Latest / Cards & Categories / Ep. 38 : Navigating The Injured Pitcher Pool

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Ep. 38 : Navigating The Injured Pitcher Pool · Cards & Categories

0:15
Hello, and welcome everybody to episode thirty eight of Cards and Categories. I'm
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Mike Coolard from Rasball, joined by a guest. This week we have Keelan
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Blue, also from Rasball, part of the Saturday Crew as you do the
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Ambulance Changed series that goes up before my Waiver Wire report. Kilan, how
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you doing today and welcome back to the pod. Thanks, happy to be
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here, and yeah, part of the part of the Saturday Crew. Yeah,
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doing well. It's still early in the season, so you know,
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we were just talking before this about how funny stats are right now, so
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it's been interesting to watch things open up and I'm excited about chatting about them
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today. Yeah. So we've got a great episode that I figured especially this
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time of year. Honestly, most of the moves that kind of happened from
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a fantasy perspective are from early season injuries, so we've got a few to
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analyze as well as for the fantasy analysis, we're going to get into some
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starting pitchers that are on injured lists currently and might actually be worthy of IL
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stashes for our fantasy leagues, which I know Brew is going to love that
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his New Year's like resolution going into this year was to not pick up or
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draft injured players, and then spent all of the preseason picking injured players on
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every team, and every time we would go over like a spring training injury
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of an injured picture, he's like, I might stash that guy somewhere.
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So this isn't this is in his honor. Yes, that's very nice and
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yeah, nothing better than bringing on real life doctor Helen Blue from Okay.
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Well, I think just to before we get into some of the news and
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notes. We are recording this on April third, so we are on officially
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one week into the season. This would be the seventh day of the season,
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not counting the Korean Series, but would have been some of your favorite
2:16
takeaways as you've just imbibed. I'm sure copious amounts of baseball the way that
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I have. Yeah, I mean, still pretty pretty broad. I'm still
2:30
kind of waiting for things to settle a little bit. I think, you
2:36
know, I'm glad some of these picks are working out well, Like Jackson
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Trio, I you actually say his name, I think he's that's been like
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a plus a positive for me. I got him, I got him in
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a few drafts, so that's been great. So he's been my most positive
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one. And then just in general, like you mentioned, this isn't really
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a positive, but just seeing how some of the injuries shake out had been
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a highlight. I think I was at the Socks game when I heard that
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Royce Lewis was injured and I was like, no way, is this already
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happening. So I think it's funny. It's like an automatic fire drill.
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So even though some of those injuries stuck, it's been exciting. It's kept
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things interesting. Yeah, exactly. I think some of my favorite takeaways has
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been watching some of the young players really come and hit the ground running.
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That I was in love with Wyat Langford all draft season. That in one
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of my main home keeper leagues, I had him for a dollar really cheap
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under our rules and was really excited to have him. But that's my only
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share, because the excitement was across the board industry wise and in all home
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leagues and getting into drafts this year, so it was very fantastic fear Wyat
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Langford owner and seeing his debut so far that not only can the guy hit
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like honestly he looks like Mike Trout in the batter's box. It is kind
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of uncanny that he has great control of the zone and the swings look great.
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But the dude is fast. He's like a top ten sprint speed guy
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right now too, and so I think there's more stolen bases coming for him.
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But I've been just loving everything that I've been seeing out of White Langford
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from the Rangers. Yeah, they have a good group, and I agree
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with you on just watching some of the younger players. It seems like they're
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really kind of leading the way. It seems like there are a lot of
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new names this year, both for pitching and for batting, so it's been
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super interesting on that front. I agree with you. And yeah, the
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wiling Ford it's like Beatlemania. Lang Fridge mania has been has been pretty fun.
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I see he's, yeah, maybe projected to do well Upson's stream where
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have really different stolen based projections. It's either nine or seventeen, So that'll
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be interesting to see how it turns out. Yeah, and I do.
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I think part of it too is ZIPS really incorporates like a lot of college
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data too. Maybe I'm mistaken and I'm putting words into Damn Simborski's mouth there,
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but it is fun seeing some of those variations on these young players and
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trying to figure out where it's going to go, especially on the pitching side.
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You mentioned that there's young pitchers there that have really cropped up. I
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think it's really my favorite part of getting back into baseball is I am kind
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of like a pitching ninja gift, like devoted watcher, you know that.
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Like I love watching pitching, and especially when it's working and it's humming like
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it is. I think some of the most spectacular it's feeds to watch in
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just like all of sports, because it just humans shouldn't be able to throw
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pitches the way they do. And yeah, the Jared Jones from The Pirates
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looked amazing. I've been in on him and I've written about him in the
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past that I really was hoping he would get a chance last September to come
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up and pitch. But he looked fantastic in his debut for the Pirates and
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for our White Sox. Gare Crochet is maybe the like a top three runner
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for the Suite young right now, like if he keeps going the way he
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is, but obviously he's not gonna have the innings. But great, Yeah,
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that's I'm curious about that too. Yeah, I'm curious if he'll be
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able to if it's sustainable because we haven't really been able to see him do
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much because of a surgery. And yeah, so I'm interested to just see
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if it's sustainable for him. But I agree with you, I don't know
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that. I don't know that he'll be able to really get up there.
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But yeah, he's been awesome. I think we were talking about that a
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little less. He was killing it and then it was like, ah,
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yeah, when everybody comes out, it's a big It's like letting all the
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air out of balloon for sure. Yeah. I mean you saw him on
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opening day, right, Yeah, and it was I mean I think with
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any any white Sox player right now, especially no, I'm just gonna say
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any white Sox player right now, it's kind of just like really up in
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the air. And then I think with him especially, you know, it's
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like we only have a very small pre surgery sample size and a small post
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sample size of that, so it's kind of like he's still pretty unknown,
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like we've seen what he can do, but how capable is he? But
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yeah, I mean he looks great. I think one thing I feel like
7:49
is very promising. Is control for him right now? I mean I think
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obviously some of that was affected before by his injury, but yeah, I
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think that that's been really really positive. So I'm hoping he can keep that
8:03
going. But yeah, it's been awesome and surprising to see that. Yeah,
8:07
it is the one bright spot. And I'm not sure who I saw
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say this on Twitter, but I saw a tweet about how even if you're
8:16
rooting for a really terrible team like the White Sox are, and I mean,
8:20
I think they're well on their way for one hundred plus maybe even like
8:22
one hundred and ten losses, it's going to be pretty miserable. But at
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least every fifth day for now until he hits it sending limit, we get
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to see great crochet, and like that is maybe the one shining star if
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you're watching a terrible team is having a really great starter so that you do
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have a reason to tune in every fifth day and just watch a guy shove.
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Yeah, exactly. And I'm just hoping he can keep it up.
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And I try to look for those small, small spots as well. But
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I think that's been a pleasant surprise because I wasn't really expecting that much out
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of anybody on the White Sox, but him, especially just coming off an
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injured season or previous injury. Yeah, and I appreciate that people weren't that
9:07
interested in him because he gave me fodder for my waiver wire on Saturday.
9:09
That no way I'm going to be able to write about him the rest of
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the season. That I'm sure his ownership rates are through the roof and not
9:16
going to be anywhere within my sight lines. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
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you bring up Jared Jared Jones too. I'm similarly interested to see like how
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he's going to do and how he's if he's going to be able to like
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continue doing this as well. That was very exciting. Yeah, and just
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the Pirates in general. The Pirates are just red hot. Brian Reynolds has
9:41
also started been great out of the gate O'Neil Cruz, maybe not as hot
9:46
as he wasn't spring training, but looking pretty good. But that that Pirates
9:50
team is humming along and looks dangerous that I think a lot of the and
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No Central teams are going to start having to watch out, And especially I
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think what I liked about the Jared Jones promotion for the Pirates, is that
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maybe it shows that they're going to turn the corner and start bringing some of
10:09
these better arms up from the miners like Paul Skeens as well. That I
10:13
mean, I still can't believe the Pirates let Jared Jones break camp. It's
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not kind of in the way that they operate their culture to bring somebody like
10:22
that in and again, another electric arm to watch every fifth day. That
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he's certainly on the list right now of starting pitchers, where if I see
10:31
them on the probable pictures for the day, I'm making sure to tune in
10:33
for a little bit that start just to I mean the fastball slider combination coming
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out of his hand, it's him and Crochet. It's kind of similar,
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good pinpoint accuracy, good slot, but just one from the left once and
10:46
the right. Yeah, yeah, it's exciting. The other thing that I've
10:52
really noticed is we've been getting into the season, and I mean you got
10:54
to witness this firsthand in person, is just visually how god awful the jerseys
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are. Like the Grays. I don't think I've seen any team that has
11:05
a gray top and bottom that matches. Yet I see through everyone's pants on
11:11
TV. In terms of, especially if they're white, like the white pants,
11:16
you can just they're not doing anything. They're not stopping anything, especially
11:20
when you're under some of these led lights. Or it was really noticeable when
11:24
I was watching the Brewers game yesterday and there opening day in Milwaukee where they
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wore these creamish color uniforms and it was gross and rainy Milwaukee, so there
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was no natural light to speak of. It was just all indoor led lights,
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and it just went right through the whitish cream on these Brewers jerseys and
11:46
just like it was really grody. Yeah, it already sounds kind of weird
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to start with, and then add in like dirt mm hmm, yeah,
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I am. I really in person, I haven't noticed it as much.
