WEBVTT - 4/23, Part 1: Monday night recap, Thor’s struggles, and more... 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:03.640 Hey, thanks for downloading the podcast, and remember, if you 0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:07.160 want to listen live, download the I Heart Radio app, 0:00:07.240 --> 0:00:10.080 download the tune and app and just search for Fantasy 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:14.760 Sports Radio Network and you can listen to this program live. Also, 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.360 if you want to watch the video of this podcast, 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:20.960 check us out on YouTube, on twitch, or on Periscope 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.079 and type in you guessed Fantasy Sports Network. You'll find 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:32.880 us there. Enjoy the show and thanks for listening. Fantasy 0:00:33.000 --> 0:00:55.640 best Friends Forever, m H. Welcome to the Fantasy best 0:00:55.680 --> 0:01:00.280 Friends Forever on a Tuesday, year breaks Up will be 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.440 joining us shortly. I am Frank Stamfull holding it down 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:06.720 for now. As I mentioned yesterday, you know, Greg takes 0:01:06.760 --> 0:01:09.160 his time getting up the stairs. He's got all these 0:01:09.200 --> 0:01:12.080 things going on. He's an older gentleman. We're not gonna 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:15.040 hold it against We're still gonna hold it down here 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:17.960 or the time being. But we're gonna be joined by 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:21.880 good friend of the program here, Nick Pollock at picture 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:25.200 List Great Content. Make sure you follow him on Twitter, 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:29.800 picture list dot com. What's out great Content ranks the 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:33.480 top one starting pitchers Every Monday. Try and catch the 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.760 First Pitch podcast every morning that he puts out. You 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:38.800 can listen to it on SoundCloud. Nick, what's going on, man? 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:41.640 How's everything? What is happening is it's just gonna be 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.560 me and you for a moment. This is uh, this 0:01:43.600 --> 0:01:45.360 is nice. I don't know. I mean, I love Greg, 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:47.840 don't get me wrong, but this feels I don't know, 0:01:47.960 --> 0:01:50.120 it's like we're the best friends forever. All of a sudden, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.080 I'm gonna have to let him know you're stealing his job, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:56.200 like Collix swooping in here and stealing the job of 0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.280 one Greg Susman. But this gives us a good opportunity to, 0:01:59.600 --> 0:02:05.200 you know, actually get stuff done without craign. But last night, uh, 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:07.560 you know, not the most eventful night. It wasn't the 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:11.120 greatest night in terms of starting pitching. Jay happ only 0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.480 gave up one home run, So I'll take that as 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:17.079 a as a positive. As a Yankees fan, Nick, I 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.200 don't know about you, man, but um, you know, these 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:22.280 West Coast games, especially with the Yankees, they kill me 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.920 because you know, I stood up until off the eleventh 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:30.280 ending last night around one am, I go to sleep 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:31.640 and wake up in the middle of night check and 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.080 what happened to see what happened with the Yankees? But 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:37.000 it's tough. It's tough here on the East Coast staying 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.000 up here trying to watch some West Coast games, and 0:02:39.200 --> 0:02:41.400 especially now the Yankees are on this West Coast road trip. 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.640 It's a killer. It's a killer, man. West Coast games 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.160 are the worst. I do this article every single night, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.080 which is the sp round up, going over every single 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.880 starting pitcher performance from that day, and I try and 0:02:51.919 --> 0:02:53.920 write that before I go to bed, which means I 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:55.959 need to wait until the West Coast games are done 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.360 for the most part, so that I can actually report 0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.120 on the starting pitcher. It's it can be brutal, but 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.920 I am happy you went to bed and didn't suffer 0:03:04.000 --> 0:03:06.320 the twelfth ind and come back the Yankees had and 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.840 then the fourteenth any final victory, but that was we 0:03:09.880 --> 0:03:12.519 thought we were out of purgatory. And then now you 0:03:12.639 --> 0:03:15.000 got some more innings to go. Yeah, a roll of 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:17.640 Chatman blows his first save of the season. You know 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.600 the Yankees, well, the strength of the team is supposed 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:23.280 to be the pullpen and roller. Chatman blows a saved 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.120 yesterday and the whole the baccle Sunday after a great 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.400 pitching performance from James Paxson, they blew his wind. It's 0:03:29.480 --> 0:03:32.880 very frustrating time. And you know whatever, Yankee fans are spoiled. 