Speaker 1: Hey, thanks for downloading the podcast. If you want to
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Speaker 1: that's where you can find sports Grids Fantasy Tity Tity Yeah.
Speaker 1: Welcome by your host five eight nine, by my god,
Speaker 1: Rob Say Francis Frantic. Stand all ladies and tell them
Speaker 1: in yours. With that, we will get you inside of
Speaker 1: Studio thirty four and the meadow Lands here in New Jersey.
Speaker 1: I am Gregan, joined as always Bama BVFF. Frank Stample,
Speaker 1: what's happening, Frankie? Okay, what's going on? Man? That was
Speaker 1: an extended version of the intro there for you, Greggy.
Speaker 1: I hope all is going well. I'm excited, man. I'm
Speaker 1: part of two slow drafts right now. Clearly I have
Speaker 1: a problem. Like I've been saying all along, We've got
Speaker 1: like fifteen spring training games going on. We're about to
Speaker 1: talk about starting pitching. What more could you possibly ask for?
Speaker 1: How did you sleep last night, Grey dude? I slept great.
Speaker 1: I I didn't think I had any weird dreams. I
Speaker 1: not that I remember um, but I I slept pretty well.
Speaker 1: I I feel good. I feel refreshed. Last night, Judy
Speaker 1: was talking to me about something. I wasn't listening, why, Frank,
Speaker 1: because I was making starting pitching rankings. Let's go, let's go, Greggy.
Speaker 1: I love to hear it. Yeah, me see man. You
Speaker 1: know what I also love to hear. I also love
Speaker 1: to hear an update from Alex Passano, which comes your
Speaker 1: way right now. I am Alex Passano with your sports
Speaker 1: Grid news update here on the fantasy the f f
Speaker 1: let's start in the NFL, Guys, Bears general manager Ryan
Speaker 1: Pace reaffirmed the team's commitment to starting quarterback Mitchell Trabisky.
Speaker 1: In however, Chicago could change its offensive philosophy. Here's a
Speaker 1: quote from Pace. He said, to be clear, yes, it
Speaker 1: is asked about Bears commitment to Trabisky. We believe in Mitch.
Speaker 1: Mitch knows he needs to be better. We need to
Speaker 1: be better around him, and that's our goal. Trabisky was
Speaker 1: the former second overall pick in the two thousand seventeen
Speaker 1: NFL draft. Last year, the Bears went eight and eight
Speaker 1: and failed to reach the playoffs. Sticking in the NFL guys,
Speaker 1: the Giants are open for business with the fourth pick
Speaker 1: the fourth pick in this year's draft, while the Giants
Speaker 1: said they are quote open for business. According to manager
Speaker 1: David Gettleman. The Giants joined the Detroit Lions, who picked
Speaker 1: third overall in aprils draft, as willing to at least
Speaker 1: listen to offers. The Lions and Giants appear to be
Speaker 1: in the sweet spot for draft plays out as expected.
Speaker 1: At the top quarterback meaty clubs fall in love with
Speaker 1: Alabama's to a Tagle Viola or Organs justin Herbert. We
Speaker 1: will see what happens as the NFL draft. UH is
Speaker 1: far away for now, but it will soon be right
Speaker 1: around the corner. Go to the MLB guys where the
Speaker 1: Braves Freddie Freeman was sidelined by a right elbow irritation.
Speaker 1: Freeman wasn't in the Brave starting lineup Tuesday because of
Speaker 1: irritation in his right elbow. According to Braves manager Brian Snitker,
Speaker 1: here's a quote. We're trying to nip it in the butt.
Speaker 1: He's been throwing balls and doing things. It's better that
Speaker 1: it's in February than the end of March. Snicker said
Speaker 1: he is not sure how long Freeman will be out. Also,
Speaker 1: really quickly in spring training, the Mets third baseman J. D.
Speaker 1: David stayed down on the ground for a few minutes
Speaker 1: after diving for a Cameron Mayben groundball. It was a
Speaker 1: single in the fifth inning. He's back up, but he
Speaker 1: left the game. I'm Alex Passano. When this has been
Speaker 1: your sports grid news update. Now back to the fantasy
Speaker 1: b ffs. Yeah, so I know we're getting the getting
Speaker 1: the NBA comment from Uh, We'll hear from Drew, and
Speaker 1: we're gonna hear from seawn A just a second. But
Speaker 1: before we do, Luis Savarino go and have Tommy John surgery.
Speaker 1: So smile and think about that as we check in
Speaker 1: with Shaasamlakia Andrew dack Meyer, who had this to say
Speaker 1: about their favorite player. All tonight's end me a slate,
Speaker 1: someone who's under the radar but not real league. That's
Speaker 1: Steven Adams. He's having a great year and he's coming
Speaker 1: off four straight double doubles yet twenty one and fourteen
Speaker 1: rebounds in the thunder win against the Spurs last time out.
Speaker 1: Steven Adams, you're center tonight. Yeah, there's been a really
Speaker 1: nice buying opportunity for Steven Adams over the course of the
Speaker 1: the last week, and we think it continues tonight. And
Speaker 1: the reason that there's been a buying opportunities because Steven
Speaker 1: Adams was injured for a while kind of coming into
Speaker 1: the All Star break. He's gotten healthier since then. The
Speaker 1: minutes of tick back up and now you've got another
Speaker 1: favorable matchup against the Bulls, the team that ranks towards
Speaker 1: the bottom of the league in defensive efficiency against opposing centers,
Speaker 1: and they've lost a lot of their center depth during
Speaker 1: the course of the season. The absence of Wendell Carter Jr.
Speaker 1: Has really hurt their defensive proficiency down there. They've also
Speaker 1: lost Luke Cornette. They're down to playing Daniel Gafford and
Speaker 1: Christiana Felicio. It's a really good matchup for Steven Adams.
Speaker 1: We think he cleans up tonight. Center position is kind
Speaker 1: of thin, and he really makes sense. He fits a
Speaker 1: lot of the lineup built with that intier price tag
Speaker 1: they have. It's Steven Adams is the player that you
Speaker 1: gotta build your lineups around tonight, according to Seawn and Drews,
Speaker 1: make sure you do that. Oh her wherever you play, Fandal,
Speaker 1: Draft Kings, what have you. But we'll talk more about
Speaker 1: the NBA come a little bit later on if not tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Does certainly see that on the NBA Fantasy Hour on Twitch.
Speaker 1: But Frankie, today, we're talking about starting pitching, and we're
Speaker 1: gonna start the show with the news that is breaking,
Speaker 1: and that's the fact that Luis Severino, it has been
Speaker 1: recommended to him after all the tests in New York
Speaker 1: from the doctors that he needs Tommy John. So of
Speaker 1: course you had an injury since October, so you might
Speaker 1: as well wait until March to have Tommy John surgery. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this is a big blow for the Yankees and fantasy
Speaker 1: baseball in general. Here, Greg, we lose another starting pitcher
Speaker 1: who was being drafted as a top twenty starter. We
Speaker 1: saw last week that you know, he was dealing with
Speaker 1: something in his forearm, his elbow area. Now Tommy John
Speaker 1: is recommended for him only through twenty innings. Last year,
Speaker 1: it's been a rough go for Luis Severino the past
Speaker 1: couple of seasons. Greg, this honestly sucks just for again fantasy,
Speaker 1: for the Yankees. I mean, we just lose another top
Speaker 1: tier starting pitching for the upcoming season. It'll be interesting
Speaker 1: to see what the Yankees do from here on our
Speaker 1: because I think that they're probably going to make a move.
Speaker 1: I see a few people speculating on Twitter that they
Speaker 1: should go out and signed Colin MQ. I don't know
Speaker 1: how much of a difference that makes. Greg. I have
Speaker 1: thrown out the possibility of them trading for Ross Tripling.