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They do look thinner, like you can see lines and stuff, and but
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I was also like, could you see that? Before? I was interested
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last night. Uh, it sounds weird because it sounds like I'm talking about
12:16
a wet T shirt contest, But I was like, are we gonna be
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able to like is this gonna be like we're gonna be able to see through
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everything? And I didn't notice that, to be fair, I wasn't that
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close. And I also was like I'm not gonna a gole. I could
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get like your binoculous, like right behind the catcher, just like, Yeah,
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I was watching I was don in like the the outfield, in the
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craft Cave, at the guaranteed rate field, the Sock Stadium, and I
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was down like in the you could see like the visiting bullpins, and I
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could see acuna in his I was actually like looking at his pants. That
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sounds really weird. If this was out of contact, this would be a
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weird, very weird conversation. And I was like, Okay, those are
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actually they don't look that bad. I don't think he had like gotten dirty
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or anything at that point. I have been kind of surprised by that.
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I keep seeing people bringing it up, so I'm like, what am I
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going to notice this? As much like in person, I do think it's
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funny the Yankees, you know, there's such a have such a strict dress
13:24
code. It's kind of funny to see that defiled a little uniform. Yeah,
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they looked like a bunch of frat bros, like in the mash pit
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at Lallapalooza or something. Just like I don't even know how to describe it.
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It's just like totally drenched wet. That was It's h Yeah, I
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guess you don't have to really worry about pitting out that bad if you're on
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the Yankees, that it's you know, just let it rock. Yeah.
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Yeah, we've got a real spring Break nineteen ninety nine Panama City Beach situation
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going on for all the rain. Yeah, absolutely, and that is.
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I am a frequenter of the Craft Cave as well, so I'm gonna have
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to keep that in mind that when I'm down there, because one of my
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favorite things to do before games at the Socks Park is to go down the
14:13
Craft Cave have one of the nice beers down there. But then, I
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mean, you're like eighteen inches away from the catcher and the pitcher warming up
14:22
before the game, and so that will be a chance to I'm sure to
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see some jockstraps if we really want to. That's true. Yeah, you'll
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have to go down there and do some research yourself with yeah the miraculars.
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Yeah yeah, and you could get like a monocle or something to a binocular
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monocle. That'd be kind of cool. Then you could play it off like
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I'm just a fancy, fancy guy or like broth like glasses like this.
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I'm a classy Yeah, well you need to do. Yeah, I've really
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I've been down there a ton, but I there weren't many people there for
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obvious reasons. The weather, the team stinks, so I got to be
15:01
like right there at the glass feels like a zoo kind of but it is
15:07
exactly like a zoo. Yeah, it's like, hey, look, I
15:09
was wondering if it was a two way mirror, if they can like see
15:13
in there. Yeah it is. I think it's partly for intimidation purposes to
15:18
to like that would work. Yeah on a crowded day, like hundreds of
15:22
drunk people staring at me, Yeah, that would work. That would work.
15:24
Oh yeah, And just like I mean, the only thing separating you
15:28
is like an inch of plexiglass, and there is a fence like a chain
15:33
leak fence as well, but it is it is really just surreal that you're
15:39
allowed to be that close, because I've been down there when like Garrett Cole's
15:43
warming up, and it's just like it's so impressive to not only see the
15:46
speed and spin on some of these pitches, but also just the size of
15:50
guys you don't quite like understand how large of a person Garrett Cole is until
15:58
you're down there and so close to him that he just towers over everything.
16:03
You're like, oh, yeah, this is why like even though like normal
16:07
normal people can like play baseball and like everybody has played it growing up and
16:14
things that they can play, like, there's no no way that you're like
16:18
ever going to be on any sort of like field with somebody the size of
16:22
Carrot Cole and think that you can compete if you're normal sized. Right.
16:27
That's one of the funny the things that I always think is funny about people
16:30
just sort of talking about like, well I could do that. It's just
16:34
like, I don't think you understand, Yeah, unless it's the Trevor Bower
16:38
fastball, then I think anybody can hit that and they should exactly. Yeah,
16:45
I think I don't know. You speaking about height made me just think
16:51
of the Trevor mcgil news with him Oh yeah passing out six or eight of
16:57
him. Yeah, that was I know. That was another another player that
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I was like, oh, I don't I didn't even realize he was that
17:06
tall. So that's that's huge. Yeah, six foot eight, it's a
17:10
large person. And yeah, if you're not aware of what we're talking about.
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Trevor McGill went on the aisle with a concussion. Today. He pitches
17:18
for the Brewers. He's part of that closer committee there with Abner your Uribay
17:23
and Yoel Payamps and he was already kind of falling behind in the race group
17:30
saves. But hopefully he gets better soon because it sounds like he had food
17:33
poisoning and then was like lightheaded and passed out and bunked his head. That
17:37
that is also goes down kind of in the annals of strange baseball injuries.
17:45
But we wish Trevor McGill all the best. Yeah. When I first read
17:48
the story, I read it in a hurry and I was like reading it
17:52
as he fell through like a floor, like in a medic fashion. I
17:56
was like, oh, no, they're just saying he's six eight and it
17:59
was a high all reading. It's important, Yeah, and comprehension, you
18:04
know, put with them together. Sometimes. I was like, wait,
18:07
he had food poisoning and he fell through a floor. No wrong, Yeah,
18:12
notable notable injury. I'm excited to recap that for ambulance chasers. Yeah,
18:18
that is a that's a good one along with spice it up. The
18:22
other good one you probably had was the Nick Senzel injury where he like broke
18:26
his thumb warming up on opening day, and then Jordan Lawler. I think
18:32
the way they his thumb was like just picking up a ball as well and
18:37
like and just like tore a ligament. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
18:41
definitely covered that one. I think my favorites are usually the one the people
18:47
who are like playing with their dog or got bit by their dog. It's
18:51
always interesting and I hate to bring up Trevor Trevor Bauer, but the drone
18:55
thing was always yeah, fun stuff, oh before we all knew better,
19:03
yeah, in the days. But yeah, I think with that, let's
19:07
also get into some of the news year injuries that impacts us as fantasy players
19:11
that I'm sure I'm jumping the gun maybe a little bit on your article for
19:17
Saturday, but also giving a little fodder, a little bit of a preview
19:21
here. We can include it in the article. We'll talk about this,
19:26
and I mean to these you've already covered, so if anything, I'm rehashing
19:29
your work from this past Saturday, not steep they've developed since then. So
19:34
I think that's notable because I think, well, we'll talk about it.
19:38
I'll let you get into okay, Yeah, okay. So the first one
19:41
we've got is third baseman from the Texas Rangers. Josh Young was hit on
19:48
the wrist the other day or was it just last night? Still? Was
19:52
it Tuesday night? I was just looking at this one day. Well,
19:57
he got a die gnost like a day ago, Okay, And I think
20:03
the really unfortunate thing here with Josh Young is that he had to undergo surgery
20:07
on the wrist, and when they opened up the risk, the damage was
20:11
more extensive than they originally thought. And I mean right off the bat,
20:17
having a wrist injury to a power bat like Josh Young, who also,
20:22
I mean, this is kind of even though this was a freak injury,
20:25
it's always kind of been his bugaboo. Is he obviously battled a leg injury
20:30
last year, and when he's coming through the miners there's a shoulder injury.
