WEBVTT - The Cycle - Week 2 Fluke Or For Real (EP. 2) 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:05.000 Hello everybody, Welcome to the Fantasy Pros Baseball podcast. This 0:00:05.120 --> 0:00:08.160 is the cycle. I am Ryan Warmley, joined as I 0:00:08.200 --> 0:00:11.239 am every week by Mike Mahyor Mayor. We had two 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:13.720 guests last week. This week it's just the two of 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:16.759 us for the whole show, so hopefully people don't get too. 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:17.400 Bored of us. 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.360 How'd you feel about our first episode and, more importantly, 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.120 the first week of the twenty twenty four Fantasy Baseball season. 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:26.040 I felt good about both. I'm in a bunch of leagues, 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.080 so it's hard to say how I'm doing overall, but 0:00:28.240 --> 0:00:30.440 I don't have any teams that have completely fallen on 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:33.320 their face, so that's a win so far. It's a 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:36.480 long season and we'll, you know, we'll see how it goes. 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:39.960 But so far, feeling good about everything, except for the 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:41.440 first news item we're going to talk about. 0:00:41.560 --> 0:00:43.480 Yes, I was gonna say, really, all you can hope 0:00:43.479 --> 0:00:45.280 for for your team in the first week is do 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:47.640 not have any major injuries. We do have a major injury, 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.400 which will be our first item here. Before we get 0:00:50.400 --> 0:00:52.400 into that, I just want to mention everybody the best 0:00:52.440 --> 0:00:55.840 freeway to show their support and encourage more content like 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.840 this is to leave a positive review at fantasypros dot 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.480 com slash MLB review and if you ask a question 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.840 in your view, may Or and I will definitely be 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.080 sure to answer it in next week's episode. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:07.680 That's a great way. 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.760 If you have a question about your own roster, waivers, 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.399 pick up, a trade off, or you've received anything like that, 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.440 we will definitely answer that on the following week's episode 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.759 if you leave that question in your review, let's jump 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.440 into rounding the bases. And by the way, just because 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.480 we are still early here, you know, Mayor and I 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:25.479 we have a sense of what's kind of the big 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.000 picture of the show is, but we want to hear 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.240 from the audience too. We want this to service the 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.200 fans first and foremost. So if they think that this 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:35.040 opening section should be more headlines, bas if they think 0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:36.880 it should be more of like a statistical deep dive, 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:38.720 whatever you guys are looking for, we want to kind 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.120 of match that. So please feel free to give us 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.080 feedback as we are in the early stages of this 0:01:43.200 --> 0:01:45.200 show of what you would like the show to be, 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:47.319 and if you think there's areas where we can you know, 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:50.720 do something better or dive deeper here or what have you. 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:52.280 You know, we want to hear about that, so please 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.440 let us know as we get started with the show here. 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:56.840 But for rounding the bases this week. Up first, it 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.800 is Urie Perez. This news broke just a couple hours 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:03.840 ago go as we see here recording on Thursday. Obviously, 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.520 there was a lot of uncertainty with his arm, you know, 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.359 injury stuff in the late offseason. He's the guy that 0:02:09.440 --> 0:02:12.920 people were very excited about, as you know, a breakout pitcher, 0:02:13.080 --> 0:02:15.519 very young, very very talented, one of the most exciting 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.720 young pitching prospects in the sport. You know, had the 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.920 tough news about you know, the elbow issues and whatnot, 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:23.880 and then now we sit here and he will be 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:26.960 getting Tommy John and not pitching for the entire twenty 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:30.760 twenty four season. Mayor what was your initial takeaway besides 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:32.440 just like sadness. 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:37.720 My initial takeaway was obviously feeling very disappointed for him, 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:39.280 so you know, want to be sensitive to that, but 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:42.600 also very happy that I didn't actually draft him anywhere. 