like,

Speaker 32385.5s - 2390.66s

you don't want that? Who cares what spot it's in? You're going to be a little less roster

Speaker 22390.66s - 2397.68s

flexibility, but the benefit of that is just so far outweighs, you know, that issue. So,

Speaker 32398.34s - 2409.46s

anyway, that was my takeaway. Let's look ahead. And Mike, who are some guys that you are looking at at this coming week or just even looking at maybe rest of season,

Speaker 22409.7s - 2418.7s

guys that you are interested in picking up, whether it's on the waiver wire or if you're in any trade leagues that you'd be interested in trying to buy?

Speaker 32419.7s - 2420.46s

Boy, that's interesting.

Speaker 22420.46s - 2456s

You know, I write about bullpens. I talk a lot about bullpens. And, you know, one guy that I picked up last week or, I think it was two weeks ago now, you know, Craig Kimbril is really struggling in Baltimore all of a sudden. And, uh, I picked up Yenir Cano PERSON. And immediately that didn't look like a great pickup because I thought after Kimbril PERSON had the back thing I thought I'm going to put a bitin on Canoe and I overbid it's like $37 or something like that and I put it in and I'm like can I tell you he

Speaker 32456s - 2463.36s

real quick he went for 160 in my league that day after Kimbril had the back injury or the day of yeah yeah

Speaker 22463.36s - 2466.32s

went for one in the main event I, I was trying to get him.

Speaker 32467.04s - 2469.36s

And, man, blew my bid out of the water.

Speaker 22469.74s - 2585.52s

But anyway, that's the thing that's interesting about it. It's right. You look at it and you say, okay, well, my thought process on it was like, even if Kimberl's back in two or three days, back injuries when you're 35 years old, no offense, they don't, they don't like just dissipate. It doesn't just, like, go away. Like, you have a bad back and stays with you. So I'm like, this could be a good pay, a dividend down the road.So I picked up him and I picked up Alex Lang because Foley ORG's had a little bit of a downturn in his velocity and also with his luck a little bit. And so I'm hoping that those are guys in deeper leagues that might be able to kind of help me out. I did, one guy that has been available in a lot of places, too, in the last week, has been Max Kepler, who is really hitting the tar out of the ball out in Minnesota GPE and is basically free right now, you know. So those are a couple of guys. I mean, obviously I do bullpen things,so I know a little bit more about that, hopefully sometimes. So Cannell, and then also Milwaukee ORG, you know, you and I have talked a little bit about Milwaukee lately. They just sent Tyler Blackdown PERSON, Yowich PERSON is back. But a guy there that I'm interested in and have been for a while is Trevor McGill, who has two saves this week. They sent down Abner Uribe last week, which is a little bit of a surprise. And Pai Amps ORG really has not looked great.I don't know if you've seen him at all, but he looks a little uncomfortable pitching in anything outside of that eighth inning role. So I think if you're looking for, McGill PERSON is still available in a lot of leagues, which is kind of surprising to me, I think if you're looking for somebody that might be getting some saves,and who isn't looking for saves at this point with the craziness of bullpens? Those are some of the guys that I would be looking at targeting this week if you have a need for those types of guys. If you're lacking something in one of those areas. Well, I got to give you some

Speaker 32585.52s - 2603.92s

love man because i remember i spoke to you the night before my main event and i was trying to map out my closer strategy and you said you think mcgill is the guy yeah um so i actually didn't tell you this i ended up i missed on mcgill he went way earlier than i thought in that draft i ended up just

Speaker 02603.92s - 2610.16s

taking a flyer on your rebate. I was like, you know what? Let me just, who knows? This bullpen is so up here.

Speaker 32611.1s - 2618.4s

And man, it looked good for a while. Like he came out, like he was the capital G guy in that bullpen for those couple weeks.

Speaker 02618.52s - 2621.12s

And then all of a sudden it just fell apart.

Speaker 32621.24s - 2643.92s

And now he's in AAA ORG. But then McGill became available after he went on the IL ORG. I'm like, you know, Mike was saying he's a dude. So I ended up getting him for 17 bucks, which in the main event for, you know, at that point, people thought it was Pai-Amp's ORG. And to get a guy who looks like

Speaker 02643.92s - 2649.36s

the closer now for a $17 investment, that is beautiful.