20:33
So it's not exactly the best track record. And then on top of that,
20:37
it's a fractured rist, a severely fractured rist. The Rangers right now
20:41
are saying he's going to be out eight ten weeks, but even after that
20:45
You've got to think it's a lengthy rehab and just a lot to get that
20:51
power back in Josh Young's bat, don't you. Yeah. Yeah, And
20:55
then I think readjusting, well, adjusting feeling of having screws and plates in
21:02
there, and then you know, I guess protecting continuing to protect the hand,
21:08
that's obviously going to be a big deal. And I think we'll be
21:12
worried, like every time, is he gonna, oh God, his hand?
21:17
But yeah, I think that's just such a weird area to adjust to
21:22
to. I'm not not a professional baseball player, but I do have like
21:26
a plate in my shoulder and the screws, and it took a while to
21:30
get used to just even there. So I can't imagine a hand. I'm
21:33
sure it's I'm sure it's very weird. And like you said, hitting,
21:37
you know, I putting all that pressure on it will probably I wouldn't be
21:42
surprised if he has to like make some changes to how he bats, even
21:48
if it might just be for like a short time period or something, just
21:52
as he gets used to it and stuff like that. Yeah. Absolutely,
21:56
And honestly, I didn't have any jash Young shares because he was one of
22:00
the young players where there seemed to be somebody that was more in on him
22:07
in every draft I was in. But yeah, I have to think,
22:10
like if I do own him and you're heard up for a roster spot,
22:14
either you don't have eyel spots on your fantasy team or you're out of ie
22:18
L spots that you're saving it for, maybe like you've got Justin Ferlander coming
22:23
back soon, or we'll even get even get into like a few others like
22:29
Justin Steele or something, you know that. I mean, I think it's
22:33
possible that you drop Josh Young because I just don't see twenty twenty four,
22:40
even when he does make it back, just having much power in that bat.
22:44
Yeah, I agree with you. I feel like this is one of
22:47
those things that is just like, even if he's back, like you said,
22:52
it's going to take time for him to adjust. I think they do
22:56
amazing things now with like orthopedics, so I'm sure it's better than like nineteen
23:04
ninety two, But yeah, I mean it's it'll be a big change.
23:08
I would be afraid and even with like you know, any kind of like
23:12
fielding or anything like like that, and just regular regular getting hit and stuff
23:18
like that. It's going to be nerve wracking at a minimum. But yeah,
23:22
I mean that's a lengthy amount of time that this early in the season
23:26
seems like you'd be sacrificing something for that. Yeah, I agree. And
23:33
the corresponding move that the Rangers made was they called up Justin Foscue, who
23:37
is a first baseman slash second baseman but honestly only bat that all the reports
23:45
they read about him from the prospect side are just they're like, hey,
23:49
this is a great bat. It's a league average or above bat, and
23:53
they always like leave out the defense because then they get to the defense and
23:56
like, this guy can't play the field at all. So, oh no,
24:00
Justin Foscue coming up. But it also looks like right now the Rangers
24:04
are rolling with a platoon of Josh Smith and Ezekiel Duran to cover third base.
24:11
So the three of those players will be in some sort of mix for
24:15
playing time for Josh Young. But any of those really strike your fancy.
24:21
I think Ezekiel Duran probably does. I feel like just in that roster in
24:26
general, you know, he's been I mean, he's kind of like the
24:30
utility guy for everybody, and I feel like, you know, skill level,
24:36
experience level wise, that's who I would probably feel safest with. So
24:41
that's I think that's who I would go for. And I've seen people take
24:45
him quite a bit this year and ask about him a lot this year,
24:48
so I'm not the only one thinking that I guess no about you. I
24:53
think he'll Ezekiel Duran will probably be one of the people on my Waiver Wire
24:59
column this weekend because he was in like my quick hits area because he did
25:03
have a lower ownership rate, but obviously that'll spike a little bit. I
25:07
think what's also nice about Duran is that he qualifies at third, short and
25:12
outfield in West Fantasy leagues, so he really helps out across the board or
25:18
just to be a utility player I am interested in foscue though in super deep
25:23
leagues, I think he'll also be a part of my piece this weekend.
25:26
Is especially diving in for an ale only that this is a guy in foscue
25:33
who has a great bat. Right now, the Rangers are playing Jared Walsh
25:37
at first base to keep the spot warm for Nathaniel Low as he's out with
25:42
an oblique but I think, yeah, yeah, they could platune that and
25:49
give Foscue almost full playing time between second base, first base, and DH
25:55
because I think they want to figure out what they have in that bat before
26:00
they decide if he's a part of their future or if they want to ship
26:03
him out in a trade. Yeah, it's really interesting to see how the
26:08
Rangers it's kind of been cropping up for them because that's I've covered all of
26:15
those players separately, but now is kind of the first time I'm like,
26:19
oh, yeah, that's a lot of people injured on the same team.
26:23
So yeah, I think all of those guys it'll be nice to see get
26:27
a shot at doing something some more. I know, for Ezekiel Duran,
26:30
when Corey Seeger, when they weren't really sure when he was going to be
26:33
back to he was they were gonna they were talking about how they're gonna have
26:37
to rely on him as well. So hopefully he doesn't go down, then
26:41
they'll really have a problem. They'll have an extreme problem, because yeah,
26:45
they it's on roster resource. It's almost like a couple of mouse tick like
26:49
wheels, like on the scrolling on the wheel to get there their injured list.
26:53
It's starting to really ract up on them. It's interesting they're like this
26:59
year's Tampa Bay a little bit. Yeah. Okay. The other major injury
27:03
that, like I said, you covered this over the weekend, but it
27:07
happened on opening Day after Jeremy and I recorded last week, And that was
27:11
Royce Lewis, third basement for the Twins, going down on opening Day with
27:18
really nasty looking quad strain after he had hit a homer and he was on
27:23
the bases again and was rounding second and just his left I think it was
27:30
his left quad, right or I think so. Yeah, Yeah, it
27:33
just blew out, and that's not great for a guy like Ryce Lewis who
27:38
has a history of ACL injuries. And I think you even were fading him
27:44
during draft season because you didn't have faith in Royce Lewis's legs holding up.
