WEBVTT - Leading Off September 13th, 2024 (Ep. 901) 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:08.840 What's going on? Everybody? Welcome into Leading Off the Fantasy 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.280 Pros Baseball Podcast. We are presented by Bet three six five. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:14.200 If you bet five bucks, get one hundred and fifty 0:00:14.200 --> 0:00:16.960 and bonus bets when you use that promo code. Leading Off. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.720 That is with our friends over at Bet three six five. 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.560 It is Joel Rico and Casey Bubba coming at you 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.720 once again. Here a couple of full weeks of Joe 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:26.759 and Bubba. Lots of fun getting to talk with you 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:28.440 every day. My friend, how are you doing today? 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:29.680 Doing great? 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:33.200 It's a Friday, heading into another weekend, and we're getting 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.160 so close to the end of this season that it's fun. 0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:37.640 But we got Rocker last night to Gront tonight. We 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:39.839 got some fun things still going on around baseball. 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.360 Oh yeah, we are going to start off with Kumar 0:00:42.440 --> 0:00:44.680 Rocker for sure. We got a fun show sheet today. 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:46.879 I've added in some playoff prep. We're going to talk 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:50.440 about some fringier two start pitchers who are on the 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.040 bubble a little bit, and I've also highlighted five really 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:54.880 hot hitters that we're going to discuss, as well as 0:00:54.920 --> 0:00:57.160 the usual to do's here on the show. But if 0:00:57.200 --> 0:00:59.640 you guys have any questions. Should have some time later on. 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.680 If you guys have any questions about next week or 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:04.559 this weekender or anything even twenty twenty five drafts, whatever 0:01:04.600 --> 0:01:06.240 you got thrown into the chat and Bubba and I 0:01:06.319 --> 0:01:08.600 should have some time to get to them. But let's 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:10.399 start off like with what you mentioned there. Buy about 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:13.360 Kumar Rocker. I'm not sure if you were watching this one. 0:01:13.400 --> 0:01:15.679 I had the two screens of Thursday Night Football, and 0:01:15.720 --> 0:01:18.760 I had the Kumar Rocker start going on, and the 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:21.360 first couple batters got hits against him, and you're thinking, oh, go, 0:01:21.720 --> 0:01:24.440 what's gonna happen here? And then he just settled in 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.640 and looked dominant. I mean, I heard comparisons to Jose 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:31.240 Fernandez yesterday. I saw people saying that his slider is 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:33.920 an eighty grade pitch. I think that he has the 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:37.240 potential to be a game changer if he stays healthy. 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.319 He looks dominant. Well, what were your thoughts about on 0:01:40.560 --> 0:01:41.960 Kumar Rocker's MLB debut? 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:45.120 Absolutely filthy. I didn't get to watch it live. I 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:48.600 watched all the highlights of it. Then here we go again, 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:51.400 watched the highlights of it, and it was pretty darn 0:01:51.400 --> 0:01:54.920 Impressedive the seven k's, the twenty three percent swinging strike rate, 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.160 the slider was just pure domination. He looked great. So 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:01.120 I'm hoping we get to get more Kumar for the 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:02.920 rest of the season. That's still up for grabs on 0:02:02.960 --> 0:02:05.440 what the Rangers are doing there with the rotation, But 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:08.040 I love what we saw. Kid is legit and it's 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:09.680 good to see him finally getting his after all the 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:12.280 injuries and everything else after he left Vanderbilt. 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.640 Harry Say projected first round twenty twenty five. No, he 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:20.480 won't go in the first round, but if we see 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:22.959 two or three, well how many times? I mean, there's 0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.919 only what potential for maybe three more starts? Probably two, 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:30.040 maybe three if he looks dominant in all those starts. 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.080 What's the highest you think we could see Kumar getting 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.760 pushed up draft boards? About a third, fourth, fifth round? 0:02:34.800 --> 0:02:36.120 What's your initial thought there? 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:38.959 I would hope fifth round. 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.000 There's always a crazy person out there that will go 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.760 third round or something. But you know, a couple starts 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:46.720 as nice. We know the pedigree is good, but there's 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.360 still to me a lot of questions surrounding kum Moore Rockers, 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:51.919 So I would hope he's like a round to pick 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:54.359 one like an SP three at least at least an 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:55.720 SP three is what I'd hoped for. 