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:44.720 I don't have him in dynasty leagues, which you know 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:46.639 I wish I did, and I don't have him in 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:50.200 any redraft leagues just because with all the arm uncertainty 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.600 and the rumblings that came out over the over the summer, 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:54.840 I just had him buried in my rankings. I actually 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:57.240 considered removing him from my rankings because you know, we 0:02:57.280 --> 0:03:01.639 do the accuracy rankings contest of Fantasy Pros, and I, 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:03.400 you know, I kind of wanted to be ahead of 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.480 the curve, and I was. I just thought to myself, 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.000 this guy really could miss the entire season. This is 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:11.840 this does not sound good. And before the accuracy contest 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.440 locks before the season, I sat there at my computer 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:17.400 and debated just removing him from my rankings, but I 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:19.640 didn't want to risk being that wrong, so I just 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:25.240 kind of like buried him below consensus. And unfortunately I 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:27.679 was correct and that he's not going to pitch this 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.840 season and he might miss He's probably going to miss, 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:31.480 you know, the beginning of next season two. 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.160 Yeah, it would be hard for to imagine him being 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:36.480 ready at the beginning of next year, which is just 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:38.840 it's so so such a bummer. 0:03:38.960 --> 0:03:39.240 Really. 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.560 I would like to also take a moment to call 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.960 out Chris Welsh, our colleague and friend who I asked 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.440 him for some advice on a keeper league decision. I 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.160 had to make between Uri Perez and Bobby Miller. Both 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:57.200 were extremely cheap in that salary cap format, and he 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.480 led me to Uri Perez. This was before they stuff 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:02.200 popped up. I had to make the decision early, but 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:05.360 he definitely led me astray on that one. So thank 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:09.200 you very much, I said sarcastically too, Welsh. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.560 I thought you were going to, like actually thank him 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:13.960 at the beginning of that. I didn't realize the whole 0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.799 thing was sarcastic until the well done. 0:04:17.760 --> 0:04:18.520 I appreciate that. 0:04:18.839 --> 0:04:21.560 I do speaking of Welsh, just from the dynasty perspective 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:26.440 on Uri, do you see this as like a Bilo opportunity? 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.039 Are you nerv I mean, we've seen plenty of pictures 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.000 come back from Tommy John at this point right in 0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:32.640 the history of that surgery. 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.000 It's still scary. 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.560 It's still a long time till he will be theoretically 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:39.159 back to quote unquote normal, if he ever gets there again. 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.760 But the arm was so exciting. He's so young. 0:04:43.440 --> 0:04:45.760 Is this a guy that you're maybe targeting a dynasty trades? 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:47.880 Is this a guy that you're selling if you can 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.000 get anything for him, If you're the guy who's rostering him, 0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:52.800 what are you doing with him long term? 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.560 I'm definitely not selling him if I'm already rostering him. Ideally, 0:04:56.560 --> 0:05:00.279 if you're in a dynasty league, you have either the 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:03.400 roster space or the IL slots to just stash him 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.000 for a year and a half, which is what you're 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:07.080 going to want to do. He still doesn't even turn 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.800 twenty one years old for a couple of weeks. So 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.520 this is a really young, like you already said, uber 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:17.279 talented pitcher, you know, number one pitcher in baseball upside like, 0:05:17.320 --> 0:05:20.039 he's that good, he could be that good, and so 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.360 you don't want to sell low on him, and you 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:25.680 could want to buy low on him if you can. 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:28.360 It depends on obviously roster space and what you want 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.359 to do this season. I'm usually more aggressive than like 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:34.840 trying to compete now in dynasty leagues, but that also 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.360 includes like not being really heavy into like deeper prospects 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.240 who are going to take a few years to develop. 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:45.000 So I could I would even potentially, you know, if 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.680 you have rookie drafts, like maybe take some of those 0:05:47.720 --> 0:05:51.080 really young prospects that you're going to you're gonna wait 0:05:51.120 --> 0:05:54.320 on anyway, and flip them for a uri Perez because 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:56.560 obviously we've seen with prospects a lot of them can 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:58.960 flame out, even the top prospects can flame out. Eurropres 0:05:59.000 --> 0:06:00.960 we've already seen how good he can be. 