27:48
Yeah. I think we both did. We had that conversation. Yeah,
27:52
because it's year after year, you know, like year after your health and
27:57
it's not necessarily small injuries. It's big stuff. Yeah, So that's I
28:06
think it's a there's kind of like a a wishful thinking. I see people
28:11
a pattern they do where it's kind of like, oh, well, he
28:15
was injured last year, so he'll be fine this year, and then they'll
28:18
be like, oh, he recovered last year, so he'll be fine this
28:21
year. And there's kind of a betting on the potential, and I can
28:26
I definitely see the temptation, but I just can't trust it because it's it
28:34
happens like there's something clearly something's there. But yeah, I think it's still
28:41
such a bummer to hear about because he is he does have all this potential
28:45
and he always seems really hopeful and he's been through a lot, so it's
28:48
kind of like, come on for you. But I think it was good
28:53
to know it wasn't as serious as they were initially speculating, even though it's
29:00
still pretty bad. You know, it sounds like it sounds like he'll recover
29:06
fully from it. But I still feel like with quad injuries or any of
29:11
those like soft tissue injuries, there's a lot of chance they recur so and
29:15
with him, he has that a lot. So I'm interested. Yeah,
29:19
I don't. I don't. Again, I stand by what we originally talked
29:23
about, and I'm curious about the same thing you were talking about earlier in
29:30
terms of people that are going to keep him or drop him. And what's
29:34
going to happen there with his numbers. Yeah, I it will be interesting
29:41
to see how it plays out going forward into next draft season two, assuming
29:44
Raceless kind of comes back healthy and plays the rest of the year. That
29:49
the power in the bat are very legit. Like I said, he hit
29:52
a home run on Opening Day before he did this. It was a crazy
29:56
series of events, it was, but it it reminds me. I mean,
30:00
it's very analogous to just from watching basketball with Derreck Rose, where once
30:07
you just kind of have reoccurring leg injuries, the bodies compensating in strange ways,
30:15
and I just don't know if I'm ever going to really be much of
30:18
a fantasy investor in Royce Lewis in much the same way that lots of people
30:22
like avoid Aaron Judge or gian Carlo Stanton or just anyone else you can think
30:27
of, that it has had a series of injuries and none of them have
30:32
been quite as serious as what Royce Lewis has had in terms of two acls,
30:37
and this quad strain was even I remember one of the quotes like after
30:41
it happened, that Rocco Bell Dolly was talking about, well, We're glad
30:45
that he doesn't need surgery, and you're like, whoa back up? Like,
30:48
whoever put surgery on the table for this? And so that shows you
30:53
how severe of a strain it was, right, Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
30:59
it's just a different level of seriousness with him. And I know,
31:03
I feel like, speaking of me being a doctor, it's one of those
31:08
things where it's, uh, you know, people I think they're like,
31:11
well, I need to wait to understand this. And I think in this
31:15
case, there's just enough of a pattern that I think it's safe enough for
31:22
people to assume, like this is just going to keep happening. Maybe it
31:26
won't, but I would be on the safe side and just assume it in
31:30
general. But yeah, I'm interested to see how he'll be when he comes
31:33
back, Like that's the thing he does well when he comes back, but
31:36
it's how long can he stay in It's really interesting how this third base field
31:41
seems to be shrinking. Oh and it was small to begin with, so
31:45
yeah, it's getting whittled down very quickly. Yeah, that was the I
31:51
think that was actually the one of the more challenging areas of my drafts this
31:56
year, because I was like, I don't know who I even feel great
31:59
about if he didn't get somebody early. Yeah, I was in the same
32:02
boat. I actually have a lot of Matt Chapman chairs because he just kept
32:06
falling and I was like, Uh, he's gotta signed somewhere. And thankfully
32:09
he's been playing well out of the gate because he's the booie on a couple
32:14
of my teams. As he's launched a couple of homers so far, it's
32:17
good digging ahead. Yeah, Okay. And the other injury that we've had
32:22
since we since we had this podcast and Jermy and I talk last week is
32:28
justin Steel going down with a hamstring strain while making it. Honestly, it
32:34
was an impressive play when I saw it live when I was watching the game
32:37
on opening day that he It was almost Mark Burley esque in terms of the
32:42
way he got down to the first baseline on dribbler from Larry to various and
32:47
had to flip it over to first base. Got the out, but also
32:52
costed him a hamstring strain, which looks to keep him out about six weeks,
32:55
I think is what they're saying. Maybe a month. Yeah, yeah,
32:59
we'll see, Like how long it takes him to ramp up and but
33:02
yeah, Justin Steele opening day started for the Cubs is down. Corresponding move,
33:07
is Ben Brown there number one pitching prospect, actually number two. I
33:10
think Kate Whrton's number one, but Ben Brown's been the closest to the majors,
33:15
has been called up from Triple A. And so, yeah, what
33:20
are you doing with Justin Steele going forward? And any interest in Ben Brown?
33:27
You know, I think Justin Steel I would actually be interested in maybe
33:35
potentially stashing him. That fall was very interesting watching it. It. Yeah,
33:43
it was very You're right, it was a very impressive play and it
33:46
was almost kind of like acrobatic. So I was pretty surprised when he didn't
33:50
get up, But I think it seems like pretty fluky. So hopefully,
33:53
you know, nothing like that will happen again, or he won't be opened
33:57
up as much to that. But I guess we never know. So I
34:01
think, you know, he'll be he'll be back and be fine. We
34:06
were Ben Brown. Uh, we're looking at his stats and small sample size
34:12
is what we talked about. But I think even looking back even at his
34:16
at his miners history, I'm like, I don't know here, I don't
34:21
know. I'll I'm I'm not open to the level of risk that he I
34:28
guess what open, yeah, roster up to, but I'll be watching to
34:35
see what he does. I think we were talking and obviously this is silly,
34:38
but yeah, I think currently with his with his debut and his one
34:43
point two innings pitch, he has a uh eight point five to three x
34:49
FIP which you mentioned went down, and then he has a thirty two point
34:54
four zero or e r A, so kind of funny numbers but small sample
34:59
size. So yeah, I mean there's still a chance for him to improve
35:01
and maybe maybe it's nerves, who knows. So I'm curious to watch him
35:06
and see if that actually does happen, But I don't think I'll be getting
35:09
him anywhere. Yeah, and it is. It was a tough debut against
35:15
the Rangers that he had kind of in a longer relief role. But yeah,
35:20
I went through a big Ben Brown phase last year when his strikeout rate
35:24
was through the roof for Triple A IOWA for the Cubs, and it looked
35:30
like he might get a call last year, but then I'm not sure what
35:35
happened to Ben Brown. But like part way through the year last year,
35:38
his walk rates started skyrocketing too. That the hay rate actually came down and
35:45
the walk rate went up. And I don't know if there was some sort
35:47
of mechanical change or something going on there, but when that started kind of
35:52
flipping, I have started to deboard or depart from that Ben Brown train because
36:00
it I don't think it's ever gonna be something that works out well because he's
36:05
also he's huge. Speaking of huge guys, he is six' six and
36:09
I think that is a lot of his issues. It's just too much lankiness
36:15
to harness and put into a repeatable delivery. Yeah. I was looking at
36:21
his stats and they're like really kind of up and down. Yeah they are.
36:24
Yeah, it's like kind of like you were talking about. It seems
36:27
like flashes of brilliance and then what happened. Yeah, that's really interesting but
36:36
sad. Yeah, and if anything, like maybe if I'm holding him in
36:38
like a dynasty or something or a keeper league, and do you know,
36:42
people are interested because he's up and the Cubs do look pretty good. I
36:46
mean they've played the Rockies for a couple of games, and anybody can look
36:50
against the Rockies. Yeah, but especially like I don't know, if Ben
36:57
Brown will get a chance to start, but he could be in almost like
36:59
that Ryan Yarborough role where he has somebody open, or he does some longer
37:05
relief and can get strikeouts and wins. But if you can, I think
37:08
now it's the time to try to flip them if you have them in dynasty
37:12
and keepers to see if there is a token Cubs fan in your league,
37:15
or if there is somebody else that has hyped on Ben Brown. Yeah,
37:19
that sounds like a good idea. I am curious. So if he'll kind
37:22
of get in the groove of things, I think it's really interesting. I
37:29
feel it feel like the Cubs have, as much as it pains me to
37:31
say this, done like an interesting, decent job of managing their starters through
37:37
this, through all these injuries, and I think, you know, hopefully
37:45
he'll figure something out too, or I don't know. I have a little
37:50
more faith than I might with other teams because it seems like the Cubs are
37:53
handling this a little better than other teams might with Justin Steele getting hurt.
38:00
Yeah, I agree that they've got the pitching depth too, because they didn't
38:05
even have to dip into bringing up Kayd Horton or yeah, to really like
38:13
have to make a move like signing Mike Clevenger dallas Kiice like some desperate teams
38:16
out there. Yeah. Yeah, and the Showda's been killing it. So
38:24
yeah, yes, he did look amazing. Yeah, so not as bad.
38:29
I think Originally last weekend when it happened, you know, reading about
38:32
it, it was kind of like, what are they gonna do? But
38:36
it seems like it's gonna be okay unless someone else gets hurt, which is
38:42
all his possibility. Yeah, especially on the pitching side. Well, and
38:45
they saw Hayden west Neski and x soch Matthew Thompson down there too, so
38:52
they've got a little bit of depth. But it's already being tested in Chicago.