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:57.920 But he's got the ceiling to be more. I will 0:02:57.919 --> 0:02:58.440 admit that. 0:02:59.760 --> 0:03:03.280 Yeah, yeah, it's tricky, right, Like there's no the first 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.120 round is so deep. Like we've talked with this on 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:08.359 a few shows, it's really really tricky to break into 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:11.600 that top fifteen, even top twenty, and then you know, 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:14.160 it's just such a risk, like there are really even 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:17.320 outside of those first fifteen or twenty picks, you're still 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.840 looking at a lot of established value, not just pitchers everywhere, 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:23.520 and you'd be taking a big chance for the health 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:25.680 side of things with Rocker. He throws very hard. You 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.520 never really know what a guy's going to look like. 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.040 As great as he did look yesterday, and as much 0:03:30.080 --> 0:03:31.240 as I think he is going to be an ace, 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.160 I think that you're probably right SP three, maybe if 0:03:34.200 --> 0:03:37.400 you're getting cheeky SP two, but I think he's probably 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.200 should be SP three. We'll see how excited people get. 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:43.720 Over the course of the offseason. Jackson Curio had himself 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:46.200 a game. He became the first member, or not the 0:03:46.240 --> 0:03:48.800 first member, the youngest member of the twenty twenty club 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.800 in MLB history. It's been a little bit of a 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:54.720 shaky season for him. He started off pretty well and 0:03:54.720 --> 0:03:56.200 then he went through a bit of a cold stretch, 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:58.120 and then he's just really turned things on in the 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:01.280 second half of the year. One run seventy one Ribys 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:03.960 twenty twenty with a two seventy two batting average. Are 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:06.880 we firmly thinking he's a third rounder at worst? 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:07.200 Bubba? 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:09.200 Is there any chance he's getting outside of the top 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:10.680 fifty picks and drafts next season? 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.360 No, he should not be this guy. He should not 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.680 be getting outside of those fifty picks. I should say 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.480 he's a second rounder for me, third at the if 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:21.679 you're lucky he's twenty twenty. We saw he's got thirty 0:04:21.720 --> 0:04:24.000 thirty potentialists. A kid, he's twenty, I say, kid, he's 0:04:24.000 --> 0:04:27.200 twenty years old, legally cannot drink in the United States 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:31.400 of America, and he's out there. You know, slow start, 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:35.719 heves com platuning for a second there, then shocker, after 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:37.839 more reps, a young kid starts to figure things out. 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:40.479 He started producing and the last cup like month or 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.360 two have been amazing for Jackson. 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.880 Cheerio. I think he's an absolute stud. 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:46.800 They've moved him towards the top of the order, which 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:49.279 has helped him him hitting with William and Country and 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:52.440 company up there. So I'm a big Jackson Cheerio fan. 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:55.719 I think he's very, very worthy of a second round pick, 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:59.320 and it's going to be the big debate this whole offseason. 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.120 Centurio Jackson, Merrill. Well, some keep forgetting White. Langford shouldn't 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.560 be that far behind that, but it'll be fun for sure. 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:08.920 Yeah, and that early draft you did, I'm pretty sure 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:11.160 Langford went a few rounds behind those other guys, right, 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:12.800 he was kind of forgotten about a little bit. 0:05:13.480 --> 0:05:13.680 Yeah. 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:16.120 Yeah, I want to say, like round nine or ten, 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:17.960 and these guys both went in round two like it 0:05:17.960 --> 0:05:19.200 was a big, big gap. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:20.719 Yeah. 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:23.360 I think if that's the gap, and that's if that's 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.680 what's happening consistently, then I'll just wait and take Langford 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:29.120 because I don't know that there's that much of a 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:32.280 difference in terms of the long term projection. It's not 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.599 been the greatest season for Langford. It's like ten homers 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.360 and it was the thirteen steals or something. It's been underwhelming. 