Speaker 32649.54s - 2656.24s

And I'm just pulling up his underlying skills here. Like if y'all, if he's in your, if he's available in your league, go get him.

Speaker 22656.42s - 2658.56s

I mean, he's nasty. He's nasty.

Speaker 32658.56s - 2677.56s

He's got a 149 stuff plus. And I know everybody doesn't, is not like big in the stuff plus. Like some people are skeptical of that. But like that's like absurdly good. That's got to be like top five in the league right now. So that does carry some weight with me.I mean, everything.

Speaker 22677.56s - 2687.88s

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Looks really good. Swinging strike looks good. The strikeout rate is a little lower than you would think with a 13.5% swinging strike rate.

Speaker 02688.22s - 2689.9s

So, but yeah, go get him.

Speaker 22690s - 2694.36s

It looks like he's the guy until Devin Williams comes back. And we don't know that is.

Speaker 32695.4s - 2701.96s

And from what things I've been hearing, you know, Dave funnel is my resource on all things injury-wise.

Speaker 22702.16s - 2707.34s

And when Williams went down with that injury, he said, don't be surprised if he doesn't pitch at all this year.

Speaker 32707.64s - 2709.02s

Oh, he's getting with a spine issue.

Speaker 22709.28s - 2715.62s

I mean, that doesn't happen. No, it does not. No, it does not. All right.

Speaker 32716.24s - 2748.16s

Let's see here. So, and just to piggyback off what you said about Kepler PERSON, pulling up his underlying skills. I mean, this is a guy who's been underrated for a long time. Like people... A long time. I don't know what it is about Max Kepler PERSON. I guess maybe because he's kind of a platoon bat. He does get some of bats against lefties, but the twins do platoon. But whenhe's in there, dude, I mean, he's really solid. A guy who has a unique combination of hitting the ball really hard with also a really good contact rate,

Speaker 02748.44s - 2784.8s

which is just, he's kind of like a jock Peterson PERSON. Like these guys, there's not that many. A lot of these guys that, you know, give you good power, you have to offset that with a lower batting average. And, you know, Kepler is a guy who, I know there were a few years where when we had the shift where his batting average was low. But ever since last year, he's, he's been able tobump that up. So definitely, I think, a great target for probably gone in most 15 teamers, but 12 teamers, I think he's a guy to look at. Absolutely. Another guy to look at, I think, what's

Speaker 32784.8s - 2785.56s

up? I said, absolutely. You know, I love those guys. He. Another guy to look at, I think. What's that?

Speaker 22786.5s - 2796.78s

I said, absolutely. You know, I love those guys. He doesn't strike out. And, you know, there's a, what's his strikeout rate? Like, I mean, I looked at it the other day. It's like 14% or something like that.

Speaker 32796.78s - 2817.94s

And, like, his walk rate, his walk rate's always in the double digits too. Like, that's a guy you want. Yep. Yep. Absolutely. All right. So looking at, I was just, I had already started my,my fab for my 12 team online championship. So just pulling up who I have, I hope nobody in my league listens to this,

Speaker 02818.12s - 2820.98s

but I'm going to give away who's on my list here.

Speaker 32821.54s - 2829.38s

So I lost Wilson Contreras PERSON in my OC. So that was a huge blow. And I'm looking at

Speaker 02829.38s - 2835.8s

the catchers that are available. And I was surprised and happy to see this guy on the wire. And actually,

Speaker 32835.8s - 2914.84s

he's pretty only 40% owned in a 12 teamer. And that's Austin Wells of the Yankees ORG. And I know that he's only getting him and Trevino PERSON right now seem to be splitting about 50-50. I know the Yankees like Trevino PERSON's defense. So I don't think he goes away completely. But Wells PERSON is really showing some solid skills that makes me think he could get a littlebit more a larger piece of that pie. And the underlying skills for him are really solid, too. I mean, he's not striking out a lot. He had a terrible run of luck to start out the year. I mean, the batting average was super low, but it's turned around like his babup is going up.But the quality of contact for him, he's barreling the ball, not striking out. This is a guy, especially in Yankee Stadium FAC with that, you know, with that short porch there, left-handed hitter. I think he's definitely 12-team viable with the skills that he has. And even in a part-time role, I mean, I'm definitely looking at him as potential, you know, Wilson-Katreras PERSON replacement. And, yeah, I know a lot of people are in that boat.And it's not looking like he's coming back anytime soon. I saw that Contreras will be out for about 10 weeks after surgery.