38:57
Yeah, Okay, Well, I I think that is going to wrap
39:01
up our kind of news and opening section here. We're going to take a
39:04
short break and then return with our takes on pictures that we're looking to stash
39:10
and bring onto our fantasy teams for the rest of twenty twenty four to help
39:15
us make a push here in the coming weeks. So stick around, all
39:35
right, Welcome back from the break, everybody. We are going to talk
39:38
injured pictures now. So, my buddy Brew, the normal co host here,
39:45
is real into injured pictures this year, as even though his resolution was
39:52
to not be into into jured pictures, as we got through all the preseason
39:54
this year, he was picking all the injured guys. So I thought it'd
39:59
be great since Keelan, we have you on from ambulance Chasers, the injury
40:04
expert from ras Ball to get through some of these and I think there are
40:08
valuable pitchers that you can find to fill out fantasy rosters. I'm not saying
40:14
that like I'm seeking to do it quite as much as Jeremy is, because
40:19
it is certainly I play in enough leagues with him. I know it's like
40:22
one of his strategies to buy players cheap at the draft that are injured from
40:27
the pitching side and then waiting for them to come back and building out your
40:31
staff from there. But I think it is It does work if you've got
40:37
the injury spots or the roster spots to be able to hold some of these
40:42
players and to be able to use them, you know, after a month
40:45
in just especially because when you're playing fantasy baseball, you do have to be
40:51
taking advantage of every roster spot you have because you just never know, like
40:57
who's going to provide you value. I mean just look at like Martini here
41:00
over the opening week. Yeah, you're looking for any sort of advantage you
41:05
can find. And I like to also do that, just like Jeremy,
41:08
maybe not to his extreme extent, but by filling out my injured reserved players
41:15
with pictures I know I can use later on. Yeah, yeah, that
41:19
makes sense, all right. I mean, yeah, Renel Blanco no hitter,
41:24
so I'm curious you had him and yeah, surprising. Is it something
41:30
you're targeting to on your teams to like stash injured players, especially kind of
41:36
given your beat, knowing like how injuries EBB and flow and what your history
41:42
is with them. I usually don't, Honestly. It depends though, like
41:47
I think I did with Ozzie Albie's maybe a few years. It depends on
41:52
who it is and what the timeline is. There are definitely people I've picked
41:57
up, but anyone that's going to be out for a long Oh. I
42:01
think I had a Kunya too. It was terrible because I was like no,
42:07
and I kept him because the But yeah, I mean, other than
42:13
that, I don't typically stash players if it's going to be more than like
42:17
a month, Okay, I usually don't. Yeah, well, I mean
42:22
I think that's also good to kind of provide that background as we get into
42:27
this discussion, because then that, I mean, these guys that we are
42:30
targeting are probably the cream of the crop in terms of pictures that should be
42:37
back in relative short order, and at least right now as we're talking here
42:40
on April third, all of the indicators kind of show that they will be
42:47
back healthy soon enough to be usable for our season here in twenty twenty four.
42:52
Yeah, Okay, well, I'm going to take Justice Seal off the
42:55
board because we already talked about him, and I think he would be in
42:59
pretty obvious injury stash that you spent quite a bit of draft capital on him.
43:04
It's only a hamstring strain, it's only a month that at this point
43:08
you're definitely stashing him on your il. Yeah, and like we kind of
43:12
talked about, it was more of a freak sort of thing than a hadding
43:20
anything to do with his mechanics or anything like that. So I feel like
43:23
that, Yeah, that's a good point. I'm not really worried about him
43:28
as much getting reinjured yeah, as opposed to these guys that we're going to
43:34
discuss. I think, yeah, there is certain the risk level is certainly
43:37
a bit higher. But I think we're going to go through eight pictures,
43:39
eight arms here, and so I'll let you open it up as the guests
43:43
with kind of the first person you would like to discuss. Yeah. So
43:49
I so like I took the easy one. I said, Justin Verlander,
43:52
because we have gotten an update that he is going to start his rehab assignment
43:59
this weekend. It's been it's been coming, so that's been good news.
44:05
I think. You know, obviously he's just in general hard to turn down.
44:10
He's coming back. I don't his injury, even though it's kept him
44:15
out a little bit, it wasn't anything that I'm really worried about long term.
44:20
I mean, obviously he is older, but he's still Justin Verlander and
44:24
he's still crushing it. So absolutely would stash him, and it sounds like
44:30
for anybody that has you're not going to have him stashed for much longer.
44:36
Yeah, exactly. And I think what I like about Ferdo Lander two is
44:40
like he's just kind of a known quantity and like I think he's going to
44:46
pitch until his arm falls off or just like he kind of gets bored of
44:51
it. That I mean, it reminds me a little bit of like Roger
44:54
Clemens, but I mean I don't think Laders like enhanced him the same way.
44:59
So on top of it, too, like you're looking at a great
45:02
team for Verlander to rack up wins for your fantasy team on the Astros.
45:07
That the Athletics are really terrible, the Angels are really terrible, the Rangers
45:14
are looking a little shaky, as we've discussed with the Josh Young injury,
45:17
and the Mariners are kind of always fall flat in their face. So you're
45:22
looking at a nice little division for Verlander, and especially like down the stretch
45:28
where you saw flashes of who he is or who he was. And I
45:34
do feel like this is almost like I think Joseph Verlander had this plan going
45:38
into the year that it's almost like the Rich Hill plans sort of where he
45:44
knows the playoffs are the main goal for the Astros and that's where he wants
45:47
to be pitching, and so he kind of just pushed his entire season back
45:51
a month, you know. Yeah, Yeah, And I think that's another
45:54
thing why I mean beyond. I feel funny even like talking about why am
46:00
I justifying stashing Justin Berlander? But yeah, I mean the the pictures around
46:06
him. You know, he'll be able to rely on them a little more
46:09
as he's ramping up more if he needs to, and if he ever needs
46:14
some rest. It's not like it's not like they're going to be absolutely screwed
46:19
without him, clearly, So I think, you know, that's very encouraging
46:23
in terms of if he starts to have issues again, he'll he'll be able
46:29
to rest. Yeah, Okay, well I will go with my first pick.
46:36
And yeah, also in honor of co host Jeremy being out this week,
46:42
I'm going to take his boy Sonny Gray, who's been injured since the
46:45
spring with a strained hamstring that honestly, it was. I think what makes
46:52
it a little concerning is that it happened just during a normal kind of pitching
46:57
delivery, normal spring training outing, and and he's also had a history of
47:00
kind of hamstring his injuries in the past. But the Cardinals have said that
47:06
it's pretty mild. There haven't been any setbacks this week. As we're talking
47:10
on April third, again, the Cardinals have him slated for a simulated game,
47:15
and he should be out on a triple A or double A rehab start
47:21
next Tuesday. So you're looking at Sonny Gray being back probably around honestly the
47:25
same time as Justin Ferlander. And until we see anything contrary to what we've
47:37
seen so far from Sonny Gray and his career, like if there is something
47:39
awry in that rehab start in terms of mechanically not looking great with the legs
47:46
or the velocity is really far down. I think you can pencil in pretty
47:52
much what he's done the past couple of years that he's got a pretty similar
47:55
defense behind him is what he's had in Minnesota in the past, and a
48:00
nicer ballpark for Sunny Gray in Bush Stadiums. So I think if there is
48:06
somebody who's getting a little itchy to move on from him after the draft season,
48:10
I would be swooping in on Sunny Gray, and there I do have
48:15
a couple of shares where I did stash him knowing during draft season he would
48:19
be ready to go relatively soon. Yeah, yeah, and I agree with
48:22
you. Just the timeline seems fine. I think I read about him last
48:28
week for Ambulance Chasers and it definitely was like, oh, okay, fine,
48:34
it's gonna be okay, I agree with you. There. Awesome,
48:37
I'm glad to hear that. So yeah, definitely, I mean it is
48:40
encouraging, like there are some people that will always have like the recurring things.
48:45
I guess it just depends on how serious it is and how well they
48:47
recover from it. That's always concerning, yeah or not concerning Yeah, Okay,
48:58
Well then who is the next picture that you want to discuss? So
49:02
I think for this one, I'm gonna do all my easier Dullblin's first,
49:07
so I kicked Max Schuerzer, and it's a good follow up to what we
49:13
were just talking about because I think, well, one, there's been some
49:16
some news that you know, he got put on the he he didn't get
49:21
put on the sixty day IL, so that seems to show that you know,
49:25
he's go going to be back a little sooner than they originally thought.
49:29
And I think I saw like later may maybe sometime around there. I guess
49:34
you never know because they can always get behind, and then you know,
49:37
he came back early from his last ile stint, his last big ile stint.
49:43
So I think sort of like Verlander, even though again he's older.
49:47
Uh yeah, I think kind of he's gonna pitch till his arm falls off
49:52
thing like he said, and then just with his recovery and how he usually
49:57
handles it and comes back earlier, and and you can go like a decent
50:00
time amount of time without having anything crazy happened for a while. Yeah,
50:07
I would definitely hang on to him for sure. So, and I think
50:13
just the things they can do these days for back stuff, it's encouraging.