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:34.920 I mean not really though, since like the turn of 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.360 the generation. It's you know, it hasn't hasn't been all 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:41.800 uh all rainbows and uh and blue skies here for 0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.920 for Yankee fans. But it is what it is. We're 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:47.120 we're getting. We're getting a little taste of what the 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:49.560 Mets have gone through basically over the past couple of years, 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:52.480 with all the injuries going on. It's just it's just 0:03:52.520 --> 0:03:54.520 a crazy time. Nick before we jump into some of 0:03:54.560 --> 0:03:57.560 these starting pitchers and where they rank on the list, 0:03:57.840 --> 0:03:59.920 which I encourage everyone to go check out at picture 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.760 dot com. What else do you have going on lately 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:05.200 over at pitch list. Yeah, I mean we have a 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:07.400 ton of content and we do about fifteen articles every 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:10.120 single day. We have obviously your Batter's Box goes over 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.360 every hitting performance last night. We have our hitter list 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:13.960 that comes out on Wednesdays, which is the top one 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:17.560 fifty hitters. We have our Holds Rankings, Closer Ranking, Safe 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:22.080 spos Holds, the Top Prospects of Stash every weekend as well. 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:25.080 It's uh, we just have everything you'd want for fantasy. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.760 Just come on buy and check it out real quick. 0:04:27.760 --> 0:04:30.080 I know we're gonna talk about the starting pictures, but 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:32.839 you mentioned prospects there. Of all these prospects that have 0:04:32.920 --> 0:04:36.120 been getting cold up with Cold Tuckers of the World, 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:40.359 Brian Reynolds, Michael Javis, which one intrigues you the most. 0:04:40.920 --> 0:04:43.120 I'm curious about Cold Tucker. I think there's definitely some 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:44.920 value there. You saw right out of the gate way 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.400 he can do power wise. Obviously, I don't expect a 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:50.400 massive power search from him, but he's definitely intriguing someone 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:52.719 in twelve teamers I would at least jump at and 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:56.120 see see how that's gonna go. All right, Nick, let's 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.679 jump in here. The first starting picture I really wanted 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:00.640 to to get into today that a lot of people 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.880 have been asking me questions about, probably asking you questions 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.919 about as well. I'd imagine is Noah Synder guard Um. 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:09.200 It seems like he has all the talent in the world. 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.920 You know, the guy throws nearly a hundred miles prior. 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.800 He's got like a ninety plus mile prior Slider. I 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:17.599 put out a poll before the show started, asking you know, 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:20.640 how do fantasy owners feel about Synderguard because I wasn't 0:05:20.680 --> 0:05:23.480 avoiding him, but I would have drafted him. I didn't 0:05:23.520 --> 0:05:25.080 end up with him anywhere. I'm actually you know, I'm 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:28.080 playing in six or seven leagues that I'm actually playing 0:05:28.080 --> 0:05:31.599 out competitive leagues, and I don't have any shares of 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.720 Noah synder Guard. So I asked people, how do how 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:35.400 do you feel about Noah synder Gard? He has a 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:38.000 five point nine zero e r A to to start 0:05:38.000 --> 0:05:41.479 the season. Uh. The options being he's been unlucky, I'm 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:45.919 to man up him away and thirty eight percent say 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.680 it's time to man up? Time to man up? Regarding 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:52.679 Noah's synder Guard. So how do you feel about his season? 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:54.880 The way that it's gone to this point? Has he 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.880 been unlucky? Um? Are there things that he needs to 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:03.200 do differently? Because I've seen multiple fantasy outlets analysts talking 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.280 about this over the weekend that no, it's time for 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.280 him to put it together. There there's no more excuses. 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:10.760 How do you feel about no Syndergard? Well, first of all, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:12.640 you don't have synder Guard because you have Trevor Bauer 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:14.960 in every league? Is that right? That's the guy you 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:17.240 took in the third round instead. I do have a 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.720 few shares of Trevor Bower, and I get to give 0:06:19.720 --> 0:06:22.400 you kudos for coming on before the season and talking 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.880 us into Trevor Bauer over Aaronola. Uh you know, Aaronola, 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.640 another one who hasn't got off to the great the 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.159 greatest start. But I do have shares of Trevor Bauer. 