Catcher's Corner

Eric (@SamskiNYC) welcomes Vlad Sedler (@RotoGut to talk about his takeaways now that we're two months into the fantasy baseball season. Then they play some Cut, Keep, or Claim with trending waiver wire options as well as some struggling veterans. 

All music in the show is by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger (his complete work can be found on Spotify).

Timestamps

2:15 - Early takeaways from the first two months of the fantasy baseball season. Players we missed on and changes in our process we’re happy about.

Cut, Keep, or Claim (Yahoo roster %)

12:30 - Tim Anderson/Jean Segura

15:20 - Jose Berrios (91% rostered)

17:45 - Merrill Kelly (46% rostered)

21:00 - Reid Detmers (16% rostered)

24:10 - Spencer Strider (40% rostered)

28:00 -  Jeffrey Springs (50% rostered)

31:05 - Jakob Junis (14% rostered)

33:45 - Edward Cabrera (12% rostered)

37:15 - Tanner Houck tangent (Houck as the new Whitlock?)

38:00 - Javier Baez (89% rostered)

41:00 - Bryan Reynolds (88% rostered)

43:15 - Jesus Sanchez (22% rostered)

45:45 - Michael Harris (33% rostered) or Christopher Morel (42% rostered)

48:15 - Evan Longoria (12% rostered)

50:00 - Trevor Larnach (7% rostered)

51:30 - Michael Chavis (4% rostered)

54:00 - Edwin Rios (13% rostered)

Sami (@Believe_Sami) and Eric (@SamskiNYC) welcome Jon Anderon (@JonPGH) to talk about some of the hitters who are popping on the metrics he's created for his daily substack. Then they continue their Twitter debate on whether or not hot streaks are real and if there's anything that can tell us when one is coming. 

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

Timestamps

3:30 - Aroldis Chapman to IL. Is Clay Holmes the closer for the rest of the year?

5:55 - Kris Bryant to IL. Drop or hold?

8:50 - Bryce Harper UCL update: trade?

11:45 - Roansy Contreras debut. Are we adding?

Good JA Score Hitters:

18:20 - Trey Mancini

23:30 - Manuel Margot

28:00 - Gleyber Torres

33:45 - What is Jon’s Magic Formula? Why does it like Christian Walker?

38:40 - Josh Naylor

40:50 - Tyler Naquin

45:15 - The Hot Streak debate: What are they? Are they real? Did we just uncover how you can tell if they’re coming?

Sami (@Believe_Sami) and Eric (@SamskiNYC) welcome Chris Torres (@TorresTakes) to talk through this week's intriguing waiver wire adds and then discuss some notable players on recent hot and cold streaks. 

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

Waiver Wire Reaction

Interesting players added in Main Event leagues. Where do we stand on them?

Hot Streak Hitters

Harrison Bader

Kolten Wong

Josh Bell

Brandon Nimmo

Hunter Renfroe

Patrick Wisdom

Christian Yelich

Cold Streak Hitters

Cody Bellinger

Franmil Reyes

Tyler O’Neill

Sami (@Believe_Sami) and Eric (@SamskiNYC) break down a crop of potential waiver wire starting pitchers after watching their starts during the week.

Timestamps

3:00 - George Kirby, SEA 

9:00 - Kyle Bradish, BAL 

15:00 - Yusei Kikuchi, TOR

20:30 - Bruce Zimmermann, BAL

27:45 -  Alex Faedo, DET 

36:00 - Dane Dunning, TEX

41:00 - Drew Rasmussen, TB

49:15 - Josh Winder, MIN

55:00 - Chase Silseth, LAA

1:04:00 - Eric and Sami rank the pitchers

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) chat with Toby Guevin (@BatFlipCrazy) about the hot/cold starts of some of the pre-season’s most polarizing players. Plus, they cover the potential value of a victory lap and also discuss how much attention you should be paying to your standings at this point in the season.

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

Timestamps

2:45 - General discussion on the fantasy baseball environment

7:15 - At what point in the year do you react to standings? Do you fix based on categories or just add talent?

10:15 - Main topic: Victory Laps or Honey Traps? Looking at pre-season polarizing players and decide if people were right about their concerns or praise or if it’s just an early season mirage.

Pre-Season Concerns

11:00 - Marcus Semien (with a tangent on the value of victory laps and why Twitter isn’t the best forum for fantasy discussion)

18:40 - Randy Arozarena

25:55 - Trevor Story

31:00 - Whit Merrifield

35:50 -  Shane Bieber

38:45 - Robbie Ray

43:00 - Sandy Alcantara

Pre-Season Darlings

52:00 - Jazz Chisholm

56:50 - Francisco Lindor

1:01:00 - Tommy Edman

1:04:00 - Joe Musgrove

1:06:00 - Eric Lauer

1:10:45 -  For Real of Fugazi

Brandon Drury

Manuel Margot

Taylor Ward

Paul Blackburn

Daniel Bard

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) chat with Rotoballer's Nicklaus Gaut (@nt_burtreynolds) about hitting stats that have begun to stabilize and whether some league leaders - both good and bad - could be potential breakouts or guys that need to be dropped. 

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

Timestamps

Blast Rate Leaders (Do we believe?)

7:00 - Rowdy Tellez

15:00 - Christian Walker

20:20 - Eugenio Suarez

28:00 - Anthony Rizzo

O-Swing% (Are we concerned?)

32:00 - Bobby Witt Jr., CJ Abrams, and how we’re drafting rookies

44:45 - Amed Rosario

Exit Velocity on FB/LD (Do we believe?)

