Oh glorious day when Tyler O’Neill, the King In The North, is called up, and we just-so-happen, to be scheduled to do our Cardinals show. Sometimes life works out, what can I say. Lance and I start the show talking about some of the forth-coming call-ups, and who we think will get the call first between Ronald Acuna, Gleyber Torres, Nick Senzel, and Michael Kopech. We then briefly touch on some early 2018 MLB Draft talk, before jumping right into the St.Louis Cardinals Top Prospects for 2018. Lance lets me rant about Tyler O’Neill for 27 minutes straight before jumping in on Jack Flaherty, Andrew Knizner, Jose Adolis Garcia, Carson Kelly, and a little Max Schrock talk. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Author: Geoff
Prospects, Pitchers, Win Ships, Make Babies. @ProspectJesus
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Pitching Profile: Joey Lucchesi Tossing Horse Heads In Haters Beds
April 18, 2018 | Pitcher Profiles | 69 Commentsby: Geoff
Strong takes are my thing. Whether it be needling Baseball Prospectus over their Jorge Alfaro ranking, clashing with consensus over Rhys Hoskins, or why Shohei Ohtani wasn’t a bust before he ever threw his first regular season pitch. My opinions are strong, and I’m not one to back down if I truly believe something based on first hand looks and research. I mean, don’t even get me started on the “newly-promoted” Tyler O’Neill takes. It’s almost as if I’m the head of my very own agency, lobbying for my players value like Scott Boras with a briefcase of binders. Yet another player who’s represented by my pretend “on-line defense agency” is Padres rookie phenom Joey Lucchesi. I ranked him 161st in my mid-season 2017 Top 200 prospects, and even predicted a 2018 MLB debut. I’m not alone on this site in my love for Lucchesi, my best friend since forever, Lance, wrote about him as a deep sleeper in late March. There’s also this tweet I tossed out there in December. Needless to say, without further chest thumping, I’m a fan of Lucchesi. There’s been a bit of misinformation out there regarding his repertoire, pedigree, etc. Today I hope to set some of that straight after watching his most recent turn against the San Francisco retirement home.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Every week I get up here and tell you “This episode has it all!”. But this week, I actually mean it. Where else can you get discussions of “Butt-texting”, exit velocities, launch angles, and geriatric dating, other than the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast? Not up to speed on what hanging zucchinis are? Take a seat, and let the Fantasy Master Lothario Grey Albright explain. Outside of Grey’s eccentric family, we come back with some hot takes, and deep discussion of Bartolo’s near perfect game, Ozzie Albies breakout, and every wavier wire darling from Joey Lucchesi to Franchy Cordero. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more? 2018 San Diego Padres Minor League Preview
April 15, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 30 Commentsby: Geoff
It is no secret, my admiration for San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller. While many remember the early win now moves in his tenure, it is the scouting and development of young talent that has really caught my eye. During his time in the Rangers organization, under the direction of former fraternity brother Jon Daniels, Preller was tasked with International Scouting. Something the Rangers did pretty well over that period. The same eye for talent on the international market has proven fruitful for the Padres, securing the services of several top signees over the last few periods, including Michel Baez, Adrian Morejon, Gabriel Arias, Jeisson Rosario, and Tirso Ornelas. Some of his recent trades have helped build even greater depth, adding top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. for James Shields, as well as Logan Allen, Anderson Espinoza, Chris Paddack, Josh Naylor, and Esteury Ruiz in a collection of other trades. All this, and we haven’t even touched on some of the recent drafts. In just the last two seasons the Padres have added, MacKenzie Gore, Cal Quantrill, Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Hudson Potts, Luis Campusano, and Mason Thompson. Needless to say I have my work cut out for me in this post. In case you’re not caught up on the Prospect Pod, Lance and I discussed this system on the latest episode. You can listen and read! Shameless Plug! Onto the San Diego Padres Top Prospects.
Please, blog, may I have some more?What a week here on the Prospect Podcast! Not only are we finishing up our pre-season preview with some of the top prospects and systems in the game, the MiLB games kicked off last Thursday, so we’ve had a week worth of looks. Including… live looks at the dynamic duo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. Lance and I begin the podcast with a detailed discussion of what we saw from Vladdy, Bo, Brendan Rodgers, and others, before diving into some news-makers from the first week of Minor League games. This all culminates in a spirited discussion of the unbelievably talented, and deep, San Diego Padres system. When I say deep, I mean it, this should’ve, could’ve, gone three hours. We start off with Fernando Tatis Jr., MacKenzie Gore, Michel Baez, and Luis Urias, before talking some Joey Lucchesi, Jeisson Rosario, Tirso Ornelas, Cal Quantrill, Franchy Cordero, and so many more. It’s an action packed hour and half of info. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Pitching Profile: Matt Harvey’s Foot Long Is Soggy
April 11, 2018 | Pitcher Profiles | 19 Commentsby: Geoff