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:33.400 Greg and I actually own them together in an auction league. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:35.880 There you go. No on the other on the other 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:38.160 side of it, you've been you've been winning the Chris 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.400 Archer debate definitely so far so uh. You know. It 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:45.680 goes back and forth here, but specifically about Noah synder Guard. 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:47.760 There's man I could talk about this for ages. Last 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:49.479 year put out an article in The Noah synder Guard 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:52.159 for while we're all ignoring about how he's always going 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.240 to have an elevated babbit. He's had a three twenty 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.760 plus babbitt in the past four seasons, including this year. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:06:59.720 It's three forty six this year. But we've seen three 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:02.440 thirty or three thirty seven, three twenty from him because 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.600 he inherently is more of a thrower than he is 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:06.520 a picture. He's not that kind of guy. That's going 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.960 to go up it in and then change up away, 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.440 slider away, and then paints a fastball in the same 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:14.040 sax spot. He's not someone's really gonna work a batter 0:07:14.080 --> 0:07:16.160 in that way. And oftentimes with his fastballs, he's just 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:18.040 kind of throwing it over the plate and it's going 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:19.920 to be strikes a lot. That's why you see that 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:23.080 sub six percent career walk rates. But there a lot 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:25.080 of times he's gonna be hit hard because of it. 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:27.840 And one thing I do like this year is that 0:07:27.880 --> 0:07:29.960 he is throwing more four seamers. Finally said that sinker. 0:07:30.040 --> 0:07:33.480 Sinkers generally are just don't perform as well as four seamers, 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:35.680 and what he should be doing is throwing that fourth 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.240 seamer up a ton and then pairing that slider down, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.840 that curveball down, that change up down. That will just 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:43.680 make a better picture for him. But he's he's not 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:45.720 throwing it up enough and he's throwing it too far down, 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.560 and then it makes a slider not as effective either. Obviously, 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:51.040 there's a lot of luck that needs to go as way. 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:52.560 Even with that bad at three, four to six, that 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:54.440 should still come down a little bit. But the fifty 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:57.840 percent left on base rate is just that's ridiculous. We 0:07:57.880 --> 0:07:59.960 see like mid sixties and we think, oh yeah, that's 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:03.640 really bad luck. Traditionally it's around seventy or so left 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.240 on base right. The elites will be closer to at times, 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:11.400 and percent is just okay. That's why you see the 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:15.320 three Sierra, the two fIF that suggests that better days 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:18.560 are ahead when luck is in his favor. But I mean, 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:20.760 I think with no Syndergard, if you own him, he 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.200 should get much better through the year. I wouldn't be 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:25.720 selling him. I would be buying low on him. I 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.680 think there are corrections that can be made for Syndergards 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:30.400 to get better as the year goes on. And honestly, 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:32.120 the fact that he's selling more four seamers and said 0:08:32.160 --> 0:08:34.960 sinkers now is a step in that direction. Things haven't 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:38.160 gotten his way so far. But it's April. There's so 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:40.840 much season left. I really think a lot of people 0:08:40.840 --> 0:08:43.440 will be kicking themselves later if they sold low on 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:47.400 synder Guard. As a references, you have the list that 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:49.839 comes out every Monday over at Picture List where you 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:51.920 rank the top one starting pitchers, and you still have 0:08:51.960 --> 0:08:56.120 No Synderguard ranked eighth overall, just behind Corey Kluber. Blake's 0:08:56.160 --> 0:08:59.280 now Garrett Cole. He's in that tier three of starting pitchers. 