Speaker 22914.84s - 2916.32s

Oh, wow, 10 weeks out.

Speaker 32916.42s - 2920.32s

Yeah, yeah. Originally it was 6 to 8 and now it's up to 10.

Speaker 22920.32s - 2921.34s

That's what I had heard. Yeah.

Speaker 32921.54s - 2921.78s

Yeah.

Speaker 22921.92s - 2934.76s

And really what at that point, guys coming off a fracture arm. Like, I don't think he's going to just come back and hit the ground running. So for me, he's a, he's a clear drop in all formats at this point.So,

Speaker 32934.92s - 2942.72s

yeah, Austin Wells in 12 teamers. Another guy who's widely available in 12 teamers is Patrick Sandival PERSON.

Speaker 02943.42s - 2946.88s

And he's someone who I picked up in the main event the other day and just really,

Speaker 32947.74s - 3041.52s

you know, I think last year kind of left a sour case for a lot of people. You know, he had a good year in 2022, pitched to a 2.91 ERA back then. And I think people were excited about him and he really disappointed last year. And I think, you know, it could he really disappointed last year. And I think, you know, it could be with pitchers sometimes. We know they just have off years. But, you know, just seeing him out there on the wire and seeing the skills that he was displaying,this is a guy with a plus 25% K rate and almost a 50% ground ball rate. Now, if I just look at those two numbers, there's not that many pitchers that have that combination, right? To find a guy who's a ground ball pitcher, inducing weak quality of contact, and also getting a really solid amount of Ks.So picked him up this week. He had a two-step, so that was part of the thought process there. Went out and pitched against Pittsburgh and shoved, right? Seven innings, I think gave up just a couple hits, seven strikeouts. So I think he's someone, listen, I don't think he's a league winner, but I think he's someone in a 12-teamer that should be rostered at this point and is going to give you some value at points this season. So those are my two, Austin Wells and Patrick Sandoval PERSON.All right. So, Mike, bullpens. I know we got a couple minutes here. You already touched on Alex Lang PERSON. Anybody else that you wanted to bring up in terms of bullpens?

Speaker 23042.46s - 3088.88s

Yeah, you know, I think one of the things that when we talk about all of this stuff, it's always changing, right? And you could write it on Saturday morning and it's different by Saturday night. So we talked about Baltimore. We talked about Milwaukee ORG. I think Canoe and McGill PERSON are the guys to try to get there if you can get them.But also, Arizona, Paul Seawall came back this week. And Seawald is one of those guys, I feel, is perpetually underrated. And it looks like they're going to stick him right back into the closer role. Ginkle is more comfortable in the eighth inning role. And of course, as soon as I say that, who gets to save last night, but Joe Mantonle PERSON. So I am telling you, though, that CWald PERSON will be the guy.He's going to be the one who's closing there.

Speaker 33089.36s - 3091.82s

He was a guy today. He got the safe today.

Speaker 23092.72s - 3198.54s

Oh, he did get one today? I hadn't been able to keep up with it. I've been dealing with insanity today, as you know. So I did not get a chance to know that day. So CWall PERSON will be the guy there. If he's available on your waiver wire, if somebody dropped him being impatient with the injury,grab him, he'll be the guy. And then the Dodgers ORG also have an interesting situation brewing there with some injuries that have taken place there. Right now, I would lean if I had to towards Daniel Hudson PERSON, who did get a save last night for the Dodgers ORG. But another guy that came off the ILL this week was Blake Trinen PERSON.And Blake Trinen is a guy that we know that Dave Roberts PERSON has loved historically. So I would think that there in Los Angeles, we're looking at a timeshare while Phillips PERSON is out. Phillips PERSON has a hamstring strain. They weren't real clear as to whether or not he was going to miss the minimum or if he was going to be out a little bit longer. But with Joe Kelly PERSON also out and Brewster Gratterol PERSON also out, they are looking at a situation. I think they could bea committee between Hudson and Trinon. Lefty Alex Vescia also got a save earlier this week, but he's really the only situational lefty they have. They have Ryan Yarbrough PERSON, but Ryan Yarbrough is more of a long reliever. He could get a vulture win or vulture save here and there, but I would really look at Hudson and Trinan PERSON as guys that you might want to target, granted knowing that their health is always something that's going to be in question.Trinanin's pitched in two games now since he's been back and he looks real good. Hudson PERSON's pitched in a few games now. He's got seven holds and a couple of saves. So something to speculate there and think about this weekend in your fab runs.