50:17
You know, in the past that would have been like he's done, but
50:22
it seems now that a lot of players recover well, maybe they'll have I
50:28
think he might have based on a based on scientific research that I did not
50:34
write, and I'm not a medical professional, but it does say that,
50:37
you know, people with or pictures with hernated discs, they're able to come
50:42
back, and it might not be that they have as many innings pitched,
50:45
but they can still do well and be fine. So I think that's really
50:50
encouraging when thinking about somebody like sures Er that's had hernated disc Yeah, I
50:55
agree, And I think the only reason that I would have him kind of
51:01
below Verlander in Gray in terms of like my rankings of people who I want
51:07
to be stashing is that Chureser is going to be out a little bit longer,
51:09
and it doesn't seem like he's really back throwing in any kind of serious
51:15
capacity right now. That he's still got a lot of ramping up to do.
51:19
And yeah, obviously with a back, you don't know quite where that's
51:22
going to go. And on top of it all, he we saw what
51:28
the diminished max Scherzer was in the playoffs last year and it wasn't very pretty.
51:32
No, yeah, yeah, so yeah, hopefully we won't see that
51:37
again, at least not anytime soon. But yeah, that was what timing
51:43
that was insane. Yeah, I give him kudos for trying to muscle it
51:47
out, but it was it was rough to watch sometimes. That was rough.
51:52
Yeah, Okay. The next person that I'm looking to stash then is
51:59
Taj Bradley the Tampa Bay Rays that I think compared to everyone else, and
52:07
Jeremy and I discussed this when he did go down with the injury in spring
52:09
training, is that it is a strained pectoral which is not exactly like the
52:15
most significant injury in terms of like the kinetic chain of pitching. Obviously,
52:20
you're using your pectorals in some former fashion throwing a baseball. But it's not
52:25
a shoulder injury, it's not an elbow injury, and it's not like a
52:29
lower body base injury. So it's I'm honestly even totally sure how he did
52:36
it, but it's a strange injury for a pitcher. And the nice thing
52:42
here is, again, naj Bradley looks like he should be back relatively soon,
52:46
kind of penciling in towards the end of April as he had to be
52:51
shut down in camp and has to ramp back up. But even even in
52:55
camp, like before he went down, the reports were that he was looking
53:00
a little bit better and in his one outing he didn't walk anybody, which
53:04
is what you're really wanting to see out of Todge Bradley, because when he
53:07
did struggle last year, it came with a lot of walks. Like when
53:13
he's down in Triple A, there was a lot of walks, and when
53:16
he had some of his worst starts in the Majors, Tadge Bradley was struggling
53:21
to find the strike zones. So I think if he's able to come back
53:29
here in early May, that I think you're also looking for You're looking at
53:34
somebody who could be a little bit of like a game changer in your league
53:37
or for your team, because he averaged eleven k nine last year in his
53:43
rookie season, and if Taj Bradley, he's only twenty three, so you
53:45
got to think that there's a few more levels to his game. And if
53:51
he also comes back this year from the injury and shows improved command and just
53:59
you know, or know what the Rays like what they're doing to tweak people's
54:01
arsenals. So I'm kind of hoping a little bit on that Rai's magic maybe
54:06
being sprinkled over Taj Bradley and finding a magical season here. Yeah, I'm
54:14
curious what you think. I know we just talked about this a little bit
54:16
earlier, but you know, the Rays have a lot of people injured.
54:23
How do you think that's especially pictures, How do you think that might factor
54:29
into his return at all, or how do you feel about, like I
54:30
guess, his longevity with being healthy. I agree with you, Like a
54:37
peck muscle, that's pretty weird. I was trying to think actually of the
54:38
last picture that I wrote about that had a pack injury and I'm like,
54:44
I don't even know. I'm sure there was one there, but I can't
54:45
remember who it was, just because I don't you know, it's usually like
54:49
you said, obleak or elbow or hamstring or back shoulder. So yeah,
54:55
it's kind of weird, but I'm curious, you know, in terms of
54:59
yeah, just he stands up with innings pitched and all of that over time,
55:06
because it sounds like you might have to take on a heavier set of
55:09
responsibilities in that roster. It's I think it's doable. I mean last year
55:15
he threw one hundred and just over one hundred and forty total innings, so
55:22
he's pretty stretched out from like a prospect standpoint, not like Garrett Crochet who
55:28
has like no innings on him and some of these other players who have come
55:32
through the miners recently, like Uri Perez and stuff where you're worried about him
55:37
being bubble wrapped that I think they're going to let Taj Bradley pitch every fifth
55:43
day. And in terms of the rotation, I mean, he's obviously going
55:47
to take the spot that Tyler Alexanderson right now for the Rays. He could
55:53
push Zach Lttel out of the rotation as he's been a career reliever. But
55:59
I mean also have a thing for I think they do this purposefully as they
56:04
go to teams they that they know or like the in fine players that are
56:09
partially injured or have some sort of mechanical flaws that lead to more injuries because
56:15
they know they can get the pictures cheaper. And so it's just kind of
56:20
a revolving door between the Rays starting rotation and who ends up on their injured
56:24
list. So as long as Tosh Bradley's healthy, I think he's in the
56:28
rotation as the pretty firm number three starter behind Ef Flyin and Sobali. It
56:34
is, uh, it is impressive what they do. Yeah, it's wild,
56:37
but it's impressive. But I'm always like, how does this work?
56:43
Yeah, and I like seeing, you know, some of the people that
56:45
you don't really talk about and then they go to the Rays and suddenly they're
56:51
a factor. So yeah, I mean, not to steal your thunder too
56:55
much, but I think we've got another one to discuss if you want to
56:59
open it up. Yeah, I was gonna transition right into it. I
57:02
was like, speaking of yeah, so my yeah, exactly. My pick
57:07
was Jeffrey Springs. He was also in the race, and it's also injured
57:13
Woo. He had a little bit more of a serious injury and uh had
57:19
to get Tommy John surgery. But he is throwing again, which is great
57:22
news. Still in the sixty day. I l I had him in the
57:29
past and he was great, so I probably am riding off a little of
57:37
that bias. But I think also, you know, like you just were
57:42
talking about, I think they'll be able to do something with him being on
57:45
the race, and just in general, I feel like he's he's pretty reliable
57:52
in his performance whenever whenever I've had him so and I think, you know,
57:58
he's been steadily improving throughout his career, so I'm hoping he'll keep improving.
58:05
Maybe maybe it'll be a little slow start, but if he continues even
58:10
kind of close to what he was doing when he went down in a little
58:15
before that, you know, to me, that is definitely worth stashing.
58:19
Yeah, he definitely helped me win one year, so I'm probably a little
58:23
biased on that. Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of crazy
58:30
how great he's been for the race too. That once he came over in
58:35
twenty twenty one, and it is wild. Yeah, he was through one
58:39
hundred and ninety six innings. Some of this was in relief, so I
58:43
will caveat that, But one hundred and ninety six innings with a ten point
58:46
six K nine and two hundred and fifty or two fifty three era for the
58:52
rais So I think, especially of everybody that we've discussed so far, the
58:58
ceiling here for Jeffrey Springs is by far the best because Wow, he was
59:05
electric before he went down last year and it was only sixteen innings three starts,
59:10
but he had a point five six RA and like it was like left
59:15
handed to gram, So there's a lot of wiggle room for him to fade
59:21
a little bit and still be usable. But this ceiling makes him, you
59:24
know, a very I mean people ahead him as like a top twenty five
59:30
ish starter last year because of all that. Yeah. Yeah, and even
59:36
like the projections are pretty decent coming off that injury I see for Steamer three
59:44
point six era, so I think that's great, Like, if he can
59:52
do that, then amazing, and you know it looks like in the past,
59:59
Yeah, he did have some good issues before coming to the rays,
1:00:00
but I don't know what they're doing, but they're doing something right with all
1:00:05
these players. Absolutely, And I mean, you want to just keep the
1:00:10
race theme, Roland, We'll just talk about right now, just like I
1:00:15
mean, I guess it is the we're talking injured pitchers, so it's it's
1:00:19
only fitting that we talk about lots of Tampa Bay race here. And the
1:00:23
next person I'd be looking to stash if I've got, let's say, like
1:00:27
you're all these players that we've already talked about, I think, and for
1:00:30
the most part, who we've talked about so far, they're probably owned.