0:08:59.600 --> 0:09:02.400 You still expect him to be elite, but you still 0:09:02.400 --> 0:09:04.560 haven't ranked very highly. You haven't ranked inside the top ten. 0:09:04.960 --> 0:09:06.960 I'm just looking at the skills right, So, like, the 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.400 swinging strike rate is still above league average, not where 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.960 it has been the past couple of years. Chase rate 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:13.640 down a little bit as well, But the first pitch 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.160 strip percentage, he's getting ahead in account more than he 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:19.200 has in years past, sixty one percent. That's the highest 0:09:19.200 --> 0:09:22.480 it's been since. You Know, what I find so interesting 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.200 about Noah synder Garden, Nick, is that the babbit is 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.200 high every year. And I agree with you, he's more 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:30.000 of a thrower. He throws very hard, so it seems 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.320 like he's gonna be more prone to to giving up 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.440 more hits. But the hard hit rate is not is 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:38.800 generally not as high as other starting pitchers. Given the 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:40.920 fact that he throws the ball as hard as he does, 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:43.720 I would think that the hard hit rate against him 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.520 would be higher than league average. And for the most 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:48.720 part in his career he's been below league average, So 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:51.280 it's not like it's not like he's getting squared up 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:53.960 all of that often. So it does seem like a 0:09:54.040 --> 0:09:57.040 bit of unluckiness here for cynder Guard. You look at 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.160 the e r A minus FIP leaderboards for the season, 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:03.920 he's second among qualified starting features. So he's been unlucky again. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:05.560 You know, the fifth is two point nine three, the 0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:08.600 x fit is three point three six. Um, the ear 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:10.599 A stands at five point nine zero, still at a 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:12.920 fifty percent crown ball right that left on base percentace 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.239 as you mentioned, the strand rate just you know, absolutely abysmal. 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:21.000 I don't think, and you know it hasn't been this 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.760 way for his entire career, like a guy like John Gray. 0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:25.760 But is there a chance that we're falling into a 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.600 part of a John Gray situation where he's never going 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.240 to be as good as his underlying numbers say that 0:10:31.280 --> 0:10:34.600 he should be. Nick well, Actually, two thousand eighteen, twousand 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.640 and sixteen, two largest samples we have of Syndergard prior 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.959 to this year, he outperformed a Sierra. It was to 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.160 sixty EARRA and in twos sixteen three or three ear 0:10:45.200 --> 0:10:47.720 a with a three five Sierra in two thousand eighteen, 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.480 So I don't think that that's necessarily something that he's 0:10:50.480 --> 0:10:54.000 always going to be under performing in that fashion, but 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.040 that will obviously be influenced by the great caper walk 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.160 that he has. Is a career k ray in a 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:03.400 five point five percent walk. Great, those are good things. Uh, 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:07.920 now you're talking about the hard contact and and how 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:09.880 you know he's not like getting barreled up so much, 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:11.719 but he has his elevated babbit. Well, there's something to 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.040 be said about Hitter is not trying to do too 0:11:14.160 --> 0:11:16.920 much um against Syndergard, and there are a lot of 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.040 times I think he'll also just get beat by singles 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.679 because guys can just put out the bat against him. 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:24.679 He doesn't like to throw inside to right. Hander's actually 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:27.319 kind of goes middle to out, which means that a 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.000 lot of times you can just put your bat out 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.800 and go to right feeling and be a single highlighted 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:33.720 that in that article last year. I think I found 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:36.480 like seven different singles where it was exactly that case. 0:11:37.200 --> 0:11:40.240 That is just you think you have all these skills 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:42.360 right in front of you, and you're just using them 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.960 in the wrong way and you're not, you know, not nibbling. 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.400 I want to see Syndergard actually maybe even walk a 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:52.079 few more guys if that means better quality pitches in 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.800 the strike zone. So I think there are just justice 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:57.720 to make. And yeah, there is something we said about 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.160 you're saying before that he needs to correct this now. 