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:04.640 And I would say too, like, keep it in mind 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.120 for later in the season if you you know, want 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:09.320 to try and win now, but it turns out like oh, 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:10.680 you know, you get off to a slow start, a 0:06:10.680 --> 0:06:13.120 couple of your other guys get injured or whatever, then 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:15.120 maybe go make a trade offer and say, listen, you're 0:06:15.120 --> 0:06:17.080 still not going to get this guy back for you know, 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.240 until the beginning of you know, not not even at 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.080 the beginning of next season, and you don't even know 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:22.560 if he's gonna get all the way back. I'd like 0:06:22.640 --> 0:06:25.719 to take that risk and take a swing. So just 0:06:25.760 --> 0:06:27.120 keep it in mind for later in the year if 0:06:27.160 --> 0:06:28.760 you want to try and buy a low on him. 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.520 You don't have to do it right this second. Let's 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:33.960 go to the next item here, and I'm just going 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.560 to kind of clear the paint and let you go 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:38.480 to work on the Red Sox pitching staff. 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:44.719 So the Red Sox pitching staff we've seen, we heard 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.599 throughout the off season that you know, they overhauled everything 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:52.920 new pitching coach and Andrew Bailey obviously a new technically 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:55.280 general manager, it's not his official title, but Craig Breslo, 0:06:55.800 --> 0:07:00.120 the high and Bloom era was remarkably over after so 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:04.159 many painful tenure years under him. I could not have 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:06.000 been happier about that. And then they also brought in 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.640 I think he sent His name is Body, Kyle Body. 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.080 Hopefully I'm pronouncing that, no body. I think it's Kyle Body, 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.720 who's like the founder of drive Line, and we heard 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.400 all off season they just overhauled their not only their 0:07:20.520 --> 0:07:22.920 planned for pitching, but like pitching development, how they're going to, 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.120 you know, talk to their pitchers, how they're going to 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:27.680 present them with the information, how they're going to attack matchups. 0:07:28.200 --> 0:07:31.480 And from what we've seen through the first week of 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:33.520 the season, through a turn and they half in the rotation, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.960 the results have been fantastic. And I don't want this 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:38.800 to just be like a Red Sox homer take, because 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.600 I am a Red Sox fan, and as you know, 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:43.560 and as people who listen to this show and haven't 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:46.760 heard me on leading off more who have listened to 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:48.680 me on Leading Off, No, no one hates the Red 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.840 Sox more than me or more than most Red Sox fans, 0:07:51.360 --> 0:07:53.240 and so I'm not going to give you homer takes. 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.600 But what we are seeing is some pretty remarkable stuff 0:07:55.600 --> 0:07:59.880 from this Red Sox pitching staff. So, as of going 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.800 yesterday's game, the Red Sox pitching ranks e RA first 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:11.520 whip first FIP, uh yeah, whip first FIP first x FIP, 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:16.320 first average against first, strikeout to walk ratio first, literally 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.760 the first in baseball in a ton of a ton 0:08:19.800 --> 0:08:22.600 of different numbers. There. Their e RA is was a 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:26.560 I think after yesterday's game is a one point zero three. 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:30.040 As a staff, their starters in particular forty seven strikeouts 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:34.280 against three walks, just incredible numbers. And it's all just 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:37.559 the whole the whole new pitching program that they put in. 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.560 They're leaning away from fastballs especially. You know, their first 0:08:40.559 --> 0:08:42.480 matchup of the season was against the Mariners, a really 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:45.079 good fastball hitting team, and so they just didn't throw 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.679 them fastballs. And then as they saw in I think 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:53.400 it was Garrett Whitlock's start, the Mariners adjusted, they started 0:08:53.400 --> 0:08:55.960 looking for sweepers and curve balls, and so he just 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.240 started pounding them with sinkers and just had them off, 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:02.520 you know, off balance the entire time, and so far 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:04.720 they have the lowest fastball right in the league. Just 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:08.080 listening to Andrew Bailey talk, that's something that's gonna stay. 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:12.920 And they don't have like the biggest names. Obviously they 0:09:12.960 --> 0:09:15.240 traded Chris Sale, Lucas Giolito is out for the year, 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.040 and there are still we're going to talk about him 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:21.119 later in the show, but there are still some pitchers 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:23.160 on the Red Sox staff who are available in leagues 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:25.640 who like you have to take flyers on just based 0:09:25.679 --> 0:09:26.880 on these early results right. 