Speaker 1: The Dodgers have already tried to trade him to the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Angels, so we'll see what happens. But I
Speaker 1: think the Yankees are probably gonna end up making a
Speaker 1: move here. This just sucks, man, This this sucks. Greg
Speaker 1: Sweeney Murdy says a die contrast, Mr I revealed a
Speaker 1: partially U c L tear in the elbow. He's head
Speaker 1: of a Tom and John surgery. He'll miss the entire season.
Speaker 1: Testing also revealed pain in the area of the ligament
Speaker 1: for the first time. Cashman says, as you expect that
Speaker 1: he would Frank in house competition will fill the spot.
Speaker 1: Jay have obviously in the rotation, Jordan Montgomery obviously in
Speaker 1: the rotation, James Paxton shirt. The Yankees are gonna rely
Speaker 1: quite heavily on Massa Heiro Tanaka, and on Ja and
Speaker 1: on Garrett Cole of course, and that fifth spot you
Speaker 1: might see David David Garcia earlier than you expect. Jonathan
Speaker 1: Lewis Aga, Uh, Michael King, Nick Tropiano, Chad Banish. I mean,
Speaker 1: these are the types of players that the Yankees having house.
Speaker 1: We thought last year they make a move when Savorino
Speaker 1: went down. We thought last year they needed pitching anyway. Uh,
Speaker 1: they didn't. Uh Frank one of the I would say
Speaker 1: that they could try to convinces bath to come back.
Speaker 1: He just toreds a c L ski So the Yankees
Speaker 1: doing great as a list. Yeah, it's you know, whoever
Speaker 1: is part of the Yankees rotation, whoever has been part
Speaker 1: of the Yankees rotation, it seems like you are susceptible
Speaker 1: to a major injury right now. They lost Paxiston, they
Speaker 1: lost Savorino. You're right, they can't even talk CC Sabathia
Speaker 1: into coming out of retirement because he just towards a
Speaker 1: c L on a skiing trip. So we'll see what
Speaker 1: happens there. It's very frustrating to from the Yankees perspective.
Speaker 1: It's you mentioned it. They knew about these injuries dating
Speaker 1: back till last year in the postseason, Paxton with the back,
Speaker 1: Severino felt something, you know, dating back to those playoff games,
Speaker 1: and they waited until now. They just thought that, all right,
Speaker 1: an off season, a couple of months off was going
Speaker 1: to help a partially torn u c L If he
Speaker 1: had an issue back then, why didn't he get X
Speaker 1: ray is then why didn't he get testing then? Why
Speaker 1: couldn't they find out what was wrong with him back
Speaker 1: in October November and then maybe we would have had
Speaker 1: him season now? I mean now he did have some
Speaker 1: testing done, right, like, he did have some testing done
Speaker 1: eating what December and February he flew up to New
Speaker 1: York and he had an m R and everything was clear,
Speaker 1: And somehow now it's not clear. I don't know how
Speaker 1: this works. And can we go back about a week
Speaker 1: ago where we originally had this conversation and the Yankees
Speaker 1: are ready to treat this like the Mets. He wasn't
Speaker 1: gonna have more testing done. Do you remember this. He
Speaker 1: wasn't gonna go through to see the doctor. He was
Speaker 1: just gonna rest, take some at Ville. He's gonna be fine.
Speaker 1: He needs Tommy John. The Yankees are ready to handle
Speaker 1: us like the Mets. Yeah, I think ultimately they just
Speaker 1: didn't want to find out what was the inevitable here,
Speaker 1: Greg is that he needs Tommy John surgery. So I
Speaker 1: think that's what it comes down to. And you're right,
Speaker 1: maybe we see you know, Devi Garcia pull pulled up
Speaker 1: to the majors a little bit sooner than expected. But
Speaker 1: he did not perform well in Triple A last year,
Speaker 1: so I don't think that they should rush him. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting to see what they do. I don't
Speaker 1: think that Chad Bettus or Nick Tropiano is the answer
Speaker 1: there either. Mike King last year struggled big time in
Speaker 1: Triple A. We'll see what he can do throughout the
Speaker 1: course of spring training. Jordan Montgomery is an interesting name
Speaker 1: right now, Greg, because last night they were talking about
Speaker 1: how he was topping out at ninety four miles per
Speaker 1: hour seeing increased velocity, and he has performed well in
Speaker 1: the past. Back in now he had a three eight
Speaker 1: a e R, a solid whip, good strikeout stuff, good
Speaker 1: swinging miss So I'm interested in Jordan Montgomery in the
Speaker 1: later rounds of drafts as a late round flyer with
Speaker 1: some upside here, Greg, but I think the I think
Speaker 1: the Yankees are gonna wind up either signing some kind
Speaker 1: of veteran another one or training for somebody. Today they
Speaker 1: got big nicky nanky T. Yeah. I don't think big
Speaker 1: nikky T is the answer. I don't think Chad Bettis
Speaker 1: is the answer either, but we will see what happens.
Speaker 1: I'm telling you Ross Stripling is the name. That's the
Speaker 1: name that the Yankees should be going out for. Right now.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, Frank. I just moved out Jordan
Speaker 1: Montgomery number nine my rankings to number seventy six. So
Speaker 1: get excited, Frank, it's starting pitch here day. Here on
Speaker 1: the VFFS, I've got rankings, their color coding. Look at this,
Speaker 1: it's all about the colors. Here on the BFFs. You
Speaker 1: don't want to miss this. Frank and I break down
Speaker 1: the top of the storry pitching market right after this.
Speaker 1: Are you ready for the nation's first and only, free,
Speaker 1: twenty four hour network dedicated to you the betting and
Speaker 1: fantasy sports enthusiast. Sports Grade will provide you with a
Speaker 1: real time content, statistics and gaming intelligence unlike anything you've
Speaker 1: ever seen before. Located both in the heart of New
Speaker 1: York City and inside the FanDuel Sports book at the
Speaker 1: Meadowlands Sports Crade. He's live eighteen hours a day here
Speaker 1: to serve you the fanatic. This is sports grade. Get
Speaker 1: all the grid. We're back here, BFFs. Greg here, Frank
Speaker 1: in New York City and of course you watching live
Speaker 1: with us. We appreciate you joining us in of course
Speaker 1: breaking news today that's only fitting Frank you. We're talking
Speaker 1: about starting pitching as Luis Severino is out for the
Speaker 1: season following Tommy John's surgery. Uh. Severino was in its
Speaker 1: hero guys that we were really excited to talk about,
Speaker 1: and unfortunately we won't be talking about him this year.
Speaker 1: He is Donzo. Yeah, and it's a huge blow again
Speaker 1: for the Yankees. For fantasy owners. He was someone who
Speaker 1: in early drafts, Greg was being drafted as a top
Speaker 1: twenty starting pitcher and rightfully so, we all remember what
Speaker 1: he did in eighteen, the talent that he has. But unfortunately,
Speaker 1: it looks like he's going to miss all of the
Speaker 1: season and you know, potentially even a portion of the
Speaker 1: one season. So whether you have him in a keeper
Speaker 1: or dynasty league, Uh, it seems like it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a rough go here for Severino over the next couple
Speaker 1: of years, and maybe if you're rebuilding in one of
Speaker 1: those deeper formats, keeper or dynasty type format, maybe it
Speaker 1: looked to acquire him on the cheap while you're trying
Speaker 1: to rebuild your team. I think that's maybe the only
Speaker 1: positive that we could take away from Severino here. Greg, Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's no positive. Man. Like I said, Luis Savorino, he'll ride,
Speaker 1: he'll uh drop, and everybody's writings unless you're kith orgynasty
Speaker 1: lead is Frank mentioned that's the only spot you'll draft
Speaker 1: him in Jerman Montgomery, He'll somebody. He's somebody that will
Speaker 1: definitely arise. He's gonna be a lock forward this rotation. Now,
Speaker 1: uh super said stuff when it comes to the Yankees.