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.240 Even waiting for a while though, I think he could 0:12:03.240 --> 0:12:06.240 easily do that. I think he even spoke in spring 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:10.440 training about him fixing himself and improving. And yeah, if 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:12.840 I have nine e r A, but that's really five 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.959 starts and twent innings, it's small sample. In April h 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:18.720 you talked about that gap. It's gonna come down massively, 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:20.959 and there's no real reason why we can't expect the 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.560 top ten picture the rest of the way. Nick, last 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.600 question on cynder Guard, a classics cell high by low 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.800 situation right now? Would you trade Luis Castido away to 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.640 get nowhere cyder Guard? And I I used the term 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.360 cell high very loosely here because I think Luis Castillo 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:38.640 could be really good. He could definitely return top twenty 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:41.120 five starting picture value. But if you can pull off 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:43.520 a trade like that, is that something you would look into? Yes, 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:45.920 I know that's crazy to say. I was the guy 0:12:46.000 --> 0:12:48.839 that was that was so high and Luis Castido last 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:51.520 year and I got burned for it. Obviously, I am 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:55.600 very aware of the volatility of Castillo, and we've seen 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.719 again another small sample. He's looking great. I absolutely love it. 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.079 We still need to recognize that we have five more 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.760 months plus to go and this three to four weeks 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:09.680 is not going to be represented necessarily of those five months. 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:11.760 So a guy like Synde Guard that has a better 0:13:11.920 --> 0:13:15.120 innate skill set than Luis Castillo, I would be going 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.600 after that. Then it would cast you. Nick, I gotta 0:13:17.600 --> 0:13:19.640 ask you about another Mets starting pitcher. We won't get 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:21.559 into all of it now. We'll we'll kind of talk 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:23.160 about some now and we'll get to it after the 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.120 break as well. Zach Wheeler. This is a guy that 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:27.800 I was very high and I believe you were very 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:29.760 high on him as well. I mean into the season 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.839 I had Hi ranked is my fourteen starting pitcher. I 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:34.360 was very very aggressive on Zach Wheeler. In fact, I 0:13:34.400 --> 0:13:36.560 took him in the fourth round of the NFBC Main 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:38.920 Event League. So putting my money where my mouth is, 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:41.800 you know, I like Zach Wheeler. The difference with him 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:44.120 between him and Cyderguard is okay. He's got the six 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:47.079 point three five e R A. But it's not like 0:13:47.440 --> 0:13:50.520 the underlying numbers. The x fib is four point seven eight, 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:55.439 the sierra is all the way down at what do 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.400 we have it here? He's at five eleven. Yes, So 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:03.320 it's not like he's uh like his underlying skills are 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.640 much better. They're better than obviously his six point three 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:08.840 five e r A. I was really hoping that those 0:14:08.880 --> 0:14:11.720 games that he made in the command department last year, uh, 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.000 the walks per nine, he kept him under three for 0:14:14.080 --> 0:14:15.400 the first time in his career. He had them at 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.040 two point seven one. The command was much better over 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:20.680 those final eleven twelve starts of the season. This year, 0:14:20.800 --> 0:14:22.920 it hasn't been the case. He's had some tough matchups. 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.720 He's faced the Nationals twice. He's faced the Phillies on 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:28.040 the walks per nine though, all the way up over five. 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.800 And despite the velocity being up this season across the board, 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.480 swinging strike rate down, case rate down, first pitch strike 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.840 percentage down. So I do have some concerns regarding Zach 0:14:38.880 --> 0:14:42.080 Wheeler at this point in the season. Uh, we have 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.000 a couple of minutes here before the break, give us 0:14:44.000 --> 0:14:46.960 a little tease regarding Zach Wheeler. Well, all right. This 0:14:47.120 --> 0:14:49.440 is this is what the hardest parts about fantasy baseball is. 