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:29.280 Now, if you had to, let's make this actionable, if 0:09:29.280 --> 0:09:32.640 you had to pick one player outside a guy we're 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:34.960 going to talk later, you know, for whatever category he fits, 0:09:35.000 --> 0:09:37.160 if you had to pick one player in the staff 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.360 that you think, this is like legit and we're going 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.560 to see this continue on throughout the year. This is 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.720 them elevating their game and one that you think maybe 0:09:45.800 --> 0:09:48.160 regresses a bit moving forward rest of season. 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:50.199 Do you have a name for either of those? 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.679 Oh, that's a good question. So looking at it as 0:09:53.720 --> 0:09:58.560 a staff, Brian Beao has the highest ceiling just because 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:01.200 he's the highest, you know, kind of like prospect pedigree, 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:02.839 I think you're going to see peaks and balies with 0:10:02.880 --> 0:10:04.520 him all year, but I think he has the highest ceiling. 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:08.679 Nick Pavetta and Cutter Crawford, who kind of like slot 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:12.560 in second and third in their rotation, they have better fastballs, 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:14.640 so I think we're going to see more fastballs from 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.120 them as opposed to some of the other starters who 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:19.040 are going to lean more on off speed stuff. I 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:22.280 think that's good and bad, but it'll be interesting to 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.000 see because those two in particular have their fastballs to 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.760 kind of like fall back on. I'm a huge Garrett 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:32.760 Whitlock fan, always have been. And then Tanner Howck, we'll 0:10:32.760 --> 0:10:34.839 talk about him more a bit later. I think he's 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:36.839 intriguing because he has some really good off speed stuff. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:38.719 He doesn't kind of have the same fastball some of 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:40.720 the other guys have, so I think we could see 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:42.959 some interesting fluctuations there. But I don't want to give 0:10:43.200 --> 0:10:45.040 away too much there because we're going to talk about 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.760 him later. I feel like Cutter Crawford is probably the 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.560 one that I still think you need to roster everywhere 0:10:51.600 --> 0:10:53.520 right now, but that we're going to you could see 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:57.480 some bigger valleys throughout the season, just and I you know, 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.400 there's also the possibility that the league just the US, like, 0:11:00.440 --> 0:11:01.840 they see what the red Socks are doing and they 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:03.680 just adjust, and this is a short term thing. That's 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:05.960 possible too. I just think in the short term, you 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.880 have to roster everyone on the staff. Given the early results. 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.600 Let's go to third base here and round in the bases. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.200 Ronel Blanco, obviously it's been a couple of days, but 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:17.680 through a no hitter. First no hitter of the season, 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.360 a very surprising one considering the source. It came from 0:11:21.520 --> 0:11:24.480 somebody who likely wouldn't have a spot in the Astros 0:11:24.600 --> 0:11:27.160 rotation if not for injuries elsewhere. 0:11:28.480 --> 0:11:28.920 Is older. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:30.640 You know, he's been We talked about it before the show. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:32.680 He's been in a journeyman. It's this is not some 0:11:32.960 --> 0:11:36.520 hot shot prospect that was just waiting for his opportunity, 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.440 had a good spring training, obviously, just looked completely dominant. 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:42.880 Uh was it Monday? Was it Monday that he didn't 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:43.200 no hitter? 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:43.520 Right? 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:45.520 Whatever day was, I was. 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:48.240 I was sick all week, so they all all the 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:48.960 days seems the. 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:51.320 Days run together, which is something I actually love about 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:53.600 the baseball season. But yeah, whatever day it was, he 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:57.240 looked dominant, and you know there are leagues out there 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.160 that are on weekly waivers that we want to to 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:01.160 talk about him about four. 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.840 Is he somebody that you are sprinting to pick up 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:05.560 off the waiver wire. 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:08.360 Is he somebody that you are walking to print pick 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.280 up off the waiver wire. Is he somebody that you 0:12:10.320 --> 0:12:12.880 are ignoring on the waiver wire completely? Are you picking 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.160 him up and trying to sell him high immediately? What's 0:12:15.200 --> 0:12:18.040 your approach for a guy who likely wasn't rostered in 0:12:18.080 --> 0:12:21.120 your league unless you were in a really deep league. 