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:40.080 But if I'm getting him seventy picks later than these 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.640 other guys. I'm gonna take that every single time. But 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.240 definitely a group of guys that are all potential. You know, 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.039 if we're looking toad to twenty twenty six, which I 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.080 know it's crazy, but those guys could all be top 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.960 thirty picks. Yeah, easily. Let's move on to talk Nester Cortez, though, 0:05:55.000 --> 0:05:57.360 who's been a bit up and down this season. There 0:05:57.400 --> 0:06:00.240 was a while where Nestor Cortez was unstartable. In the 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:02.520 middle of the summer, he was brutal, but he's kind 0:06:02.520 --> 0:06:05.760 of turned things around. Yesterday, five solid innings, nine strikeouts 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:07.920 with one ear and run against the Red Sox. He's 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.800 down to a three ninety ERA and even maybe a 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:11.960 little bit more surprising, a one to fifteen WEB over 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:14.640 one hundred and sixty eight innings. Has he done enough 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.200 to get you interested again for next season Nestor Or? 0:06:18.520 --> 0:06:20.440 Has there been enough concern this year that you'd kind 0:06:20.440 --> 0:06:22.080 of just want to avoid him in twenty twenty five. 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.200 Nestor has always been a guy I like. The inconsistencies 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.320 are annoying as all get up, But I think after 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.600 you start talking SP four SP five's are going to 0:06:31.640 --> 0:06:34.200 have a lot of inconsistencies, but the ceiling that Nestor 0:06:34.240 --> 0:06:36.719 brings playing on a good team that should lead to wins. 0:06:36.760 --> 0:06:38.719 The fact he strikes guys out. That's always one of 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:41.440 my big things I look for in my later pitchers 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:42.680 is you know, there's going to be a lot of 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.240 warts on these guys later on. As long as he 0:06:45.240 --> 0:06:47.520 can strike guys out, we can, you know, play the 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:49.760 matchups hopefully and see how it works. Doesn't always work 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:52.360 out that way, but that's the goal. So I am 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:54.320 a Nestor fan. If he's healthy, that was kind of 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.120 the concern coming into this year as the health. So 0:06:56.960 --> 0:07:00.200 he's proven to stay pretty healthy this year. I'm not 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:02.080 saying I'm going to force myself to draft him, but 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.560 he will be on the radar, Like, if he's available 0:07:04.560 --> 0:07:06.360 at the right price, I will take him. 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:09.920 I think I will as well. It really and I mean, 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:11.840 you know, we get ourselves in trouble this time of 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:14.080 year talking about potential prices because we have no idea 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:15.360 what the hell is going to happen. But I feel 0:07:15.360 --> 0:07:18.400 like if Nester Kortez is like I don't know, in 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:21.240 the one hundred to one, twenty one to thirty type 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:22.280 of range overall. 0:07:22.520 --> 0:07:26.960 But that does that sound about right? Something like that? Yeah, 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.400 I think he that's probably the high range. I'd hope 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.600 for lower if I'm picking, but I could see that 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:34.920 happening just because he gets the Yankees tax and all 0:07:34.920 --> 0:07:37.120 that kind of fun stuff. So yeah, like in a 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:39.040 perfect world, in my mind, one twenty to one thirties 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:40.400 where I want Kumar Rocker to go. 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:42.280 So that's where my head would be. 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:45.000 But I'm always like more cautious with my picks, and 0:07:45.040 --> 0:07:46.800 it doesn't always work out for my interest. 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.200 I don't know for getting Kumar at that price. We'll see. 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.200 Maybe if you hop into an ESPN league or something, 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:53.960 you might be able to get to get a price 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:54.240 like that. 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.320 But just maybe a November draft he might have a chance. 0:07:57.600 --> 0:07:59.480 It's gonna be tricky, especially if he keeps up what 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.320 we saw. Yes, I want to touch on Sonny Gray 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:05.000 a little bit. He faced his old team in Cincinnati yesterday, 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.320 six innings, one run, ball with nine strikeouts, two hits, 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:11.480 and two walks. The thing with Sonny Gray that's kind 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:13.240 of come out of nowhere a little bit as a 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.920 strikeouts to some extent, like he's been a solid strikeout 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.160 pitcher for the last several seasons, but twenty seven, twenty four, 0:08:19.240 --> 0:08:21.920 twenty four percent. He's up out over thirty percent strikeout 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:23.840 rate this season. But one thing I do want to 0:08:23.840 --> 0:08:26.440 point out is the swinging strike rate is a thirteen percent. 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.120 If you guys don't look at swinging strike rate consistently, 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.160 it's the rule of thumb is you can kind of, 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.719 you know, double it by I multiply it by two, 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:36.360 and that's kind of like an expected strikeout rate. I 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:39.040 feel like he's probably not a thirty percent strikeout rate 0:08:39.080 --> 0:08:43.000 guy going forward. Baba, and he concerned drafting Sonny Gray 0:08:43.040 --> 0:08:46.240 next season heading into his age thirty five year, coming 0:08:46.280 --> 0:08:48.880 off of maybe in a bit of an overperforming season. 