1:00:36
And this is maybe the first one that might be sitting out there in your
1:00:39
free agent pool, and that is Alex Cobb from the San Francisco Giants as
1:00:45
he is recovering from a hip surgery in the off season. But the San
1:00:51
Francisco Giants part of this calculus is what I love the most. That pitching
1:00:55
in San Francisco is fantastic and finding pictures with the strike up upside, strikeout
1:01:02
upside that Alex Cobb has as it wasn't quite there for him last year as
1:01:08
he was under eight k per nine and it was a very strange year for
1:01:14
Alex Cobb as he like vascillated between good outings and bad outings and there's really
1:01:19
like no in between. That he still managed to put up a three eighty
1:01:24
seven ARRA for you last year and one hundred and fifty one innings, so
1:01:27
he's more than a usable picture that I think he can do something similar again
1:01:34
that you're putting him in front of a much improved Giants defense too, with
1:01:37
Jung Ho Lee in the center field and Matt Chapman at their base, that
1:01:42
I think it's going to be underrated how much that'll even improve Giants pictures we
1:01:47
were already targeting because of the ratios work that I think Alex Cobb could be
1:01:54
a really good piece for fantasy players throughout the summer, because just pitching in
1:02:01
San Francisco all summer long is such a boon to your era and whip.
1:02:08
Even even though like that is probably like where Cob struggles the most is you
1:02:14
know, he's a one thirty two whit pitcher last year, so that really
1:02:16
hurts you. But I do think that the hip was bothering him for a
1:02:22
decent amount of time and getting it cleaned up is really encouraging. Yeah,
1:02:28
I was going to ask you how much he thought his hip injury affected him
1:02:32
last year, because I guess that would explain quite a bit, especially a
1:02:37
level where he needed surgery for it. I can't even can't even imagine.
1:02:42
Yeah, and I I mean, I don't know if it was like a
1:02:45
progressive thing or a certain like injury, but it did seem last year because
1:02:51
I had a couple shares of Cob that he was always battling Nix and Knacks,
1:02:55
and that's also pretty indicative of like the hip really bothering you, because
1:03:00
you know, he was probably trying to change his mechanics to be able to
1:03:04
account for that, and you know, I mean, I'm just trying to
1:03:07
see if maybe Alex Cobb can find a little bit of that magic of like
1:03:10
twenty twenty one or twenty twenty two when he really pushed that strikeout rate up
1:03:16
for the Angels and Giants in those back to back seasons. Yeah, okay,
1:03:22
well you're down to your your last choice, so my last choice.
1:03:29
And I picked this one too to also honor the Ambulance Chaser readers, because
1:03:37
every week somebody asks for an update on Gavin Williams. So I'm like,
1:03:42
yes, and I think all of their fervor is now also affecting me.
1:03:47
So, I mean, I think there's a few few reasons to keep him.
1:03:53
One. I think, like you mentioned with Tod Bradley, he's still
1:03:57
super young, only twenty four, so automatically, you know, could something
1:04:02
happen, Yes, it absolutely could, But he's so young that I mean,
1:04:05
you'll have time to recover most definitely. And then just in general,
1:04:11
how he's performing, how he performed at the postseason last year or at the
1:04:14
end of the season last year, you know it, I think that's obviously
1:04:19
very encouraging. I don't it looks like he's supposed to maybe regress a little
1:04:23
bit this year, but I think there's just still going to be There's a
1:04:29
lot of potential there that I would definitely want to keep and hold on to.
1:04:36
So yeah, and I think he's supposed to be back pretty soon.
1:04:39
I guess I am a little concerned with him since it is elbow stuff,
1:04:45
I am a little I'm always worried. I mean, like anybody else,
1:04:46
I think when they say elbow, it's just like when are they gonna get
1:04:50
Tommy John? But you know, I think I feel like because he is
1:04:57
so young, especially you know, if I was in a a keeper league
1:05:00
or something like that, I would want to just hang on to him.
1:05:03
But yeah, they said they have said that he will start a rehab assignment
1:05:09
pretty soon. I don't think they've given a schedule yet, but hearing that
1:05:14
he's going that direction soon is enough for me to want to like hang on
1:05:18
to him. Yeah, exactly. And I think he would have been further
1:05:25
up, like on our lists in terms of preference, if it had been
1:05:29
Sunny Gray's hamstring or Taj Bradley's peck. But an injury to the elbow is
1:05:35
certainly nothing that you want to be messing with as a fantasy player, usually
1:05:41
because it just doesn't typically work out very well. Like I mean, just
1:05:45
kind of look at where the Garrett Cole like injury, how that's unferraled and
1:05:48
we haven't mentioned him here just because I think that is like when you're reading
1:05:54
the tea leaves there, it doesn't sound encouraging at all at least like with
1:05:58
Gavin Williams, it does sound they're not quite as veiled as they are about
1:06:04
Garrett Cole's injury when they're discussing Williams in the media that the Guardians, Yeah,
1:06:10
Yeah, it's a good point. They give up way more, way
1:06:13
more information to the point there like he's throwing, he's throwing with a weighted
1:06:16
ball. Yeah, and enough to say a rehab assignment is approaching. Well,
1:06:21
there's not a specific timeline. It's like, well they've said that enough,
1:06:25
so that's encouraging. I do. I agree with you it is.
1:06:28
It does feel like a bit of a with the elbows. It's always like
1:06:32
it's not an if it's win type thing. So and obviously I'm like very
1:06:43
uh disaster, Like I'm always thinking about the worst case scenario. So I
1:06:47
think for me, it's very easy for my mind to automatically go like it's
1:06:50
gonna happen, which is not true necessarily, but it does feel like that.
1:06:55
So that is why he would definitely be towards towards the end of it
1:07:00
for sure. But yeah, like you said, they're sharing so much that
1:07:03
it's it's less concerning. Yeah, And I think part of it too is
1:07:10
like the walks have been always discouraging for me. For Gavin Williams, I
1:07:15
know he's got his believers out there, but you can see even in his
1:07:18
era versus his FIP last year, you know, the ra was zero point
1:07:23
eight lower than his FIP, and so I do just worry about kind of
1:07:28
like when those walks might come home to roost for Gavin Williams going forward,
1:07:33
and so I think he's got a little bit more development. But you also
1:07:36
do wonder how the elbow injury will play into his command. Yeah, I
1:07:42
think that's definitely what I'm going to be on the lookout for once he gets
1:07:46
started and or gets back at it, and then we'll know, yeah,
1:07:53
exactly, yeah, you've still got a problem, but hopefully not, hopefully
1:07:56
he'll be good. All right, Well, I'm to go with a little
1:08:01
bit of a deeper cut here as I'm gonna use, I'm gonna go for
1:08:05
it. Yeah, for an Oakland Athletic here, and especially if you're in
1:08:11
a deep league and like there is no pitching on the waiver wire that you're
1:08:16
scrounging between middle relievers and just desperate for innings and strikeouts, I think you
1:08:24
can do worse than Luis Medina from the Oakland Athletics that I've always liked the
1:08:30
stuff that he throws. It is certainly a little bit of what we just
1:08:34
talked about with Gavin Williams. I guess I'm gonna speak out of both sides
1:08:38
of my mouth after I dog Gavin Williams's walk rate and now Louis Medina's got
1:08:45
one a walk rate that's, you know, four point six walks per nine
1:08:50
last year. But the arsenal has always been really tempting with Louise Medina that
1:08:59
he's got a really nice fastball that was sitting at ninety six last year.