47:00 - Jeremy Peña

51:00 - Pavin Smith

53:55 - Cristian Pache

Contact Rate (Do we believe?)

57:35 - Steven Kwan

1:01:00 - Alex Verdugo

SwStr% (Are we concerned?)

1:05:10 - Avisaíl Garcia

1:06:30 - Bobby Dalbec

1:07:20 - Jarred Kelenic

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) chat with Fantrax's' Chris Clegg (@RotoClegg) about some of the starting pitchers and hitters who are off to hot starts and whether or not they're buying in.

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

Timestamps

3:15 - Chris’s Quick Grades Column

7:55 - Byron Buxton: Survived one scare. If you have Buxton, do you hold or trade?

11:00 - Marcus Semien: Any cause to be worried?

14:30 - Frank Schwindel: Is he still a must roster player?

17:30 - Mike Yastrzemski: How do we make sense of SF playing time?

Cold Starts That Have Us Worried

22:00 - Zack Wheeler

26:30 - Julio Urias

Hot Pitchers: Are We Buying In?

29:15 - Matt Brash

33:30 - Andrew Heaney

36:40 - Kyle Wright

40:15 - Paul Blackburn

42:45 - Merrill Kelly

45:30 - Brad Keller

47:35 - Nestor Cortes

Hot Hitters: Are We Buying In?

50:00 - Jesus Sanchez

51:10 - Owen Miller

54:15 - Ji-Man Choi

56:55 - Jurickson Profar

58:30 -  Jeremy Peña

1:00:01 - Hunter Dozier

1:02:40 - Maikel Franco

1:04:45 - Santiago Espinal

1:07:00 - Taylor Ward

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) chat with Fangraphs' Paul Sporer (@Sporer) about some pitchers he and Eric ranked differently in their Top 100 Starting Pitcher articles. They also review some recent news that will impact SP rankings and discuss their favorite arms heading into the 2022 season. 

All music in this episode is made by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger, whose new album can be found on Spotify

TimeStamps

News and Notes

7:30 - Where do you move Manaea up in your rankings after the trade?

11:00 - What does this do to your rankings on MacKenzie Gore?

13:00 - Where do you move Tylor Megill up after the deGrom news or does he stay the same?

Paul’s Higher (SPs who Paul ranked higher than Eric)

15:30 - Trevor Rogers (Paul 15, Eric 25) → Paul making the case for him as a top-20 guy

20:30 - Eduardo Rodriguez (Paul 27, Eric 39)

26:20 - Tanner Houck (Paul 38, Eric 56)

Eric’s Higher (SPs who Eric ranked higher than Paul)

32:15 - Shane Bieber (Eric 10, Paul 20)

39:10 - Luis Castillo (Eric 37, Paul 56) Plus a digression on whether the Reds may actually be good

48:10 - Sonny Gray (Eric 30, Paul 45)

Shared Concerns

52:45 - Tarik Skubal (Paul 67, Eric 61) ADP is SP 53

LoveFest (SPs who Paul and Eric are both “in” on)

58:30 - Logan Gilbert (Paul 36, Eric 34)

1:00:30 - Bailey Ober (Paul 44, Eric 68)

Favorite Arms

1:06:00 - Paul’s three favorite arms not mentioned above

1:09:30 - Sami’s two favorite arms not mentioned above

1:14:50 - Eric’s two favorite arms not mentioned above

Eric (@SamskiNYC) talks to RotoWire prospect writer James Anderson (@TheRealJRAnderson) about everything spring training prospects. Biggest risers and fallers. Where to draft the top studs and much more. 

Timestamps

3:45 - Will the new CBA change the timeline of prospect promotions?

5:50 - James’ Biggest Spring Training Prospect Risers

8:45 - James’ Biggest Spring Training Prospect Fallers

11:20 -  Would You Rather? (Which prospect would you rather have for 2022?)

36:45 - Eric asks an NL-only question on behalf of his 6th-grade school math teacher.

39: 15 - Love It, Like It, or Leave It (for 2022):

Eric (@SamskiNYC) and Sami (@Believe_Sami) breakdown the most-discussed starting pitching performances of spring training before welcoming Reds beat writer C Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) on to discuss all things Reds: When will Luis Castillo be back? Will the Reds use a closer? Will Hunter Greene and/or Nick Lodolo break camp and much more.

As always, all music from this episode is by Brooklyn hip-hop artist Dan Dillinger whose new album can be found on Spotify. 

Timestamps

1:00 - Eric and Sami debrief on early spring training storylines:

Pablo Lopez

Justin Verlander

Jesus Luzardo

Mitch Keller

19:00 -  C. Trent talks about the life of a beat writer and how he got his start covering baseball.

27:15 - What to expect from the Reds this season. Are they done trading?

30:20 - How long will Luis Castillo be out?

31:00 - Will Hunter Greene and/or Nick Lodolo make the rotation? What should we expect?

36:15 - What are the long-term plans for Nick Senzel? Will he be a regular starter in 2022?

37:15 - How will the OF/DH playing time shake out in 2022?

42:40 - Is Mike Moustakas healthy? What’s his outlook for 2022?

43:30 - How healthy is Lucas Sims? When should we expect him back and will he be the closer with the Reds or will the Reds even use a traditional closer? What names should we keep an eye on?

49:45 - Is Reiver Sanmartin locked into the rotation? What can we expect?

53:00 - Who is C Trent’s breakout Red for 2022?