Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Checking in on the AL East with Jonah Keri of The Athletic & Sportsnet Apr 29, 2019

Show notes

Yahoo Sports’ Scott Pianowski is joined by Jonah Keri of The Athletic and Sportsnet to take a closer look at one of the most puzzling divisions so far this season - the AL East.

First off, in Toronto, it’s time for VLAD VLAD VLAD VLAD. Also, is this the Marcus Stroman year we’re been waiting for? (3:40)

They check in on one of baseball’s most pleasant surprises, the Tampa Bay Rays. Scott wonders why he doesn’t take their over every single year, plus Diaz, Lowe, the bullpen, Glasnow… (18:20)

Over to struggling Boston, where they discuss how much panic is appropriate for their start? Where are you on Chris Sale? Are you in on Michael Chavis? Is JBJ’s defense worth the bat? Can Porcello survive in the shape of 2019 baseball, where contact is so dangerous? (29:00)

And a look at the New York Yankees, where Scott can’t help but wonder, how the hell are they 17-11 with all those injuries? Are you a Voit believer? A German believer? A daydream believer? (36:30)

As far as Baltimore goes, it’s a nice city for crab cakes.

Jonah discusses his experience playing in the League of Leagues with an interesting cast of characters, including a famous WWE Superstar (43:00), and they close out the show with a draft of their Top 5 Best Sports Books Ever (46:00).

Remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Time to panic about struggling aces? Apr 22, 2019

Show notes

It was a rough weekend if you were in a particular group of major league pitchers...or if you owned one of them in your fantasy league. Jacob deGrom gave up 3 runs in 5 innings to the Braves, then thought he needed an MRI, then didn't. Max Scherzer got lit up by the Marlins. Gerritt Cole was blasted into a different dimension by the Rangers.

Scott Pianowski is joined by Jeff Erickson of Rotowire to grade how panicked fantasy owners should be if they own the likes of deGrom, Scherzer, Cole and Sale (3:20).

Next, they discuss the intricacies of managing injured players and try to determine the perfect amount of IL spots a fantasy league should allow (19:55).

Scott asks Jeff about the Cincinnati Reds, Joey Votto and a trade he was recently involved in (27:15) and later they chat about the Texas Rangers bullpen and some waiver wire pickups (30:10).

To wrap up the show, Scott and Jeff draft polo shirts, gambling, the Ryder Cup and their favorite things about the sport of golf (35:55).

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Are Alonso, Matz and the Mets for real? Apr 15, 2019

Show notes

After the 2018 New York Mets got off to a hot start, they cooled into one of the more disappointing teams of last season. Scott Pianowski is joined by D.J. Short of Rotoworld and NBC Sports to discuss the 2019 Mets and if the impressive Aprils out of Pete Alonso and Steven Matz are for real (1:40). They also discuss the Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia Phillies, Washington Nationals and what appears to be a crowded NL East race (6:30).

Later they dive into D.J.'s latest Waiver Wired column and discuss some up-and-coming players you might need to fill out the fringes of your roster including Max Fried, Michael Pineda, Jesse Winker, Derek Holland and Alex Gordon (9:15).

Next, Scott & D.J. reassess the fantasy value of two former fantasy studs off to very slow starts in Boston's Chris Sale and San Francisco's Buster Posey (25:05).

Wrapping up the baseball talk, Scott asks D.J. about some guys who've turned some heads with hot starts in April including Dan Vogelbach, Austin Meadows, Tyler Glasnow, Ian Desmond and Anthony Rendon (31:15).

To close out the show, Scott and D.J. get nerdy about music and draft their favorite albums of the last 20 years (40:15).

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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How to manage in the era of surging home runs and strikeouts (with SI's Joe Sheehan) Apr 08, 2019

Show notes

One of the most dominant trends in the last few years of baseball has been the giant surge in both home runs and strikeouts. As both hitters and pitchers have become more effective at what they do, a sort of boom-or-bust game has emerged. Scott Pianowski is joined by SI's Joe Sheehan to talk about the surge in slugging, expanding rotations and how to manage your fantasy team in this new era (0:55).