0:12:21.120 --> 0:12:24.840 A really deep league. I am sorry, I am limping 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.000 to the waiver wire to pick him up, especially especially 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:34.439 if you need an injury replacement. My initial I was 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:36.400 really sick on Monday, so I didn't even watch it live. 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:38.440 I just woke up and kind of rewatched the game 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:43.680 from my deathbed and not my actual deathbed. Obviously, obviously 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:47.640 I made it here. But I was surprised because I 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.920 didn't really remember this guy's name, Like he's one of 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:51.600 those names where I'm like, oh, I remember that guy. 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:54.080 I didn't realize he's still in the league. And then 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:55.360 I looked him up and I was like, I didn't 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:59.360 realize he's been on the astros for eight years in 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.160 they're broken, you know, in the organization for eight years, 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:04.959 and you kind of look through the numbers, they're not great. 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:08.560 Like he's kind of a really good story in the 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.319 sense that good for him for he's thirty years old. 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:15.319 He's gonna be thirty one in a few months. He's 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:17.360 kind of bounced. He's been a believer for most of 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:20.480 his career. He's had a few they've been trialing him 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:23.400 more as a starter to last since last year. Really 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:26.000 is there for the first time they tried it, And 0:13:26.200 --> 0:13:28.960 the numbers throughout the miners, like weren't great. Normally when 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.440 you see a guy come up through the miners, you 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.319 see him, you know, the natural progression is you move 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:37.400 up a level, the numbers are okay, then you dominate, 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:39.800 Then you move up a level, the numbers a level off, 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.760 and you kind of see that progression. His numbers throughout 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.440 not great at mostly any level. He just kind of 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:49.200 refused to go away, and so credit to him for that. 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.880 And so my initial thought was I have no interest 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.439 in this person. And then the more you look at it, 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.800 there is there are some intriguing things there. The main 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:03.200 thing that could lead this to lead him to stick 0:14:03.200 --> 0:14:05.400 around at least a little bit. And we don't even know, 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:07.000 by the way, if his roster, if his stott in 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:08.720 the rotation is going to be guaranteed going forward, because 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:10.920 they're going to be getting some pitchers back. But he 0:14:11.000 --> 0:14:12.480 used to be more of a two pitch pitcher. He 0:14:12.520 --> 0:14:16.560 was a fastball slider guy. Last year he threw his 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:20.440 change up nine percent of the time. The other day, 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:22.120 his change up was he threw it more than any 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:25.240 other pitch. He threw it thirty four point three percent 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:27.640 of the time, more than his slider, more than his fastball, 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:28.920 and more than his curveball that he only threw a 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.200 few times. And that was obviously huge for him, and 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:33.880 the Blue Jays were not ready for it, and it 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:35.480 could have just been a scouting report thing. Maybe the 0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:38.520 Blue Jays were completely not ready for him to have 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:40.960 a change up that he not only used but featured 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.440 throughout the game. And it also labeled him to get 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:47.480 out left entitators. And so is that a tangible change 0:14:47.480 --> 0:14:49.880 that we can rely on going forward? Maybe? Is it 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:54.040 just a short term thing? Probably? Should you pick him 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:58.000 up also? Probably? And should you sell him high? Definitely? 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:02.560 I think I tend to think that at Fantasy Baseball, 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:06.680 managers are a little too hesitant to drop guys that 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.560 they drafted or really liked the sleepers in the offseason early. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:12.040 If a guy throws a no hitter, I'm gonna I'm 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:15.040 gonna pick him up. I'm I mean, unless my roster 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.800 is absolutely loaded, Like I'm not gonna force it if 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:19.560 I if I really don't have the room. 0:15:20.080 --> 0:15:22.200 But chances are you have the room and you just 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:23.000 don't know it yet. 