Speaker 1: But when it does come to the Yankees overall, and
Speaker 1: we mentioned them, they have my number one picture in
Speaker 1: Fantasy Baseball this season, and that is Garrett Cole. As
Speaker 1: we begin our starting pitching rankings here on the VFS, Frank,
Speaker 1: I know he's not new your number one. Your number
Speaker 1: one is Jacob Degram, but we do have the same
Speaker 1: top four. Cole, de Gram Verlander and chaser for you
Speaker 1: is de Gram Cole Verlander, and that's the only difference.
Speaker 1: That's the top tier. Yesterday I was describing how with
Speaker 1: the relief pictures, I don't have that ability, uh to
Speaker 1: figure out where to break this down. And that's the
Speaker 1: same old true for starting pitching, because my guys like
Speaker 1: five food through twenty one are all one gigantics here,
Speaker 1: but the top four to me, they clearly separate themselves.
Speaker 1: And yeah, for me, it's it's a top three. Greg.
Speaker 1: I have the gram Garrit Cole, and Justin burl Area
Speaker 1: in my top tier, and then I have in tier two,
Speaker 1: I have Max Scherzer, Walker Bueller, and Shane Bieber. So
Speaker 1: I haven't broken down a little bit differently in terms
Speaker 1: of tears. And you can see my top twenty rankings
Speaker 1: here on the BFS right now live on the Sports
Speaker 1: Create TV network. I do have Jacob Degram one spot
Speaker 1: higher than Garrett Cole, just because he's done it for longer. Greg,
Speaker 1: He's been the most valuable starting pitcher over the past
Speaker 1: three seasons in Fantasy Baseball. He's won back to bag
Speaker 1: Cy Young Awards for the New York Mets. Over the
Speaker 1: last three years. He's got a two five three e
Speaker 1: R a A two nine seven x fib over eleven
Speaker 1: case per nine A zero point nine seven whip for
Speaker 1: Jacob Degram Garrett Cole. I think you can argue he's
Speaker 1: going to give you more strikeouts, likely going to give
Speaker 1: you a more wins with the Yankees bats backing him
Speaker 1: up in terms of run support. But again, he's done it.
Speaker 1: He's been super elite for two years, whereas Jacob Degram
Speaker 1: has done it for three. That's the reason why I
Speaker 1: have de Gram over Garrett Cole. Uh. And then I
Speaker 1: don't know where you want to go from here. Do
Speaker 1: you want to kind of break down our top ten,
Speaker 1: see what we have differently, maybe just you know, choose
Speaker 1: out a few names here the you want to talk about.
Speaker 1: But I have Verlander in that top tier as well.
Speaker 1: With these guys, I think he should be a first
Speaker 1: round pick. I'm not scared off of Justin Verlander whatsoever.
Speaker 1: There's some people who are ranking Walker Bueller, Max Suers
Speaker 1: ahead of him right now. Everything that's going on with
Speaker 1: the Houston Astros, I don't think it affects Justin Verlander
Speaker 1: one bit. He wasn't even part of the team during
Speaker 1: that whole trash can banging scandal he was for potentially
Speaker 1: for other stuff that happened in two thousand and eighteen
Speaker 1: and two thousand nineteen. But Greg, there is no sign
Speaker 1: whatsoever if you deep dive justin Verlander on him falling off.
Speaker 1: And because of that, I still trust him. I still
Speaker 1: have him as my third sp off the board. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I have Verlander as my third story of picture off
Speaker 1: the board as well. And Max Chers are four. I
Speaker 1: think they're in the same tier. Um and you can
Speaker 1: see my top twenty now on your screens if you're
Speaker 1: watching on Sports Grid, and mine is a little bit
Speaker 1: different than French, but it's not all that dissimilar in general.
Speaker 1: But our top four remains the same. I like Garrett Cole.
Speaker 1: We've talked a lot about Cole versus the Graham here
Speaker 1: and we just mentioned that both guys could of have
Speaker 1: their categories right in your standard five by five where
Speaker 1: you expect the winds from Coal, you expect the strikeouts
Speaker 1: from Cole, the women era AA, probably the Gram, and
Speaker 1: it's kind of how you're building your team. I don't
Speaker 1: think you would go wrong. I understand the de Gram
Speaker 1: has done it longer. I just expect a big year
Speaker 1: from Coal and me. Yiakee, Homer, what do you want
Speaker 1: from me? But in regards to Justin Verlander, he has
Speaker 1: shown no signs of slowing down. You're right, and Max
Speaker 1: Scherzer did have some of those injuries that he had
Speaker 1: to battle through last year. But unlike Clayton Kershaw, who
Speaker 1: also spoke about last week, and unlike Chris Sale who
Speaker 1: we've spoken about in the past here too, Sheerzer was
Speaker 1: able to battle through and pitch through all of his stuff,
Speaker 1: didn't really uh remain out for a long time. I'm
Speaker 1: really confident mat Max Sherzer bounces back. I know we
Speaker 1: didn't have a surgery and others something done to correct
Speaker 1: uh what heild him. But I still I still trust Scherzer,
Speaker 1: who has been the number one starting pitcher for a
Speaker 1: very long time in Fantasy baseball. And I think Sherser
Speaker 1: at four to me, still fits the top tier. I
Speaker 1: know you you said that your top tier, and after
Speaker 1: three I think Sherser was closer to Verlander then he
Speaker 1: used to walk blerf the board. Yeah, with Scherzer, I'm
Speaker 1: just worried about the back and neck injury stuff. Greg.
Speaker 1: I know you mentioned it, and I get it. We're
Speaker 1: still ranking Kershaw very highly this year, one year after
Speaker 1: you know, he dealt with injuries similar to what Max
Speaker 1: Scherzer is dealing with. And you know, Scherzer pitches deep
Speaker 1: into the postseason and he even missed a World Series
Speaker 1: game because he was dealing with, you know whatever. It
Speaker 1: was a stiff neck at the time, but he's clearly
Speaker 1: dealing with something in that neck back area. So it's
Speaker 1: not enough to completely scare me off of Max Scherzer,
Speaker 1: but it is enough for me to lower him down
Speaker 1: the rankings opposed to where he has been the past
Speaker 1: couple of years, where normally he is the SP one
Speaker 1: off the board or the SP two off the board.
Speaker 1: When it comes to Walker, Bueler Gregg I will point
Speaker 1: this out. Remember last year in spring training he mentioned
Speaker 1: he was dealing with like dead arm or something like that,
Speaker 1: and everyone started freaking out. He pitched deep into the
Speaker 1: postseason the year before, into the World Series with the
Speaker 1: Dodgers back in eighteen, and then last year going into
Speaker 1: the nineteen season, he got off to a slow start
Speaker 1: because he didn't really have a normal spring training. His
Speaker 1: first eleven starts he had an e r a over four. Greg.
Speaker 1: But for Walker Bueler's final nineteen starts. Listen to these numbers.