Later, as the league hits the roughly 10-game mark, Joe talks about this rule of three starts and why you should take a pitcher's first three outings seriously as a sample size (10:55)

One sample size worth questioning after eleven games is the Seattle Mariners' red hot 9-2 start. Scott and Joe discuss whether or not the Mariners are for real and if their powerful offense will come back to earth (13:40).

Also on the show, Scott talks about some popular fantasy pickups including Kolten Wong, Jason Heyward, Willians Astudillo and Ketel Marte (20:05).

Joe talks about his preseason pick to win the NL East, the Atlanta Braves, and how they could repeat as champs in a more competitive division (30:30) and Scott talks about the Chicago Cubs series against the Milwaukee Brewers from over the weekend (33:50).

The guys wrap up the show drafting their favorite MLB ballparks, past and present (37:05).

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Chris Sale's rocky opening day, plus 2019 bold predictions with Derek Carty Apr 01, 2019

Show notes

Opening Day 2019 is in the books and after the first weekend of real MLB action, there are some small sample sizes to ponder over and bold predictions to make. Scott Pianowski is joined by Derek Carty of ESPN and RotoGrinders to talk about the first few games of the season and the methodology behind Derek's projection system, The Bat.

They open the show taking a look at the new-look San Diego Padres and the issues with projecting younger players like SS Fernando Tatís Jr. and SP Chris Paddack (1:00).

All the Padre talk leads into a larger discussion about Petco Park, Fenway Park, Coors Field and how park factors play into both season-long fantasy and daily fantasy (5:20).

Going back to Opening Day, the guys reflect on Red Sox SP Chris Sale's troubling performance and whether or not fantasy owners should panic about small sample sizes in April (12:00).

Derek makes some bold predictions for the 2019 season including some pessimism about the Chicago Cubs and some optimism for the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins (21:25).

Scott wraps up the show by asking Derek to take part in a draft of the best movies of the last 25 years and, spoiler alert, it's surprisingly Bill Murray heavy (35:30).

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Navigating the annoying world of saves, plus the ATL, CHC and LAD starting rotations with Fred Zinkie Mar 25, 2019

Show notes

MLB Opening Day is just a couple short days away and there's still time to draft your fantasy team (or draft your second, third or fourth one). Scott Pianowski is joined by Yahoo Sports' resident Canadian, Fred Zinkie, for a conversation about some last major news items and strategies to consider before the first pitch is thrown out on Thursday.

[Batter up: Join or create a 2019 Yahoo Fantasy Baseball league for free today]

They start off discussing the newly announced closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Greg Holland and the larger tactics surrounding finding saves, closers to target and whether or not to just punt on closers altogether (4:20).

Scott and Fred give their sleeper MVP and Cy Young picks including a pair of guys from the Minnesota Twins who could make waves in a weak division: José Berrios and Eddie Rosario (14:55).

The conversation evolves into a discussion about some NL starting rotations that are a bit difficult to parse in the Braves, Cubs and Dodgers (21:30).

It wouldn't be a baseball conversation a discussion of Vlad Gerrero, Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays and where he's being drafted in relation to his value (30:35). The guys move to the NL East to chat about two oft-injured pitchers in Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets and Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals (34:00).

Scott wraps up the show with his draft of the week and he tosses it to Fred's homeland with a draft of all things Canadian: hockey, apologizing and Rush (36:25).

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Auction strategy, the Colorado Rockies and the Cubs and Astros pitching staffs with The Athletic's Gene McCaffrey Mar 18, 2019

Show notes

The Athletic's Gene McCaffrey joins Scott Pianowski this week on the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Podcast coming out of their Tout Wars mixed league auction draft over the weekend. They start the episode off with some general auction strategy (0:30) and how it pertains to pitchers like Max Scherzer and Jacob DeGrom (3:50).