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.000 And I'm gonna be willing to make those moves early 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:28.680 and try and hit on the guy who's a breakout. 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.600 And I'm not saying that Renel Blanco is like definitely 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:35.120 a breakout superstar pitcher, Like I recognize what the scope 0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.360 of his career has looked like, and I recognize that 0:15:37.400 --> 0:15:39.560 this is a one off start and he's not even 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.600 guaranteed a spot in the Astros rotation moving forward. But 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.720 and so you know, if we're talking FAB, I'm not 0:15:46.760 --> 0:15:49.920 gonna spend fifty percent of my FAB and the guy 0:15:49.960 --> 0:15:51.880 just get they're a new hitter, right, But I'm gonna try. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.240 I'm I'm gonna say, if I have room, which I 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.200 think most people probably do. I'm gonna at least take 0:15:57.240 --> 0:15:59.320 a shot and see what his next start looks like, 0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.840 and and maybe you drop him again soon. But you 0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:04.200 know what, it's not the worst thing in the world 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:05.880 that have guys at the end of your bench that 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.640 are droppable. If you drop somebody and pick up Blanco 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:11.560 and he stinks the next two starts, guess what, there's 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:12.840 gonna be somebody else that you want to pick up, 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:14.280 and now you have an obvious guy to drop two. 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:16.160 So I'm just always gonna be more aggressive early in 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:19.000 the season, at least in terms of making attempts to 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.360 get players, even if I'm not gonna blow my whole 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:24.240 budget on it or you know, anything anything like that. 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:28.160 Let's get to the last topic here and rounding the bases. 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:33.480 The Pittsburgh Pirates. Are they a feared lineup? I wrote 0:16:33.520 --> 0:16:35.680 down some notes here because I was looking through I 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.200 was I just got I mean, I know they'd been 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:39.320 hitting well, but I pulled up all the kind of 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:41.600 team hitting rankings just because I was kind of curious, 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:44.480 you know, just what the top looked like, and you know, 0:16:44.560 --> 0:16:47.240 kind of putting all the data together. Top five in 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:51.720 runs per game in Baseball so far. The Orioles are five, 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.960 no surprise. The Dodgers are four, no surprise. The Diamondbacks 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:57.160 are three. Good line up. 0:16:57.480 --> 0:16:59.840 The Braves are two, obviously no surprise. 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.000 Number one, one of only two teams averaging over seven 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:06.040 runs a game are your Pittsburgh Pirates. They are the 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.760 only lineup in baseball whose team on base percentage is 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.280 above four hundred. It's at exactly four hundred at least 0:17:12.480 --> 0:17:15.520 as it was as last night. Even with the second 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.800 most runners left on base in baseball, those are scoring 0:17:18.880 --> 0:17:21.919 opportunities and also tied for the third fewest home runs 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:24.679 only four on the season. They lead major League Baseball 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.960 and scoring kind of similar to the Red Sox pitching staff. 0:17:27.960 --> 0:17:30.800 It really just wanted to highlight, like this really surprising 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:34.239 development and just that they've been scoring a lot. Do 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:37.679 you think there's a degree of sustainability here? Is there 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:40.720 a player on the Pirates that you're most like, this 0:17:40.800 --> 0:17:44.560 is a breakout that's driving this train is or you 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:45.960 just kind of say, you know, it was a fun 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.240 first week. These kinds of things happen, and it's just 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:50.040 a fun nugget. 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.119 It's a fun first week, and these kinds of things happen, 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:56.000 and it's a fun nugget. That one. We'll go with 0:17:56.040 --> 0:17:58.480 that one. Can you tell me the two teams the 0:17:58.520 --> 0:18:03.000 Pirates have played so far out looking I feel like Marlins. 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:07.800 No, the Marlin, I had the schedule up already. The 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.480 Marlins obviously is like kind of the big you know, 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:14.480 red Flag one and then the NAT's also not good beautiful. 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:16.600 The interesting thing with the Pirates and no, I don't 0:18:16.600 --> 0:18:18.600 think it's sustainable. They do have a few players are 0:18:18.680 --> 0:18:21.280 like I don't think they have staying power. They are 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:25.480 as an overall team, someone I was interested in this offseason, 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:27.960 just you know, if a lot of things go well, 0:18:28.800 --> 0:18:30.840 I could see them competing and like sticking around, like 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.639 if Mitch Keller, you know, pitches like he can do 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:37.879