Speaker 33201.28s - 3204.38s

It feels like Daniel Hudson PERSON's been around forever, man. I mean, he's had two Tommy John surgeries.

Speaker 23208.44s - 3212.56s

I don't know how old he is, but man, it just feels like he's been around forever, man. I mean, he's had two Tommy John's surgeries. Like, that dude. I don't know how old he is, but man, it just, it feels like he's been around forever. Yeah, he's, he's 35. He's a former White Sox ORG farm hand.

Speaker 33212.74s - 3219.62s

And the White Sox ORG, we know the white Sox don't need any bullpen help. You know, they got co-packed. Everything's, they're all good. Everything's good. Yep.

Speaker 23220s - 3221.56s

Everything's good. Yep.

Speaker 33221.66s - 3222.52s

Tommy fam, baby.

Speaker 23222.58s - 3223.44s

We got Tommy Fam.

Speaker 33224.1s - 3237.32s

Tommy Fam has, like, changed the whole team. Not that they're doing great, you know, but, I mean, they're actually respectable. They're somewhat competitive ever since he's arrived. I mean, that dude is, he's unreal.

Speaker 23237.62s - 3253.98s

I mean, he's just a boss. He's a pro, and they've put together some quality at bat since he's been around. And he got him started off tonight with a double and scored a run. And last I checked, they were one in three to nothing against the one and only Ben Lively and the Cleveland Guardians ORG. Yeah.

Speaker 33254.38s - 3258.38s

What about Paul DeYoung PERSON, man? I mean, he's been swinging the bat.

Speaker 23258.98s - 3262.04s

Stop your, stop yourself. Yeah.

Speaker 33262.28s - 3262.64s

Stop your.

Speaker 23262.88s - 3263.68s

We're not going to go.

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I lost, bro, but I lost Trey Turner PERSON in my main event. Right now, I'm starting Brian Rocchio PERSON, which probably is, you know, who knows?That's better than,

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he's better than the young, right?

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I mean, Jack Carter's a better

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shortstop than Paul the Young PERSON right now.

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Yeah, all right, all right.

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God, it's, it's, it's, I mean, to your point, he's done okay.

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But I, you know, that bad in average is going to crater and he might hit a few home runs, but that's about it. You got stolen base today? I mean, I, you know, I probably, I'd pick him up and then he'd go like, oh, for 20 for the week.

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So, yeah, I should just accept that I miss the Paul DeYoung PERSON hot streak, the one streak that he'll get all for the next year, possibly two.

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Yeah, the stocks are going to trade him for a case of walls at the All-Star EVENT break.

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Yeah, but not even. Anyway, let's finish off with our mental health minute here. I know you got a lot going on, Mike. So what have you been doing to keep your head on straight?

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You know, I think for me, I talked a lot about my baseball guys over here, you know, coaching the freshman team in town here and also coaching Jack PERSON's team. And to me, every day when you got a baseball game, it's another opportunity to kind of really kind of do something that's really important, which is love something that you would do for nothing, you know.And I played baseball and have been around baseball for most of the 50 years that I've been on the planet. And being around those guys and being around young people who are aggressive and do things the right way, who are coachable and able to take some criticism and constructively use that to build their game has really restored my sense of, I don't know, I don't want to say sense of being, I guess, but in that way, kind of the same thing, right? The sense of self of there's more to life than just being at work.There's more to life than the nine to five that you do on a daily basis. And working in a school, a therapeutic day school, same way that you work as a therapist, in the springtime, they can grind you up and spit you out, right? Like, it is really, really hard work. It is intensive work. And there's really no let up until that the school year is over but being around those guys has really restored my faith not only in humanity but also in young people to see peoplewho are really grinded who really want to improve who really take things seriously but also love what they're doing and i think that's really been the key thing for me. It has made April and May be far more tolerable. That and also doing fairly well in Toul Wars EVENT. Those have been the things that have really,

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those have been the things that have really, I'm in third place in Tout Wars EVENT right now, despite some injuries and some different things that are going on. So I'm hanging in there and feel pretty good about that. Chris PERSON, what are you doing? You always have great stuff about mental health and what you're doing to take care of yourself.