0:08:49.160 --> 0:08:51.800 Any concerns for you there long term per Sonny. 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:55.120 Gray, age is always a concern. There's no like hiding 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:57.480 from that. Thirty five is pretty getting pretty up there 0:08:57.640 --> 0:08:58.720 for a starting pitcher. 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:00.000 But I love him this year. 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:01.880 This is back to a couple of really good seasons 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:03.760 in a row when he went to Minnesota pitched well. 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:06.960 Is he a thirty percent k guy? No, But if 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.120 you look at all his underlying like era indicators, he's 0:09:09.160 --> 0:09:11.480 even better than what his numbers are showing. His KDO 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.600 walk's been great all season. He's pitched really really well, 0:09:14.880 --> 0:09:17.960 and we've seen these last couple of starts the indicators 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:19.800 are starting to show in his favor. So I'm still 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:21.000 a big fan of Sunny Gray. 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.000 Pitching for the Cardinals isn't gonna hurt. 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.199 That's gonna be a plus just being in that division 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.200 and all the other fun stuff that goes along with 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.200 that ballpark. So I like Sonny Gray. I think he 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:32.800 is a really really good SP three with a little 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:35.600 bit of SP two upside because he's not flashy. But 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:38.079 you know, it's not thirty percent K, but I believe 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.280 he could be twenty four to twenty five percent and 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.000 that'll still be very very serviceable going forward. 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:45.840 Yeah, I agree, you know, you got to worry about 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.560 a guy getting older a little bit, But Sunny Gray 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.160 is not usually somebody that gets that much helium. I 0:09:52.160 --> 0:09:53.720 don't know if it's just because he's been around for 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.640 a long time and honestly, like the surface numbers three 0:09:56.679 --> 0:09:59.160 seventy five era, that might be what some people look at, 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:00.679 and maybe he doesn't get put stup as high as 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:02.680 I think, But yeah, just I feel like that strikeout 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:03.880 rate is going to come back down to earth, but 0:10:03.880 --> 0:10:07.440 he should still be a pretty interesting target considering where 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:10.480 he's likely to go. Sticking in St. Louis for a second, 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:13.040 Mason Win hit a home run yesterday, and he's actually 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:16.920 been a really nice value shortstop this season. Thirteen homers, 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.280 eleven steals, seventy two runs, only fifty ribies. You're not 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:21.520 going to get a ton of the top of a 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.960 mediocre lineup, but he's also hitting two seventy two, Bob, 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.120 But what are your thoughts on on Mason Win going 0:10:27.160 --> 0:10:29.400 forward heading into next season? Is he somebody you'd target 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:32.040 as a starting shortstop. Is he somebody you'd want more 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:34.840 as a backup middle infield type of option. What's your 0:10:34.840 --> 0:10:35.760 comfort level as. 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.839 Of right now with Mason Win. I liked what we've 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:41.600 seen this year a lot. In some of my preseason talks, 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:44.160 like my team previews, I had Matt Thompson, a prospect's 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:46.760 live on and he's huge on Mason Win, but he 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:48.800 admitted he's like a year away, like this was kind 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:52.240 of the get comfortable year, and we're starting to see 0:10:52.240 --> 0:10:53.839 as the season goes on, Like you mentioned, he's starting 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.560 to get comfortable which is good to see. So I'd 0:10:56.559 --> 0:10:59.000 still prefer him as a middle infielder for twenty twenty five. 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:02.040 But you and I recapped the first eleven picks the 0:11:02.080 --> 0:11:06.040 other day. I'm benched with Bubba, and shortstop goes really 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.360 really early and then it gets really really bleak. So 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:09.920 if you miss out on the early run or you 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.160 don't want to be aggressive on the early run, I'm 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.480 cool with Mason Winning. You're starting a shortstop because that 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:16.240 means you should have done better things with your other 0:11:16.280 --> 0:11:18.840 picks to make your team work out. So I'm not 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.200 opposed to Mason win is a shortstop in a fifteen. 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.160 He's definitely a shortstop. Twelve team, ten teams maybe not, 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.199 but I do like him period. I wouldn't mind him 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:28.960 on my roster, but preferably middle endfielder. 