Speaker 1: Greg to eight eight e r A three oh eight
Speaker 1: x FIP one O two whip over eleven case per
Speaker 1: nine under two walks per ninety percent groundball rate, uses
Speaker 1: a fastball, slider, cutter curve. He has four different pitches
Speaker 1: he can rely on, thirty five percent chase rate percent
Speaker 1: swinging shrike. I mean, Walker Bueller over his final nineteen
Speaker 1: starts pitched like a top five pitcher for Fantasy, and
Speaker 1: that is why he earns his ranking, and that's why
Speaker 1: everyone's excited about him. Greg. The only thing for me
Speaker 1: when it comes to Bueller is I think people are
Speaker 1: almost prematurely pushing it him ahead of guys like Verlander
Speaker 1: and Scherzer. I just still respect what those guys have done,
Speaker 1: and they're still pitching at an elite level. I think
Speaker 1: people just want that shiny new toy, and they see
Speaker 1: Walker Bueller as the up and comer and they think
Speaker 1: that he can take that next step. But even if
Speaker 1: he takes that next step, Greg, he's still only as
Speaker 1: good as Justin Burlander, as Max Serrs. So I don't
Speaker 1: really understand why people are pushing Walker Bueller ahead of
Speaker 1: either of those guys. I think you're right. It's a
Speaker 1: shying toy, and you're excited about Walker Buller. You're excited
Speaker 1: what's to come. He's so young, he doesn't have the
Speaker 1: innings on him, he doesn't have the injuries that you
Speaker 1: worry about with the Max Scherzer. For me, Walkervieller is five.
Speaker 1: As you saw before, as as we've discussed. I like
Speaker 1: Walker Peeler. I love Walker Peeler, even though you wanted
Speaker 1: to trade him on May first last year after the
Speaker 1: terrible April. For me, uh, it's Walker Bueller at five,
Speaker 1: and I feel very very confident at that number. After that,
Speaker 1: I think we both have Steven Strasburg here at number six.
Speaker 1: Strasburg changed himself around last year. Obviously was able to
Speaker 1: remain healthy. That was the most important thing for Strasburg.
Speaker 1: I know you've been hesitant to take him. He's not
Speaker 1: somebody that's I don't honestly off your radar. He's not
Speaker 1: someone that in your draft you're going out of your
Speaker 1: way to go and get. Why is that? Yeah, I
Speaker 1: still do worry about the injuries. It just so happens
Speaker 1: that he manages to stay healthy in his career year,
Speaker 1: and they were saying that he changed things up last
Speaker 1: year in terms of his routine, and uh, he was
Speaker 1: doing things differently in order to remain healthy. Uh. He
Speaker 1: was awesome. There's no doubt about it. He's always awesome
Speaker 1: in his career. He has a three one seven e
Speaker 1: r A and a two nine five x FIT. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guy has been one of the most elite starting
Speaker 1: pitchers since he has entered the league, consistently over ten
Speaker 1: case per nine Greg, consistently under three walks for nine
Speaker 1: last year three three two e r A. He was awesome,
Speaker 1: There's no doubt about it. The chase rate last year
Speaker 1: thirty seven percent, career high hist sween strike create a
Speaker 1: career high. The skills are only getting better for Strasburg.
Speaker 1: So if you trust that he's going to stay healthy,
Speaker 1: then you should be drafting him in that, you know,
Speaker 1: second third round range. I just still have some kind
Speaker 1: of pause. There's just been so many injuries for Strosburg
Speaker 1: over his career, UH that they're kind of lingering in
Speaker 1: the back of my mind, and I almost don't want
Speaker 1: to get sucked into what we saw last year. And
Speaker 1: we said exactly this, Greg, remember when we were doing
Speaker 1: our sp breakdown last year, we said Strasburg is one
Speaker 1: of these guys who was going in like the fourth,
Speaker 1: fifth round. Last year, we said it, he's going to
Speaker 1: have an awesome season in a contract the year, he's
Speaker 1: gonna get pushed up the draft board. Next year he's
Speaker 1: gonna be drafted as a top ten pitcher again, and
Speaker 1: then he's going to let us down because he's going
Speaker 1: to get hurt. It seems like this always happens. He
Speaker 1: stays healthy for a year, we draft him early, then
Speaker 1: he gets hurt, he falls down, you know, two or
Speaker 1: three rounds the next year. This seems to be a
Speaker 1: pattern when it comes to Strasburg. So I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's going to hold true. The skills are awesome,
Speaker 1: but I still do have some pause when it comes
Speaker 1: to Stephen Strasburg. All right, Yeah, I think that kind
Speaker 1: of pause is fair. But you're right, this one, like
Speaker 1: this wasn't really a surprise as long as he stayed
Speaker 1: healthy last year that he could do this, and he did.
Speaker 1: I think obviously what we watched on a figure out
Speaker 1: this year is who's the guy that's really on the
Speaker 1: fourth and fifth round, Uh, that's going to wind up
Speaker 1: exactly where Steven Strasburg is this year next year. That's
Speaker 1: a question we're gonna try to add answer over the
Speaker 1: next two days. Let me go more broad, Frank, as
Speaker 1: I said, as I told you for me literally from
Speaker 1: Walker Bueller and maybe that's not fair, but from Jack
Speaker 1: Flaherty down to Zach Grinky, all those guys are in
Speaker 1: one tier of me. Is that too large? Should I
Speaker 1: separate it more? I mean, I think it's personal preference.
Speaker 1: It's however you feel. I mean, everyone's gonna do their
Speaker 1: rankings differently. I currently have uh my third tier as
Speaker 1: SP seven through SP fifteen, so that starts with Blake
Speaker 1: Snellen ends with Louis Castillo, and those are all players
Speaker 1: that you know. I wouldn't really mind as my you know,
Speaker 1: SP one if I waited until the second or third
Speaker 1: round to wind up with. Actually, in the Great Fantasy
Speaker 1: Baseball Invitational, I didn't take my starting picture until the
Speaker 1: eleventh pick of round three, and I wound up with
Speaker 1: Patrick Corbin. I don't have a problem with you know,
Speaker 1: getting Patrick Corbin as your SP one, but I I
Speaker 1: currently break it down with you know pictures seven through
Speaker 1: fifteen as my third tier, and then I have sixteen
Speaker 1: through one, which starts with Kershaw and ends with Zach
Speaker 1: Grenky up. So for me, it's just I think we
Speaker 1: actually have the same one top twenty one by the way,
Speaker 1: well that's the exact same top would be, I mean
Speaker 1: what else would It's true we are where do you
Speaker 1: have st Beaver by the way, because I haven't met
Speaker 1: six I haven't been eight. Basically, you and I flip
Speaker 1: flop Shane Beaver and Stephen Shossbrook okay, yeah, and I
Speaker 1: have Jack Flowerty a little bit lower than you two.
Speaker 1: Oh you're silly on flower Let's talking about him. On
Speaker 1: the other side, Flowery was amazing the second half. I
Speaker 1: know the first half wasn't what you wanted. That second
Speaker 1: half was amazing. We will break it down and why
Speaker 1: you should like Jack Flaherty coming back here on the VFS.
Speaker 1: Are you ready for the nation's first and only free,
Speaker 1: twenty four hour network dedicated to you the betting and
Speaker 1: fantasy sports enthusiast. Sports Crade will provide you with a
Speaker 1: real time content, statistics and gaming intelligence unlike anything you've
Speaker 1: ever seen before. Located both in the heart of New
Speaker 1: York City and inside the FanDuel Sports book at the
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Speaker 1: here to serve you the fanatic. This is sports grade.
Speaker 1: Get off the grid back here with you. B f
Speaker 1: f's Greg Sam and Frank Stamble hanging out with you
Speaker 1: in the Meadowlands. It's very loud here today, Frank. There
Speaker 1: is a lot of horse racing going on over there.
Speaker 1: You saw it coming back from ray at that fantastic
Speaker 1: job getting that in. It's loud. Do you hear that
Speaker 1: or now? I hear it a little bit. I hear
Speaker 1: obviously more so when I'm there doing fantasy sports today,
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I hear it a lot of the times.
Speaker 1: When I first get in there, they start doing the
Speaker 1: national anthem while I'm on the air. I feel like
Speaker 1: I should stand up and join them in doing shu
Speaker 1: l anthem. Coming back from the break there, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: saw that guy. He was freaking out. He's getting in there,
Speaker 1: getting something, getting on some ponies. Greg, What are you doing, man?