Remember way back when, like three years ago, when the Mets “young pitching staff” was all the rage? We talked about how “setup” the Mets were for the future behind the strength of arms Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and of course their back-page-darling, Matt Harvey. While deGrom and Syndergaard seem to have overcome injuries to return to form, the same cannot be said for “The Dark Knight”. While his pitching exploits once made him the King of NYC, it’s been his off-field shenanigans that have grabbed the wrong type of headlines of late. But… with a spark in his first start vs. The Phillies, the inevitable “Is Harvey Back?” headlines and bylines popped up on the pages of print, digital, and telepathic media. (Pssst, if you don’t get your news telepathically in 2018, you’re behind the times.) Wow, if you’re waking up from a coma, you’d be shocked to learn that, A. Matt Harvey stinks (or has stunk) B. Telepathy has gone mainstream. Thanks Uri Geller! That got a bit off track, here’s what I saw in Matt Harvey’s start on Sunday night.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Razzball Podcast is back in this bee-yatch with an action packed program for the fiends. Yes, all of my intros are stolen from skits first heard on mid-90’s rap albums. Sorry, we keep feeding you, and feeding you… nuggets of knowledge to help you take down the fantasy crown. Speaking of fantasy crowns, I have the reigning Tout Wars NL-Only champion in tow, as Grey Albright blesses us with his magical pipes, hot boba takes, and fantasy baseball wisdom. We talk Shohei Ohtani, Rhys Hoskins joining elite company, wavier wire targets, and why Grey loves him some Gregory Polanco. We also sit down with former NFL player and commissioner of the Fan Controlled Football League, Ray Austin. How about that? Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?On a cold early April night in Connecticut, I got my first looks at both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in the flesh. In a matchup not short on prospects, I met fellow Razzball writers Paul (the) Martin, and Lance Brozdowski, as well as friend Scott Greene, founder of Prospects 1500. The four of us frequently paused baseball and fantasy discussion to get as many clips of Vlad, Bo, Brendan Rodgers, Sam Hilliard, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., and Garrett Hampson on our phones as we could. In the early going, I was impressed by the Yard Goats starter Jesus Tinoco, who was popping 95 with a wicked breaking ball. Second time through the order was not so kind however. We didn’t get a ton of offense from the trio of top prospects, but we did get a two run double from Bichette down the leftfield line, and a chopper just inside the third base bag that went for extra bases from Guerrero. Hartford’s Brendan Rodgers went 0-for-4, and Gurriel went 0-for-3 with two walks. One off the radar standout from last night was Yonathan Daza, who hit .341 last season at Lancaster, to go along with 31 steals on 39 attempts. He hit two hard ground balls up the middle, driving in Hartford’s lone run. All in all a good night, here’s some video from the game, as well as some other noisemakers in the early going of the MiLB season.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Minor league ball is back, and it’s “Pants Tent” season at Casa Del Broshitz. We begin this episode with a quick look at the teams to follow early in the minor league season. Which top prospects are playing where, what teams are the most talent rich, we cover it all in the early going. We even get into some good Jay Groome and Ryan Mountcastle talk. Never one to be curt, we devote the second half of the show to the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospects. We delve into Mitch Keller, Austin Meadows, Colin Moran, and more. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Prospect Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more? Fantasy Baseball Podcast: OVERREACT!!! Fantasy Baseball Week 1
April 3, 2018 | All Podcasts, Razzball Podcast | 24 Commentsby: Geoff
While other Fantasy Baseball Experts might tell you to not overreact and stay the course, the Fantasy Master Lothario and myself suggest a different route. OVERREACT!!!! Drop your whole team for Nick Ahmed and Trevor Williams! Okay, so maybe we don’t want you to add Nick Ahmed, but we do talk about Razzball’s unofficial pitcher. We dive into Shohei Ohtani and Miles (Cy) Mikolas’ debuts, Gabe Kapler’s mania, Tampa Bay’s bullpenning, and talk Justin Smoak, Xander Bogaerts, and Jose Martinez. We pretty much ramble for an hour, but then again Castle GreyShitz could hum for an hour and it would be magic. Finally, please make sure to support our sponsor by heading over to RotoWear.com and entering promo code “SAGNOF” for 20% off the highest quality t-shirts in the fantasy sports game. It’s the latest edition of the Razzball Fantasy Baseball Podcast:
Please, blog, may I have some more?Yeah, this post is dedicated to all the people that told me Ohtani would never amount to nothing, to all the people who called me crazy for my enthusiasm, when I was just trying to inform my readers, and all the prospectors in the struggle. You know what I’m saying? And it’s all good Grey-be, Grey-be. It was all a Dream, I watched NPB games on the TV screen, upper-90’s velo, nasty split, mechanics clean. Worried about hanging breaking balls. Every spring training start he got mauled. I let the hype pop, until the hype dropped. Smoking weed in the draft room, laughing as lesser Perts talk. Way back when the humidor was supposed to cutback. Enough of that…
Okay, so obviously I’m excited about Ohtani, I’ve been writing about him for two years, and yesterday he made his debut. It’s was glorious, actually glorious is a little strong, it was more good. But I’ll take good. Here’s what I saw on Sunday.
Please, blog, may I have some more? 2018 Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Preview
April 1, 2018 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects | 22 Commentsby: Geoff
It’s been a long off-season, but we still have some systems to preview. So today, I get back on the horse and dig into a talented Pittsburgh Pirates farm system. For years now the Pirates have done an excellent job of drafting, scouting, and developing talent. Unfortunately this post comes a few days before I attend some extended spring work down in Bradenton, Florida, the off-season home of the Pirates. Annually I’m down in the Bradenton area for a week or two to see my in-laws, and I always sneak away and catch a couple of Bradenton games, or at least make it to the Pirates facility about 5 miles down the road from LECOM Park. So all this to say, I get a decent amount of looks every year at the Pirates talent in the lower levels. Last year I got first hand looks at top pitching prospect Mitch Keller, underrated speedster Cole Tucker, draft-bust Will Craig, and 2015 first rounder Ke’Bryan Hayes. This year I’m hoping to get some looks at some of the members of the Pirates strong 2017 draft class, as well as J2 standouts like Sherten Apostel. Once I have more info on Apostel, I’ll share it, but info is limited. Today we focus more on the bigger names in the system, and those with shorter ETAs. Regardless of your flavor of prospect, there’s something for everyone in this Pittsburgh system. It’s the Pittsburgh Pirates Top Prospects for 2018 Fantasy Baseball.
Please, blog, may I have some more?