1:09:04
And I guess it should also explain he's out with a Grade two knees sprain
1:09:09
currently, so I think he should be back sometime in May. But it
1:09:14
also kind of boils down to a little bit of what we were talking about
1:09:16
with the San Francisco Giants, that Oakland is a great pace to pitch from,
1:09:21
just like a pitcher friendliness park, and you're going to get a few
1:09:27
of those Ale West teams that are still weaker. And I'm always just looking
1:09:31
for the most dirt, cheap kind of options you can find, especially with
1:09:36
my purview on the waiver wire, that like, I'm sorting through all sorts
1:09:41
of pretty flawed and cremy players, but you're just trying to find starts that
1:09:45
you can stream, especially with Lismdina at home and like trying to find good
1:09:50
night games when he's pitching in the fog and the strikeout upside, I think
1:09:56
is what you're looking for here that if you can and take a little bit
1:10:00
of a hit to the ratios, you know that you've got a picture maybe
1:10:04
even something like a sunny gray where you're your k's are lacking a little bit
1:10:11
because you were protecting the era and whip Medina might be able to help you
1:10:15
out down the stretch to get you there, because I think even he showed
1:10:19
flashes of it last year that especially in like in July, he had an
1:10:25
amazing month and things won't I won't lie. Things were a little brutal down
1:10:29
the stretch. I don't know if he like got tired or just Oakland being
1:10:32
an Oakland athletic got to him. But he had flashes last year where you
1:10:36
can be like, yeah, this sky could be a usable fantasy starter.
1:10:42
And I'm just kind of if I have like one more spot that we're talking
1:10:45
about injured pictures this, I'm giving it to Lisa Madinah right now. Nice.
1:10:50
I like that you included a deep cut and I I know we don't
1:10:55
write about necessarily the same things, but I also so you know, we
1:11:00
both have to think of get creative sometimes, especially in those like in the
1:11:04
dog days when it's like literally who who's going to replace our Max Schers or
1:11:14
Justin Verlander and then everybody behind them is injured. So yeah, I think
1:11:17
watching for those sort of ebbs and flows is always I think that's probably the
1:11:21
most fun part of ambulance chasers, is like, well, who's gonna do
1:11:27
this now? Or who's okay? Who's been doing okay? So yeah,
1:11:30
I appreciate a deep cut. Yeah, and I know some people need them
1:11:35
out there because like I could ask questions about like super deep leagues all the
1:11:41
time on my columns and like that's why I have like the fifteen teamers and
1:11:45
ale only and only that. Yeah, Lismadina is certainly more of your fifteen
1:11:49
teamer ale only sort of league that I mean. In my TGFBI squad this
1:11:55
week, I had to pick up David Frye to replace Sean murphyette catcher,
1:12:00
Like I'm using a backup catcher out of Cleveland to because there was nobody on
1:12:03
the wire in a fifteen team league. So I'm sure that there are people
1:12:09
with leagues out there listening to this, that they're super deep and you're just
1:12:12
like looking for any sort of upside in any sort of starter coming down the
1:12:17
pipe. Yeah. Yeah, I definitely have heard from somebody before that mentioned
1:12:23
they appreciate when I share a league specific options, and I was like,
1:12:30
Okay, there are people out there reading this that that matters too, So
1:12:33
yeah, oh yeah, there's some real fantasy baseball sikos out there for sure.
1:12:40
This team Sickos. Yeah, I love it. I appreciate it because
1:12:44
sometimes too, I'll get like nobody cares about this players, like somebody does
1:12:47
care besides their mother exactly. So neither of us mentioned Clayton Kershaw, which
1:12:56
I think, oh man, Yeah, I honestly don't think he's coming back
1:12:59
at all this year, which is part of it. But what's your take
1:13:01
on Clayton Kershaw? I agree with you. I honestly maybe this sounds bad.
1:13:08
I don't even really think about him most of the time now because I
1:13:13
yeah, I just he's kind of like a non factor at this point.
1:13:15
I don't. I also don't think he's coming back, and I think there's
1:13:19
so many options, especially with some of these younger, younger guys like we've
1:13:24
been talking about. There's a lot of options that feel more secure and are
1:13:29
honestly exciting. So I don't even think about him that much. Seems like
1:13:35
a hateful things. I don't think about you at all, Clayton Kershel from
1:13:42
this anonymous internet person, it's really very Yeah, I'm in the same boat
1:13:47
too that, Like I wasn't even thinking about him. Well, partly too,
1:13:51
because like it's a little bit of like Scherzer, but even more extreme.
1:13:56
He was so bad at the end of last year, and uh,
1:14:00
I mean, nobody would have been surprised if you had hung it up over
1:14:04
that's the off season. I think in a way in my mind, I'm
1:14:10
not saying this is right. I've already sort of placed him in the downhill
1:14:16
category and maybe I'll be wrong. That would be exciting if Clayton Krshall had
1:14:20
some sort of huge comeback, that would be awesome actually, But I think
1:14:26
for now I'm wondering if it's headed that way, because I mean, at
1:14:30
this point, yeah, if you if you miss a whole season, what
1:14:33
is it going to be like to come back? You know, it is
1:14:38
a more I was going to use the term cheriatric picture. He's like thirty
1:14:45
four I think, right, yeah, en up there, thirty six,
1:14:49
thirty six, okay, not okay, Yeah, so he has time,
1:14:54
he has time. Yeah, that's pretty geriatric. Yeah, you could come
1:14:58
back, he could mount a I remember Charlie Morton's little run. That's true.
1:15:02
So if he did, if he did that, then he still out
1:15:08
here, but more of a twenty twenty five thing you're thinking, right,
1:15:11
Yeah, no, I'm not even I'm not even thinking about him at all
1:15:15
for this year. I don't even think I like looked at him at all.
1:15:17
All right, we heard it from the injury expert herself, healing.
1:15:23
Yeah, so I can read things all right. Well, yeah, thanks
1:15:30
for joining us this week here and subbing in for Jeremy. I mean,
1:15:35
yeah, you're like an S tier friend of the pot now, so we
1:15:40
uh yeah, sorry. I don't go on as many tangents as Jeremy,
1:15:45
but you know, we all have our different our special skills. Yeah,
1:15:47
you need to play more high school baseball to get in some good high school
1:15:51
baseball tangents. But that's true. I'm going to get out there and be
1:15:56
like, anybody need a coach? Here we go. Okay, Well,
1:16:06
let's uh, if you want to remind all the listeners out there where they
1:16:11
can find you on socials or interact with you on your Ambulus Chaser post.
1:16:16
Let them know I so, yes, you can find me every Saturday morning
1:16:24
Ambulance Chasers is posted. Come chat with me in the comments. Uh,
1:16:29
you can get all roast you if you want. If that's what you're into,
1:16:31
ask questions, tell me I'm wrong, I love it all. Just
1:16:34
come talk to me. So yeah, every Saturday morning. And then I'm
1:16:39
also in Blue Sky and my handle is at k E E l I N
1:16:45
one two f T. That's Keelan twelve foot dot Blue b s ky Dot
1:16:49
Social. And then I have to actually look up my Twitter name because it's
1:16:54
confuses me. I have to look it up even when I log in.
1:16:56
It is at under it's at underscore biscuit and it's capital w H one s
1:17:04
K three R underscore capital B one SQQ one T. I didn't really think
1:17:12
that one through when I was thinking of an accessible handle, So put them
1:17:16
in the show notes or something. I don't know. Yeah, I'll link
1:17:19
it. I'll link to it so that people can see it. That.
1:17:21
Uh, yeah, I like it. It's a it's a it's a fun
1:17:25
little we'll handle. But yeah, I'm sure a pain to explain the people
1:17:30
now find it. Well, yeah, that didn't I didn't think it through,
1:17:34
you know what. That's all right, that's what makes life fun exactly.
1:17:38
If they really want to find you, they certainly can, so,
1:17:41
like I said, I will put that in the show notes. And then
1:17:45
yeah, you can find me also writing on Saturday Saturday crew for ras Ball
1:17:49
doing the Waiver Wire columns. And you can find me on Twitter at m
1:17:56
cool seven, same handle for Blue Sky and and we also have cards and
1:18:01
categories merchandise which I will link to in the show notes. Yeah, I'm
1:18:06
talking to coffee mug all great, excellent, you haven't haven't broken anything yet,
1:18:12
don't need a replacement mug? Nice, No, it's all it's all
1:18:15
handing. It's standing up beautifully. Yeah, good quality. Great to hear.
1:18:20
Sign. I love the hat. Yeah, and you could have used
1:18:25
it again today with the snow here in Chicago, right, it's getting plenty
1:18:28
of usage these days. Unfortunately April and Chicago and it snowed so exactly a
1:18:34
little bit of a bum over day, but we made it through. And
1:18:38
then yeah, you can find the pod on Twitter at cards Categories and you
1:18:44
can also email the pod at cards Categories at gmail dot com. We appreciate
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