Speaker 1: I mean, well, what's the play tonight? Well where the
Speaker 1: horses at? What are you doing? Come on? Man? Uh? Frank,
Speaker 1: I am not betting on horses, but thank you. Oh.
Speaker 1: Speaking of which, last night my Devin Booker under twenty
Speaker 1: six and a half points that I gave out on
Speaker 1: MSG that hit Grizzlies not awesome. Um, so I guess
Speaker 1: you're saying I did poorly. I don't know. I don't
Speaker 1: remember what you gave out. Would you give up? Well?
Speaker 1: I know, I know I took the Grizzlies that that
Speaker 1: didn't go well. Um my dalla halla, that meant that
Speaker 1: one also went poorly because I also revolved around the Grizzlies. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then I took the under in the Jazz game.
Speaker 1: Did it go under? I I can't confirm or deny
Speaker 1: that right now I have I have no idea. I
Speaker 1: have no idea. Um, before we hit the break, we
Speaker 1: were talking about Jack Flaherty, and I have I think
Speaker 1: of my number seven right seven overall? Yeah, he's my
Speaker 1: seventh overall picture right in front of Jack Flaherty, right
Speaker 1: behind Steven Strassburg. You have Flaherty closer to your where
Speaker 1: that's mine you put up Frank so I can see
Speaker 1: that where he has Flriday. So you have Flaherty at
Speaker 1: number nine just inside you were Taughts and why are
Speaker 1: you a little bit lower on Jack Flaherty Despite the
Speaker 1: awesome second half. Yeah, Greg, I think you're gonna find
Speaker 1: this a consistent theme with starting pitchers. This year. It
Speaker 1: was guys who had monsters second halves for the most part. So,
Speaker 1: like you, Darvish and Jack Flaherty, I'm both kind of
Speaker 1: skeptical of It's like, when things like that happened, do
Speaker 1: we just forget what happens in the first half of
Speaker 1: the season and something doesn't matter. That's that's not true, Greg,
Speaker 1: It actually has happened. And that's exactly why you should
Speaker 1: like Caleb Smith Moore because he was awesome in the
Speaker 1: first half and you only remember things that happened in
Speaker 1: the second half of the season. Greg. But look when
Speaker 1: it comes to Jack Flaherty, his first seventeen starts last year, Greg,
Speaker 1: he had a four nine oh e r A. I mean,
Speaker 1: how do we just forget about something like that? The
Speaker 1: shrikeouts were great, but the average was three over three
Speaker 1: walks for nine. I just worried that what he did
Speaker 1: in the second half, is he able? Is he going
Speaker 1: to be able to maintain that level of control? Does
Speaker 1: he have enough? I think he has a really really
Speaker 1: good slider. I worry about the third pitch when it
Speaker 1: comes to Jack Flaherty. Uh. And while he did have
Speaker 1: a zero point nine three e r A in the
Speaker 1: second half, Greg, final sixteen starts, you had three to
Speaker 1: seven x fits, so that that's fine. If he could
Speaker 1: just like a load of mid three's e r A,
Speaker 1: that would be great. But I'm not discounting what he
Speaker 1: did in the first half there as well. And again
Speaker 1: we're nitpicking. I still have him inside my top ten.
Speaker 1: I just I personally prefer Shane Bieber over him because
Speaker 1: I like the strides that Bieber has made. Bieber has,
Speaker 1: you know, three legit pitches that he can go to
Speaker 1: me as two breaking pitches that you know are are
Speaker 1: great pitches. So and and the strikeouts are great for Beaver.
Speaker 1: He's been reliable, he goes deep into games, I know
Speaker 1: it through a few complete games shoutouts last year in
Speaker 1: Shane Bieber. So if you're just asking me between these
Speaker 1: two who I would rather prefer, I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: Shane Bieber. I'm a little bit skeptical in the second
Speaker 1: half for Jack Flaherty last year. Greg, Well, I'm skeptical
Speaker 1: of you, Frank, because Jack Flaherty is going to have
Speaker 1: a fantastic full season. Uh for the Cardinals. You though
Speaker 1: we both felt like the Cardinals this year. I'll probably
Speaker 1: take the under on that wind tone. I'll go back
Speaker 1: to my rankings here, Uh, Blake Snell, Patrick Corbyn. They
Speaker 1: round out my top ten I've lived there also rounding
Speaker 1: out your top ten two? Right? Is that correct? So
Speaker 1: inside my top ten I have I actually have Blake
Speaker 1: Snow at seven, so I have him pretty significantly higher
Speaker 1: than you safely. And then I have I have Chris
Speaker 1: Sale at ten, and I know that you have him
Speaker 1: at fifteen. And Sean Gassimaki was actually asking me about
Speaker 1: this during the break. This is almost like a respect
Speaker 1: ranking for Chris Sale. You know, Greg, I understand there's
Speaker 1: a lot of injury risk when it comes to him,
Speaker 1: but there's a lot of injury risk when it comes
Speaker 1: to a lot of these starting pitchers. Like why do
Speaker 1: you have Chris Sale ranked fifteen if you have Steven
Speaker 1: Strassburg rank sixth, Like, that's the question that I would
Speaker 1: throw back your way because they both have injury concerns
Speaker 1: in the past, and you still have Blake Snell inside
Speaker 1: your top ten. It's I feel like if we have
Speaker 1: Snell and Strasbourg inside of our top ten's, we should
Speaker 1: probably still have Chris Sale inside the top ten as well.
Speaker 1: So that's why I have him rounding out the top ten.
Speaker 1: And there's no doubt that if he is healthy, if
Speaker 1: he just gives you a hundred and sixty innings, Greg,
Speaker 1: a hundred and seventy innings this upcoming season, Chris Sale
Speaker 1: is probably going to be a top five, maybe top
Speaker 1: three starting pitcher for fantasy purposes. Uh. The underlying numbers
Speaker 1: for Sale we're still great last year, Yes, he had
Speaker 1: in the year he over four is X fit was
Speaker 1: two point nine three. Swinging shrike great was four percent.
Speaker 1: I mean that's still a massive, massive mark. Something was
Speaker 1: wrong with him. We know that for sure. I owned him.
Speaker 1: His velocity was down last year. It seemed like he
Speaker 1: was missing his spots. Has left on base percentage was
Speaker 1: not good. He couldn't pitch well with with runners on base.
Speaker 1: I understand all of those things. The underlying numbers were
Speaker 1: still really good for Chris Sale. If he can stay healthy,
Speaker 1: I want to recognize that he has top five maybe
Speaker 1: even top three upside Greg. So it's really funny because
Speaker 1: we have switched sides in this debate, right, like when
Speaker 1: we were talking about Chris sal previously, I told you
Speaker 1: everything that you're telling me right now about the X fit,
Speaker 1: about the strike a percentage just seriously, like all of
Speaker 1: it looks really really good. And he gave you, even
Speaker 1: though it felt like he was hurt all last year,
Speaker 1: he gave you a hundred and fifty inch. So I
Speaker 1: understand everything that you're telling me. And yet now he's
Speaker 1: battling this illness. It feels like something's not totally right
Speaker 1: with the elbow. And you know me, I've been saying
Speaker 1: exactly illness, it's right, Um, you know me that I'm
Speaker 1: inevitably waitn't even Christelli get hurt. And it's a Red
Speaker 1: Sox team that like doesn't like really want to be good, right,
Speaker 1: So I don't know, man, Chris Tale is the one
Speaker 1: that I have had the toughest problem ranking today, Like
Speaker 1: I originally had him at number ten and then I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, I really like Patrick Corbyn.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have Corbyn higher than that. And then we
Speaker 1: got into the guys you talked about last week, or
Speaker 1: we talked about last week in Syndergarden and Paddock and Nola.