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.360 Later option that gets you a decent batting average is 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.440 always going to be a little bit appealing to me. Generally, 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:37.760 batting average drives up so soon. But if you're getting 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.280 somebody who not a ton of power, not a ton 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:42.520 of speed, but somebody who won't really hurt you anywhere, 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.280 who's going to hit in the two seventy two to 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:48.000 eighty type range, that's potentially very very appealing for me. 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:50.200 I like Mason Winn and shout out to Ben Ted, 0:11:50.520 --> 0:11:52.880 who was somebody that was very interested in Mason Win, 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.920 our mutual friend Ben. Let's talk Marcus s Ami in 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.000 a little bit. It had been kind of a down 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:00.760 season for him as a whole, but he's things up recently, 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:02.760 hit a home run yesterday. Over the last week, three 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:04.959 home runs and a couple stolen bases, and he's probably 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:08.400 gonna finish as a top one hundred overall player. I've 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:10.760 heard a lot of conversation about Marcus Semion over the 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:13.000 last couple of days about where he should come in 0:12:13.000 --> 0:12:15.160 in second base rankings, in terms of where he should 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:17.840 go overall in a draft. Is he a top five 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:21.360 second baseman, top seventy five overall pick at this point still, 0:12:21.440 --> 0:12:24.160 or what's your concern level as he continues to get older, 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:26.920 somebody who depends on volume to get by for fantasy? 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:29.439 Are you going to be interested for twenty twenty five. 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:32.560 If the price is right? And in that early draft 0:12:32.640 --> 0:12:34.680 he went past pick seventy five, that's for sure. He 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:36.800 fill a ton in that draft and I almost ended 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.719 up taking the chance on him. But at that time, 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.400 he still wasn't hitting. This recent hot streak has been 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.679 very very good to see because he's been hurt a 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:44.120 lot this year. 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.160 He's getting older. This is what happens when you get older. 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.560 The thing that made Simeon so great was racking up 0:12:48.600 --> 0:12:50.640 at bats, playing one hundred and sixty two games a year, 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.640 getting over seven hundred played appearances. 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:54.600 That's what made Markusieman who he was. 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:56.800 And we've all said, if he doesn't do that, the 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:58.920 production's obviously not going to be what you want for 0:12:58.960 --> 0:13:02.040 a second round pick. Now, if he drops into rounds eight, nine, 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.360 ten or whatever, he's very serviceable. So he's not a 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:08.000 top five second baseman, but if the price stays in that, 0:13:08.080 --> 0:13:11.119 you know, eight to ten round range, very very serviceable 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:12.280 second basement going forward. 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.400 Yeah, I think I'll think I'll buy a dip, like 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:17.200 you said, like, it has to be a decent enough 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.520 dip and if that's what's gonna happen consistently. If he's 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.440 going in round six, seven, eight nine, he's been a 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.640 top well what was he going this past season in 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.240 the third round? I think a lot of the time. 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.199 So I'll take that dip hoping to get in on 0:13:28.240 --> 0:13:30.480 a bit of a bounce back. It's been just a 0:13:30.559 --> 0:13:32.600 terrible season for Texas as a whole, but I feel 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.240 like they could kind of bounce back all around next season. 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:38.079 Just wanted to mention Aaron Judge. He's in the midst 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.680 of the longest home run draut of his career, sixteen 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.520 consecutive games without a home run. Anything to make of this, 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:45.840 Bubba or is this just the random variance of baseball 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:46.800 in your opinion. 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:49.600 I'm gonna give it random variants of baseball. The weird 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:51.600 thing is with Judge. He could be hurt just because 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:53.599 he's got that tendency, but he's gonna play through it 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:56.600 right now because it's the stretch run. I'm just gonna 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.040 say it's you know, soda was ice cold until about 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:01.839 three games ago too, So this this team's kind of 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.080 going the way of the Dodo. It seems like as 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:06.040 they get towards the end of September. So I'm gonna 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.439 I'm going to rack it up to a slump, which 0:14:08.600 --> 0:14:10.440 is craziest because we haven't seen Judge do that. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:13.400 Never in his career, even as a rookie. The longest 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:15.520 Drodi had was fifteen games. But the Curse of Paw 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.440 Patrol appears to be alive and well. Right now, for 0:14:18.520 --> 0:14:19.880 mister Judge, if Bobby. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.400 Witch a great episode, a great episode, I. 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:25.040 Am childless, so I have not seen this episode. But 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:27.960 the thing with the American League MVP rais is that 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:30.160 Bobby Wit actually had a chance to kind of make 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.520 up some ground here, but he's been stone cold himself. 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.240 If he had done his usual thing over the last 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:36.640 couple of weeks, and this could have been a little 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:38.760 bit more interesting. But I feel like it's still probably 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:41.880 going to be Aaron Judge's MVP as of right now. 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:44.640 Let's take a couple of questions. I got a couple 0:14:44.720 --> 0:14:46.680 of them start here. Let's start with one from Harry 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:48.400 in the chat three year Keeper League? Do I keep 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.680 Kyle Schwarber or Josh Naylor? Where are you heading on 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:50.920 this one? 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:54.560 Bubba schwore bombs and I'm a Josh Taylor fan, But 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:56.240 you keep Schwarber in this scenario? 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.640 I think I am too. Like the three year thing 0:14:58.800 --> 0:15:00.560 kind of worries you a little bit. But Schwarber's a 0:15:00.600 --> 0:15:02.200 lot younger than I think a lot of people realize. 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:04.440 He's like thirty one. He's been around for a long time. 0:15:04.480 --> 0:15:05.960 I think people probably and he looks a little bit 0:15:05.960 --> 0:15:07.400 older than he is. I think people will probably think 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:09.480 he's like thirty three thirty four, but he's younger than 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.880 you'd expect. Naylor, we have seen the downside recently. I 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:14.800 love Josh Naylor, don't get me wrong, we grew up 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.200 in the same area. Love the guy. But I think 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.760 it's Kyle Schuber here for me. Someone offered me Hunter 0:15:21.800 --> 0:15:25.080 Brown in a tenth round pick for is that Rooker 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:27.760 or Rocker? No, it's Rocker and an eighth round pick. 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.960 I think I'm probably going with Rocker, but it's close, 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:35.080 man like. That might just be me reading too much 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:37.400 into the recent sample size here. What do you think Bubba. 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.600 If fits like a Dynasty keep Forever league, Probably in 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.400 the Rocker side of it. But if it's just like 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:46.360 you know, I get a couple of years. There's certain 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.760 policies in place. Hunter Brown's really really good too. There's 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.080 no denying that, like the dude's gonna he might not 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.440 be far off from Rocker and you get the tenth round. 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:55.760 But see, I think I want the eighth round pick 0:15:55.840 --> 0:15:56.800 in a keeper league. 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.600 It's already so shallow when it comes to draft round five, 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.680 you're literally throwing darts at a wall. So round ten's 0:16:03.680 --> 0:16:07.040 a little rough. I think Rocker in an eighth rounder 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:08.280 is pretty pretty nice. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:10.720 I think I am taking Rocker there too. Don't want 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.160 to be prisoners at the moment, but man, he could be. 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:15.400 He could be a cy young winner, Like he really 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.040 could be that level. I think, like, there's not many 0:16:18.080 --> 0:16:20.640 pitchers who possess an eighty grade pitch of any kind. 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:24.520 His slider is that good, and the fastball movement is like, 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:26.920 he's just so good. Like we're not prospect guys, but 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.480 just the eye test yesterday was like my dad, who 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.320 barely follows baseball at all, was watching this like, holy crap, 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:34.480 this guy's pretty good. I was like, yeah, yeah, he's 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:38.120 pretty good. Dad, He's pretty good. Let's talk about Tommy 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.600 Edmund versus Parker Meadows. This one's kind of interesting. I 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.880 think it's Tommy Edmund for me, probably, Bubba. I know 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.280 you're not exactly the Tommy Edmund fan club president, but 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:48.560 where are you going on this one? 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:51.320 I'll go with Edmund on this. I got a whole 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:53.520