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It's May 9th. What are you doing in May to take care of yourself right now?

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Well, just real quick on the baseball stuff, I send you that link that link of, it was Little League ORG, right? I think these kids were probably like 12.

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It was a video of this kid who,

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he almost hit a batter, he like almost hit the batter in the head. And the kid went to first base and the pitcher started crying. He was like so shaking up by what happened. And he's crying on the mound. And the kid at first base, he walks over and just goes and gives his opponent a hug.It gives the pitcher a hug. And it was just like, I said that to you, you know, I know you're coaching kids. And it just was like an amazing, amazing you know you use the phrase restoring faith in humanity and those are like the things you know we see so much BS on social media and you know on the news and just about sometimes it feels like the world is just kind of falling apart and everybody's just hating each other. And then you see stuff like that. And you're like, all right, that's, that's not reality. You know?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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You need to see stuff like that every once in a while.

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Amen to that.

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It was so cool, man.

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I loved it.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Just sportsmanship.

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Just caring for another human being. It was just really cool. But what I've been doing, or what I did today actually was I took the day off of work. And that was, you know, I put in for the day off a couple days ago because I had a dentist appointment. And, you know, usually my job will allow me to take a couple hours to do stuff like that. But I'm like, you know what? I got like, I felt like things for mewere just in a little bit of like this array. Like I felt very unorganized, very scattered. My house was kind of a mess. My, you know, I had like a huge to-do list. And I'm like, you know what? I'm feeling overwhelmed right now. I'm feeling, you know, kind of scatterbrained. Let me just take Thursday off. Let me just use that as a reset day. And I'm so glad I did. You know, today was a day. Like, I organized so much crap around my house. I,

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you know, I got ahead with things. I knocked out that to do list. Um, you know, did some repairs around the house. Like, I really, like, I accomplished what I wanted to today.

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And I feel really good about it now. And I feel like I can go back to work tomorrow and just be like, just being a much better headspace.

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You know, it was like the other stuff was just like weighing me down.

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You know, it's like, you know, like how your computer, you got too many programs running and it just like slows it down.

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Or too many tabs open.

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That was me over the past week or two. And, you know, I think that's just important for all of us to be able to just check in, check in with ourselves and be like, all right, like, where am I at right now? Where is my stress level? Like, you know, because I think a lot of us, including myself at times, just like go through life and we're on to the next thing. And we're not taking time to really

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check in on where we're at. And that's a recipe for disaster at time. Because things build up. And we're in like full on panic or crisis mode. And we're like, holy crap, how did we even get here?

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You know, so. And I always talk to my clients about this like make sure that you're you know whether it's every day every couple days like just take the time to you know reflect have some awareness on on where your you know your overall mental health is that and then then, you know, you intervene if needed. And for me, today was

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today was the right intervention for me. So encourage everybody to try that moving forward.

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I'm into that, you know, I think that that's great. And to add to what you said, I think the last

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thing that I would say about that is that this is what you have right now. There's no guarantee for tomorrow. You can't do anything about what happened 15 minutes ago. It's over and done with. Live for now. Stop making plans for what you're going to do when you retire because you might not get there. So live for today.Do the things that you have to do. So you got your list done. I got a list for you here if you want to come over to Chicago and get some things done this weekend. Got some landscaping to do. Got some yard work to do. Come on out, brother. Yeah, I think I'm

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going to pass on that. I don't blame you. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, the whole, you brought up this

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idea of people waiting for retirement. That boggles my mind when people are like,

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I have people in my life that are like, oh, five more years so I retire or, you know, 10 more.

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I'm like, what are you, are you like, your whole life is going to go by? Like, what are you doing? And then you'll be lucky if you're even healthy enough at that point to even enjoy that, right? You hear that all

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the time. People just get your time and then they drop dead. It's like, you wasted literally your whole life just waiting for that, right? It's just like, it's why. There's no guarantee. It is no guarantee, man.

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If you're listening, don't do that shit. Don't do that shit. You know, and if that's your mentality,

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then you know what, you got to make a change, Right. Like that's the indication that something in my life ain't working and I got to figure out what's going to make it work better. Absolutely.

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Anyway, we will leave it there. We plan to be back next week.

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I appreciate everybody listening for Mike Carter. I am Chris Torres PERSON. Thank you for listening to Fantasy Baseball ORG beat.