Speaker 1: I kind of liked those guys more also, and then
Speaker 1: we talked about Clayton Kershaw and I had him ranked
Speaker 1: Uh screwed up this morning when I sent my rankings
Speaker 1: in and I had him too high. And I'll like,
Speaker 1: wait a minute. One of these guys is healthy right
Speaker 1: now and went to um fix his pitching mechanics in
Speaker 1: the off season, and the other one is battling let's
Speaker 1: do it together and illness again. So I put Kershaw
Speaker 1: in front of Sell as well. For me, Chris Sale
Speaker 1: is number fifteen in my rankings. Look, it's hard to
Speaker 1: argue with any of those points. And it's worth mentioning
Speaker 1: that I've already I'm in the middle of my my
Speaker 1: fourth draft right now. I have two going on right now.
Speaker 1: I have to completed already over at the NFBC, and
Speaker 1: I have wound up with zero shares of Chris Chris Sales.
Speaker 1: Ust to pull the trigger on that. But here's what
Speaker 1: I will say, right Ultimately, what it comes down to is,
Speaker 1: and I've said this before on the show, I don't
Speaker 1: like the value of the Round two and Round three
Speaker 1: starting pitchers this year. Greg. I don't mind spending up
Speaker 1: in the first round on an ace because to me,
Speaker 1: There are hitters going in the second and third round
Speaker 1: that our first round caliber players, and for whatever reason,
Speaker 1: I don't know why they're falling as far as they are.
Speaker 1: J D. Martinez should not be a second round pick.
Speaker 1: Jose Ramirez should not be a second round pick. I
Speaker 1: understand struggled in the first half, but Jose Ramirez in
Speaker 1: the second half last year, what are the first half?
Speaker 1: I'm telling you this is what to do. Jose Ramirez
Speaker 1: in the second half last year was the Josier Mirrors.
Speaker 1: He was a couple of years ago in seventeen and eighteen.
Speaker 1: Bryce Harper, I think is capable of being a first
Speaker 1: round player. Javier Baias was a borderline first round player
Speaker 1: last year. Now you're getting him in the third round.
Speaker 1: So I really like the hitters that are going in
Speaker 1: rounds two and three, And often times I have I've
Speaker 1: seen myself passing on the starting pictures going there because frankly,
Speaker 1: they're going too high. Jack Flaherty, remember he was one
Speaker 1: of those pictures going in the round four round five
Speaker 1: range last year. Who's to say that Chris Paddock this
Speaker 1: year's Jack Flaherty, Right, I think you know the guys
Speaker 1: that you can get in those round four and round five.
Speaker 1: Round four and five can give you similar numbers to
Speaker 1: the guys that we're drafting in rounds two and three.
Speaker 1: So I just think that they're being overvalued where they're
Speaker 1: being drafted, and I really like the hitters that are
Speaker 1: going in that range. Give me the first round starting
Speaker 1: pictures and if not, then I'm probably waiting until you know,
Speaker 1: the end of the third, beginning of the fourth. Guys
Speaker 1: like Patrick Corbin, Guys like Louise Castillo, Chris Paddock, synder Guard.
Speaker 1: I like that range. I think you're getting good value
Speaker 1: on those starting pictures. Greg. So the reason that I
Speaker 1: have my pictures right the way they are with this
Speaker 1: massive tier of five twenty one is exactly what you're describing, right.
Speaker 1: The fact is that we like all these guys, and
Speaker 1: what's to say that they got towards the end? Your
Speaker 1: guy at Charlie Morton, who you have rankingside of your
Speaker 1: top fifteen, I haven't ranked the eighteen right there. What's
Speaker 1: to say Charlie Morton can't finish in there? What's to
Speaker 1: say that Noah synder Guard, who you know, I really
Speaker 1: like this year, he can't be Steven Strasberg or Jack
Speaker 1: Flaherty from a year ago. Nothing has to say that,
Speaker 1: and you're getting all these guys a little bit later on,
Speaker 1: which is why I think that's here really should be
Speaker 1: five flute one. I'm like, I'm a real big proponent
Speaker 1: of that, because I think all those guys have the
Speaker 1: potential to really be first or second round picks next year.
Speaker 1: I like almost all of them. I think I have
Speaker 1: questions when it comes to Kershaw and Sale. They they
Speaker 1: aren't really the guys I want um, and maybe I
Speaker 1: should kind of stop and break the tier up after Rinola,
Speaker 1: who I do like when you get to the Mike
Speaker 1: Clevinger's and Luis Castios and for me that Charlie Morton's, Gelido,
Speaker 1: Darvish and Greggy, and I'm cool with those guys, I
Speaker 1: really am. So I like how this tear is set
Speaker 1: up great. Can I just remind everyone, or maybe revealed
Speaker 1: to everybody, why I love Charlie Morton as much as
Speaker 1: I do. I haven't read inside of my top twelve.
Speaker 1: I have him as eleven starting pitcher off the board,
Speaker 1: and I think the only reason why you're getting him
Speaker 1: where you are right now in that fourth fifth round
Speaker 1: range is because of his age. He's thirty six years old.
Speaker 1: People are scared off of Verlander, and they're scared off
Speaker 1: of Max Scherzer, and they want to push Walker Bueller
Speaker 1: up the board. And you know Greg wants to push
Speaker 1: Noah center or off the board because his nickname is
Speaker 1: Thor and he throws a hundred miles per hour. But
Speaker 1: let's look at what Charlie Morton has done. He was
Speaker 1: even better in than he was ever with the Houston Astros,
Speaker 1: and we had concern over whether or not he can
Speaker 1: continue to be that good with the Tampa bay Rays
Speaker 1: last year a three oh five e R, a three
Speaker 1: to eight x fit, a one oh eight whip with
Speaker 1: the Tampa Bay Rays in the a L East with
Speaker 1: the juice ball, going up against the Yankees, the Red Sox,
Speaker 1: all these teams in the American League, and he was
Speaker 1: that good. Over eleven case per nine, two point six
Speaker 1: four walks per nine was a three year best for
Speaker 1: Charlie Morton, forty eight percent groundball rate. I mean, this
Speaker 1: guy just checks all the boxes. The only reason why
Speaker 1: you wouldn't want Charlie Morton is because he has missed
Speaker 1: time in the past. It's a hundred and ninety four
Speaker 1: and he's last year and because of his age. Outside
Speaker 1: of those things, he's a top twelve starting picture for me. Greg, Yeah,
Speaker 1: fair enough, fair enough, Frankie. We'll talk more about this
Speaker 1: Top twenty one uh more on today's program Tomorrow. We'll
Speaker 1: get into the guys later, but coming back, we continue
Speaker 1: with our top twenty Here the BFFs. Ye are you
Speaker 1: ready for the nation's first and only free, twenty four
Speaker 1: hour network dedicated to you, the betting and fantasy sports enthusiast.
Speaker 1: Sports Grade will provide you with a real time content,
Speaker 1: statistics and gaining intelligence unlike anything you've ever seen before.
Speaker 1: Located both in the heart of New York City and
Speaker 1: inside the FanDuel Sports book at the meadow Lands Sports Crade,
Speaker 1: He's live eighteen hours a day here to serve you
Speaker 1: the fanatic. This is Sports Grade. Get off the grid.
Speaker 1: We are back here on the BFFs. You're in the
Speaker 1: beginning of the starting pitching overview. Frank How do you
Speaker 1: think we're doing this far? I was just thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: and I'm not kidding Greg. I'm having a lot of fun.