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.720 We try to say, Okay, this guy performed like this, 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:56.200 and he should have performed like this, so okay, So 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.680 for example, Wheeler performed badly, so we're trying to find 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.320 a reason to say, hey, he's going to be good, 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:03.720 and we don't necessarily have one from the underlying numbers. Right, 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.400 But these are people that you know, sometimes they pitch 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:11.440 poorly and they have bad results, but maybe they'll actually 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.240 pitch well. It's not that they're going to pitch the 0:15:13.360 --> 0:15:16.600 same and get different results. It's that we expect them 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.480 to be better than they were, and the underlying numbers 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.760 won't necessarily say that she's going to do that because 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.080 he didn't pitch well before. That's just kind of how 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:30.440 it was. The last two starts, Wheeler's fastball command overall 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:33.040 was much better. This is the reason we loved him 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.720 last year was that those final I think seventeen starts 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.440 or so from Zach Wheeler or phenomenal with his fastball command. 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:41.160 He was going to deep into games because of it. 0:15:41.240 --> 0:15:44.320 And that's set up this trio of secondary pitches that 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:46.840 were never none of them were really elites, but they 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.200 were all a little bit of above average, and it 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.840 made them even better being set up by this incredible 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.600 fastball command. So in the last two starts that improved. 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.040 That's great. He pitched seven innings last time out against 0:15:57.040 --> 0:15:59.920 the Fields. Before that, it was six innings of eight strikeout. 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:02.760 I love that. It's It's kind of funny to look 0:16:02.800 --> 0:16:05.160 at the Sierra at this moment because I mean, one 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:07.400 game was that a ridiculous one against the Nationals where 0:16:07.400 --> 0:16:10.560 we walk seven guys. That's a three Sierra in that 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.720 one start. And that's four starts total of the year, 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.280 So that's of a SRA right there to the other 0:16:17.320 --> 0:16:19.840 ones to six five s three ninety sevens here. So 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.880 it's really small sample we're dealing with. It's going to 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:25.440 make all these numbers look really bad, and walking and 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:27.280 all of that stuff. You can just kind of throw 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:30.320 it away at this point. I really do encourage people 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:33.760 to look more at trends and their skills as a 0:16:33.800 --> 0:16:36.080 picture themselves, to see if there's an indication of them 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:39.480 improving or getting wort or or getting worse. I guess 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.600 so I like Wheeler. I think that he will rebound 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.960 as the season goes on don't freak out too much 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.720 so far. That's Zach Bieler of The New York Man's 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.200 talk a little bit more about him when we come back. 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.360 But Nick Pollock at picture Less make sure you follow 0:16:53.440 --> 0:16:56.000 on Twitter. I am Frank Standfeld. Gregson will join us 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.520 at some point today, I think hopefully and see best 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:06.879 friends for every on the Fantasy Sports radio network Daily 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.840 rodo dot com. 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Well, probably just saying 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:46.440 you have a podcast I think more people have. Is 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:48.560 this possible as this math gonna work? If more people 0:18:48.600 --> 0:18:50.919 have Game of Thrones podcasts than there are podcasts? Can 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.920 I do that? That doesn't that math does not check out. 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:58.080 That's like saying one plus three equals seventy Six's at 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.240 least what we did, though, is we put a behind 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.919 the page. Saturday's two pm, E Stern on the Fantasy 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:14.200 Sports networking on your popular podcast providers. Welcome back to 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:17.640 the Fantasy best Friends Forever. Frank Stanfeld, joined by Nick 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:20.879 Pollock at Pitcherless, Mitchy Falm on Twitter, sec at all 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.359 the great work at pitcherless dot com. We're talking about 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:28.760 Zach Wheeler before the break and mentioned that seven walk performance, 0:19:28.800 --> 0:19:31.480 seven earned runs against the Washington Nationals in that second 0:19:31.520 --> 0:19:33.840 start that just, you know, really really inflicated the numbers. 0:19:33.920 --> 0:19:37.680 That just brutal, brutal performance there, which really up the 0:19:37.720 --> 0:19:39.920 wall watch per nine this year for Zack Wheeler as well, 0:19:40.200 --> 0:19:41.960 and his first start of the season, you know, if 0:19:42.000 --> 0:19:43.920 you were watching it, it was one bad pitch of 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:45.840 Trade Turner where he gives up a three run homer. 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:47.880 You know, I'm not gonna be one of those people 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:49.399 that says it will take that away and he only 0:19:49.400 --> 0:19:52.360 gives up one and run. It happened. So but it's 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:54.680