Also on the show this week:

- The differences between fly ball pitchers and ground ball pitchers (8:10)

- Breaking down the 2019 Colorado Rockies (9:55)

- A deeper look at the Chicago Cubs starting rotation (13:55)

- Quick thoughts on Nathan Eovaldi, Shawn Armstrong, Dellin Betances & Kirby Yates (16:30)

- An update on Vlad Guerrero, Jr. and how he compares to Miguel Cabrera (22:45)

- What to expect from Andrew McCutchen (26:35)

- Jesús Aguilar and the 1B market (28:00)

- Analyzing Gerrit Cole and the Houston Astros pitching staff (30:15)

Scott wraps up the show asking Gene to draft his five most overrated musicians of all time (33:30). Bring some sunscreen because there are some hot takes.

Please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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Starting pitcher deep-dive: injuries, strategies and questions galore Mar 11, 2019

Show notes

As April draws near, the list of players who wont be ready for the start of the season seems longer and longer. Clayton Kershaw is very unlikely to make his customary opening day start and on Monday, the Braves confirmed Mike Foltynewicz won't be ready by opening day either. Meanwhile, starting pitchers in general are playing fewer innings overall, which inspired Scott Pianowski and his guest Dalton Del Don this week to dive heavily into some overall pitching strategy for the 2019 fantasy season.

First they start with the recent news that 3B Vlad Guerrero, Jr. is expected to miss at least three weeks with an oblique strain and whether it means anything considering he was not expected to be promoted it to the majors for a number of weeks anyways (2:10).

They also discuss OF Adam Jones signing with the Arizona Diamondbacks over the weekend (6:00) and the aforementioned injury to Braves SP Mike Foltynewicz (7:00).

For the majority of the episode, Scott and Dalton discuss a few different strategies for drafting starting pitchers, how the position compares to the running back position in fantasy football and some bargains and fades in the field (8:30).

Finally, Scott wraps up the show by asking Dalton to participate in a draft of the best TV shows ever made (35:00).

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Bryce Harper a Phillie, what to do with Vlad, Jr. and exploring closers and stolen bases Mar 04, 2019

Show notes

The Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Podcast is finally here and Bryce Harper is finally a Phillie. The 2019 MLB season may now commence.

Scott Pianowski is joined by Yahoo Sports' Andy Behrens to discuss what the Philadelphia lineup might look like with the addition of Harper and where he should be drafted now that the uncertainty of where he might play has disappeared (1:50).

The guys talk about Blue Jays 3B Vlad Guerrero, Jr., when fantasy owners should draft the prospect and compare him to a young Kris Bryant (8:30).

Next, Scott and Andy dissect a pair of fringe players in the Minnesota Twins' Byron Buxton and Miguel Sanó and their overall strategies on drafting high ceiling/no floor players (15:40).

They chat about the Royals' Aldaberto Mondesí, the Orioles' Jonathan Villar and finding stolen bases in a league where steals are on the decline (19:25). Also, as teams move further away from a designated closer role, Scott and Andy strategize about whether to spend high draft capital on the likes of Kenley Jansen, David Robertson, Blake Treinen or Kirby Yates (27:20).

Finally, they wrap up the show with the first of many drafts. Some weeks, Scott and his guest will be drafting people or things sports-related. Many other weeks, they will not. This week, they draft players, uniforms, announcers and all things related to baseball in the city of Chicago: early Sammy Sosa, alcohol and a very NSFW rant from Cubs manager Lee Elia.

We’ll be here every Monday through the baseball season, so please remember to rate, review and subscribe on your podcast provider of choice and send us your questions for future episodes on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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The Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Podcast premieres March 4th Feb 15, 2019

Show notes

Human sports encyclopedia and Yahoo fantasy expert Scott Pianowski hosts The Yahoo Fantasy Baseball Podcast, premiering on Monday, March 4th. Scott will be joined by Yahoo Sports' Andy Behrens and Dalton Del Don, plus a rotating cast of experts and friends from all round the world of fantasy baseball.

Subscribe now to download the first episode when it premieres on March 4th and catch new episodes with Scott and the crew every Monday.

While you're at it, there's still plenty of time to join a league or create a new league for you and your friends at Yahoo Fantasy. Also, stay up to date with the latest fantasy news and coverage from Yahoo Sports on Twitter @YahooFantasy.

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