Speaker 1: I am. I am enjoying doing this right now, going
Speaker 1: over the top twenty starting pitchers. Look, this is probably
Speaker 1: what I've devoted the most time too so far in
Speaker 1: terms of my research, is really like the top thirty,
Speaker 1: top forty starting pitchers. Obviously, I've still got a lot
Speaker 1: of work to do. We have a lot of work before.
Speaker 1: We have a lot of time before we get to
Speaker 1: drafts here, So you know, uh, diving in, excited to
Speaker 1: do so, and uh, let's go, Greg, come on, let's
Speaker 1: run out the top twenty. Let's do it. Well, I
Speaker 1: think its top twenty one. I think we just rephrasing
Speaker 1: he was the top twenty, because first it's like a
Speaker 1: clear top twenty one, right like that, zact grenk. It's
Speaker 1: basically the top twenty zacch grinky, yeah, Zac grinky at
Speaker 1: exactly right. But and that's where my um tier ends
Speaker 1: right there, As I said, like seventy four times thus far.
Speaker 1: All right, So there we go. So there's the top
Speaker 1: twenty one. We're not doing a top twenty, we're doing
Speaker 1: a top one. Zach Grikey, has he reported to camp yet?
Speaker 1: I don't think he. I think he's showing up this week, Greg,
Speaker 1: And I think I think it kind of actually makes
Speaker 1: sense for Zach Cranky, right, because with everything going on
Speaker 1: with the Astros, he's dealt with like the anxiety in
Speaker 1: the past, and he has issues like that. So you know,
Speaker 1: I think not having him around the team while reporters
Speaker 1: are asking a bunch of questions about things he had
Speaker 1: nothing to do with, he wasn't on the team throughout
Speaker 1: all that stuff. I think it actually makes sense. And
Speaker 1: you remember, annually every single year, Zak Granky gets off
Speaker 1: to a slow start in spring, He's throwing like eighty
Speaker 1: seven miles per hour and by the time the season
Speaker 1: starts up, he's throwing ninety and he's his reliable self
Speaker 1: that he is every single year. Greg, I mean Granky,
Speaker 1: I just I guess I'm just gonna own a bunch
Speaker 1: of old players this year, Greg, because these players are
Speaker 1: under her value because of their age. Right, He's like,
Speaker 1: that's why he was top five started coching in Rhodo
Speaker 1: and head to head points last year and he's been
Speaker 1: drafted as outside the top twenty. Why is that why?
Speaker 1: I like? I like? I like Zachrangy. He's my number
Speaker 1: of twenty one man. But that's why the VF partnership
Speaker 1: works so well, because I'm infastuated with the young guys,
Speaker 1: and you're infastulated with the old guys. So we gotta
Speaker 1: just settle in the middle. And that's that's our team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know I did, uh. I did Diamond Bets
Speaker 1: recently with Joe Piezappia, and we also came to the
Speaker 1: realization there that I just love old players. He told
Speaker 1: me to sign up for a dating site that only
Speaker 1: you know has old people on it. You have to
Speaker 1: be like sixty. So I'm really glad you brought this up.
Speaker 1: I read today as I was prepping for the show
Speaker 1: that The Bachelor is going to come out with a
Speaker 1: senior Bachelor for sixty five and over. Only I'm not joking,
Speaker 1: all right, So maybe I should check it out considering
Speaker 1: the type of baseball players that I am targeting this
Speaker 1: upcoming season, Greg, I don't think King could be mad
Speaker 1: at you. No, I mean, she'd I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know what, I don't know how she
Speaker 1: would react. She just I don't know. Maybe she would
Speaker 1: join me in looking at some Let me ask you
Speaker 1: about a younger guy. Yeah, because we're not out of times,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure I ask you about a
Speaker 1: younger guy, and that brings me um to Luise Castio,
Speaker 1: who for me is number seventeen. He wasn't a guy
Speaker 1: I was on last year. A lot of the industry
Speaker 1: jumped back in. They talked about a slider, They talked
Speaker 1: about his second half, and I wanted nothing to do
Speaker 1: with him. His first half unbelievable last year. I know
Speaker 1: the second half wasn't as good. Where do you stand
Speaker 1: on the Luise Casti is. I don't know that he's
Speaker 1: an active target of yours, But isn't he somebody that
Speaker 1: you feel comfortable drafting as your number two picture maybe
Speaker 1: number one? I would be all right with him as
Speaker 1: my SP two. I would feel better about that than
Speaker 1: having him as my SP one, because I think there
Speaker 1: are still some concerns when it comes to Casto. I
Speaker 1: worry about the command. He struggles with walks, but he
Speaker 1: is able to mitigate that because he does get a
Speaker 1: lot of strikeouts, so he can wiggle out of these jams.
Speaker 1: And he gets a lot of groundballs too, So last
Speaker 1: year fifty five percent groundball rate. You know, when when
Speaker 1: you average over three walks per nine, you need something
Speaker 1: to help you out. Somebody getting those groundballs that turned
Speaker 1: into double plays, and being able to wiggle out of
Speaker 1: those jams with strikeouts is something that Louise Castido could
Speaker 1: do because you know he gets as many strikeouts as
Speaker 1: he does. Greg a fifteen point nine percent swinging strike
Speaker 1: rate that was fourth best among starting pitchers in ten
Speaker 1: uh three point four zero ear a three point four
Speaker 1: eight x tip, right in line with what Luis Castillo did.
Speaker 1: I would feel much better with him as my SP two.
Speaker 1: But I think if you do draft two hitters in
Speaker 1: the first two rounds and you wind up with Castillo
Speaker 1: in the third or fourth, maybe as your SP one,
Speaker 1: you can do worse than that. I don't mind it.
Speaker 1: I have them inside my top fifteen. He is my
Speaker 1: SP fifteen overall. Greg, Yeah, I think I'm okay with
Speaker 1: that as well as your number two. You laid it.
Speaker 1: You laid it down here. I think it makes sense,
Speaker 1: which frings me now. It's a Lucas Gledo. He's the
Speaker 1: guy that I had a hard time ranking as well.
Speaker 1: I had him way lower before I set my rankings
Speaker 1: in and was like, man, maybe I was just being
Speaker 1: too harsh, like I was a Gelgo guy last year.
Speaker 1: Um I owned him for that. Entire second half run
Speaker 1: and I regally picked them up because the schedule was
Speaker 1: really nice, and you looked the peripher roles and they
Speaker 1: were pretty solid as well. And then you you feel
Speaker 1: like and you ask yourself, can he do it again?
Speaker 1: Because in the back of my mind, man, this guy
Speaker 1: went on draft last year. He was so bad two
Speaker 1: years ago? Has he just gotten better? Gilto checks on
Speaker 1: my number nineteen Pitcher off the board for you, Frank,
Speaker 1: where do you have geo? And how confident are you
Speaker 1: that Gileto can be like Louis Castio I havent said
Speaker 1: right by two players here. I have had my SP
Speaker 1: thirteen and I've actually lowered him a little. It's really higher.
Speaker 1: I had him even higher than this Greg And the
Speaker 1: reason why I lowered him is just because he's dealing
Speaker 1: with an injury right now in camp. It's like a
Speaker 1: chest train that he that he has fine. Yeah, he
Speaker 1: should be all right. And assuming hold on, knowing what
Speaker 1: I know about you, are you really gonna take Luis
Speaker 1: Lucas Gilto over Chris Paddock? There's no way. Yes, I would.
Speaker 1: I would. I would have done that today if he
Speaker 1: came to me. I'm telling you I will confidently take
Speaker 1: Lucas Gilto in the third or fourth round. But he's
Speaker 1: being pushed up draft boards a little bit. I'm I'm
Speaker 1: in a draft right now. He just went with the
Speaker 1: with pick thirty one, so the first pick of the
Speaker 1: third in a fifteen team draft, so pulled up the
Speaker 1: board a little bit. And look, Greg, he completely revamped
Speaker 1: himself last year, changed his mechanics. He started throwing harder,
Speaker 1: the velocity was up like two miles per hour, started
Speaker 1: using his change up more. His fastball changeup combination is
Speaker 1: absolutely ridiculous. And if you worry about the second half,
Speaker 1: where he posted at three seven six e r A,
Speaker 1: his x fit was three points to eight, So his
Speaker 1: underlying numbers were actually much better in that second half,
Speaker 1: almost thirteen case per nine. Think about that, Greg, twelve
Speaker 1: point six case per nine in the second half with
Speaker 1: a one oh six whip and a fifteen percent swinging
Speaker 1: strike cread I mean Geeledo in terms of his underlying numbers,
Speaker 1: pitched like a top ten starting pitcher, may maybe even
Speaker 1: top five, like a borderline top five pitcher. That's how
Speaker 1: good the underlying metrics were for Lucas Gilto, and in
Speaker 1: that second half Greg He made twelve starts, eleven of
Speaker 1: those he went at least six endings pitched. So starting
Speaker 1: to go deeper into games, starting to mature a little bit. Uh,
Speaker 1: And I think having as Monti Grandala as his catcher,
Speaker 1: someone who is one of the best pitch framers in
Speaker 1: all of the game I am. I'm bullis on Lucas Giulio.
Speaker 1: I like him. I wouldn't mind him again as similar
Speaker 1: to Luis Castillo as probably feel better with him as
Speaker 1: your SP two, but if you start hit or hit her,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't mind him as my SP one. Where have
Speaker 1: you settled in with Mike Clevinger? Remember Clev has this
Speaker 1: surgery towards meniscus, He's gonna be out for a while
Speaker 1: and he doesn't have a real spring training. You can
Speaker 1: see him come back to early struggle in the first half,
Speaker 1: maybe go off in the second half. Where did you
Speaker 1: settle it on Clevinger? Because I remember you dropped him
Speaker 1: way too far and you you watched him where he
Speaker 1: was going in drafts and watched where other people ranked
Speaker 1: him and he had to move back up. Where did
Speaker 1: you settling with Clev? So I have Clevinger ranked as
Speaker 1: my SP fourteen right now, so right in between Lucas
Speaker 1: Giulido and with Luis Castillo. And the reason being is
Speaker 1: you finished on the top twenty starting pitcher last year
Speaker 1: while only pitching a hundred and twenty six innings, Greg, So,
Speaker 1: I mean, what do we expect that of him? That
Speaker 1: he misses the first month, He's probably back in early May,
Speaker 1: mid May, probably misses five or six starts, and of
Speaker 1: course he'll always have the chance for re injury. But
Speaker 1: if he makes let's say, you know, twenty four twenty
Speaker 1: five starts this upcoming season, that means he's probably gonna
Speaker 1: throw around a hundred and fifty innings. Again, he was
Speaker 1: a top twenty starting pitcher last year in Roto leagues,
Speaker 1: only throwing a hundred and twenty six. So if he
Speaker 1: gives you a hundred and fifty endings pitched, those are
Speaker 1: probably you know, the quality of a top ten starting pitcher,
Speaker 1: just in terms of talent. So I've I've picked them
Speaker 1: back up a little bit. I think I was a
Speaker 1: little bit too reactionary dropped him outside my top twenty.
Speaker 1: Now I moved him back to back inside my top fifteen.
Speaker 1: He is someone that you know, if you do play
Speaker 1: in an overall competition like the NFBC. If you want
Speaker 1: to take a swing on him in like the fourth round.
Speaker 1: He's someone that once he returns, he's probably going to
Speaker 1: pitch as like a top seven or eight starting pitcher
Speaker 1: in baseball. Yeah, he's been number sixteen pitcher. Here inside
Speaker 1: my top one. Frank, we got about three minutes to go.
Speaker 1: Is there any picture here inside the top twenty one
Speaker 1: that you want to dive a little bit deeper on
Speaker 1: in the time remaining. Yeah, I'm just going to dive
Speaker 1: back in on cre Paddock and we and we spoke
Speaker 1: about him during the a DP and the Money in
Speaker 1: the Bank that we did recently. But he keeps talking
Speaker 1: about this curveball that he's developed, and I think that
Speaker 1: if it just develops into an adequate an adequate pitch,
Speaker 1: a serviceable third offering four Paddock he already throws per hour.
Speaker 1: He has one of, if not the best changeups in
Speaker 1: baseball right now. If that curveball is just solid, then
Speaker 1: I do think that he could take that next step.
Speaker 1: And in terms of projecting his endings last year he
Speaker 1: was at about a hundred and forty. Let's say, you know,
Speaker 1: they attack on another thirty maybe forty. I would project
Speaker 1: him for between a hundred and seventy and a hundred
Speaker 1: eighty innings, a really good ear, a probably sub three five,
Speaker 1: a really good whip. He doesn't walk. Anybody just got
Speaker 1: nasty stuff. Greg Paddock is someone that I am in on. Uh,
Speaker 1: and I like where he's going right now in the
Speaker 1: fourth round range. I have him ranked right now at
Speaker 1: SP seventeen. I would take him just ahead of Aaron
Speaker 1: Nola Noah Synderguard. Uh. You Darvish ends at cranky all right,
Speaker 1: So for me, I have my man Noah synder Guard
Speaker 1: over him. As I said, I have a synder Guard,
Speaker 1: then Paddock, Uh, then Aaron Nola. Um. And who's the
Speaker 1: last guy in there, Frankie you yeah, yeah, So then
Speaker 1: I have you way lower. I haven't met number two.
Speaker 1: I haven't down at number twenty. And let's briefly get
Speaker 1: into the dar Wish in the last minute, year Darbish
Speaker 1: just sneaks into my top twenty here at number twenty. Um,
Speaker 1: you dar Wish another second half. It was crazy, the walks.
Speaker 1: We always were back to that game we watched together.
Speaker 1: That was like the epitome of you. Dar Wish. Do
Speaker 1: you think he just is a U dar Wish of
Speaker 1: old this year. I don't think so. I think we
Speaker 1: still see a high whip there. Yeah. Look, that's part
Speaker 1: of my concern with him and Jack Flaherty. I mean,
Speaker 1: he was so good in the second half in terms
Speaker 1: of his walks one point four six walks per nine
Speaker 1: over his final twenty three starts. Gregg, it wasn't even
Speaker 1: just the second half. It was it was a large
Speaker 1: majority of the season. It was almost two thirds of
Speaker 1: the season where his command was really really good. But
Speaker 1: typically he has struggled with command in his career. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I said this when we spoke about Darvish recently.
Speaker 1: I just think that everything came together for him over
Speaker 1: those final twenty three starts where the cutter was working.
Speaker 1: It was a phenomenal pitch. He used it more than ever.
Speaker 1: He uh improved his mechanics as well, He managed to
Speaker 1: stay healthy. I just think everything came together, and you
Speaker 1: need all of that to happen once again for where
Speaker 1: he's being drafted, you know, as a top twenty starting pitcher.
Speaker 1: I just worry about, you know, an injury popping up,
Speaker 1: maybe the mechanics are thrown off a little bit again,
Speaker 1: maybe the walks creep back in. I have some concerns
Speaker 1: when it comes to you, Darvish, This season tomorrow is
Speaker 1: gonna be really fun because I can't imagine the lists
Speaker 1: are as similar twenty two to forty and beyond. I'll
Speaker 1: see if you have to use three days starting pitchers.
Speaker 1: We'll see tomorrow on the program. More starting pitchers are
Speaker 1: Frank stafeld I, a Greman. Farrell comes to Coast is
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