Top Prospects to Stash! Joshua Baez's Monster Game! (6/17 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Joshua Baez just had one of the best minor league games you will ever see. Let's talk about it on fantasy baseball today express. What's been to FB T express on Wednesday June 17th? I am Frank Sample join by Scott White and let's begin with five prospects on the periphery. These are five different players that are making some noise as of late. And we have Charlie Condon of the Rockies, Lazaro Montess of the Mariners. We have Eli Willitz with the Nationals Josiah Hartchorn of the Cubs and Owen Ares of the Cubs. How about two cubbies on the list Scott? What do we have in this group? Yeah, this is probably a higher profile list than we usually get in the five on the periphery, but they're all worth discussing for how they perform to recently. Charlie Condon, you may remember if you follow this show weekly, he was on the five on the verge for several weeks early in the year, and then he cooled away off way off. And so he fell out of it. Well, he's heating up again six home runs in his last eight games, batting 264 now with a 9/11 OPS overall still reaching base at a good clip, doesn't chase at all. Knows the difference between balls and strikes and eggs of velocities are pretty good for Charlie Condon. So there's a lot to like here for a player who could be on the verge in some situations, but I don't really see an opening for him in the Rockies lineup right now with cold care recently getting called up. They're players, you know, he can play some outfield. He can play first base. Obviously that's his primary position, but TJ Rumpfield told you enough first base well enough. And they got, they got a full outfield too. So an injury could change that, especially with the way Charlie Condon's performing, but for now I'm not ready to put him back in the five on the verge. Let's see here. We have Lazarus Montez, as you said, of the Mariners. Now I've been hot and cold with him as a prospect for the past several years now. I felt like he wasn't getting enough respect in the lower minors. And then once he started to climb into the upper minors, maybe it was getting a little too much respect. And it seemed like maybe it was coming to a head this year at AA. He had finally reached a level where he was just too strike out prone to be a real standout anymore. But he's picked it up here in June, betting 346 with eight home runs. Still has a 28% strikeout rate overall against AA pitching. So that's that's reason for concern. But Lazarus Montez can hit for power. There's no doubting that and the way it's hottest. He's been recently. I think he's looking at a promotion to triple A sooner than later. And we'll see if he's able to pass that test. Eli Willitz, the number one pick in last year's draft time to check in on what he's doing because it's pretty awesome. He recently moved up to high A. And in six games there already has four home runs and four stole the bases. So yeah, things are going pretty well. More walks than strike outs as well in those six games at high A 33 stolen bases on the season 10 home runs. Performing like you'd want a first overall pick to perform. But here's the kicker Eli Willitz is still only 18 years old. And again, he's doing that now at high A. That is an aggressive promotion for a player that young and he's killing it. He's not struggling in the least. So definitely, definitely someone who may be in the discussion for top overall prospect of baseball soon with later. Joshua, not Joshua, Josiah Hartshorn. We'll talk about it. Joshua soon enough. But Josiah Hartshorn of the Cubs, he was just part of this group last week. I was singing his praises. But all he's done since then last eight games for Josiah Hartshorn. And 448 with five home runs. Part of what I liked about him is, you know, he's doing this at high A. Now as a 19 year old himself, not that much older than Eli Willitz. Same level. There were thought to be hit tool concerns coming in. But the plate discipline looks great for Josiah Hartshorn and the power is incredible. He has been one of the biggest risers among prospects this year. I think if Josiah Hartshorn is still out there in your dynasty league, it's time to move on him now because he's going to be a consensus top 100 guy. I think moving forward with the kind of with the kind of production he's had there in a ball this year. And then Owen Ayers, the other Cubs prospect, you thought Hartshorn was hot. Ayers last 11 games, 560 A batting average, four home runs, 10 doubles in 11 games. For the season, he is batting 326 with 17 home runs in an 1117 OPS. Owen Ayers killing it at double A. He's 25 years old. So it's hard to know if he's just beating up on younger or less advanced competition. And that's why the numbers are so ridiculous. He hits the ball hard genuinely. He's also a really good defender for a catcher, great arm, especially. So there's motivation to get him to the majors just on that. If he continues to hit like this, you know, obviously he's got to get to triple A before it gets to majors. Cubs are kind of loaded with catchers as it is. But Owen Ayers, Ayrs despite his advanced age 25, I think it's somebody to pay attention to. All right. Let's take a quick break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back FBT Express. And next up, we have the five prospects on the verge. These are the names that you could look to stash right now. And number five, I believe he's been number five for like three of these in a row, maybe four. Yo, Honda, Morales of the nationals. Yes. Yes, he is. He kind of slumped here and just June a little bit. The numbers have gone down. He's still batting 330 with a 982 OPS overall. He's basically been the your now for res of triple A. Yo, Honda, Morales. And, you know, eggs of velocities as high as you could ask for clearly deserving of a major league opportunity. Curtis Meade, taking over a third base for the nationals was kind of blocking him, blocking Morales. But Meade slowed down a lot in June too and isn't even playing every day for the nationals. So I think Morales, we could see him folded into the mix here real soon. Number four on this list is River Ryan from the Dodgers. We're waiting for Eric Lauer to have one of these or two of these blow up type starts. But he did put together another quality start last time out. So we continue to wait for River Ryan. Yeah. And that's fine. I mean, even if it's not Eric Lauer that opens up the spot for him, especially since the Dodgers have to sustain a six man rotation. You know how often pitchers get hurt. River Ryan's next in line. He's missing a ton of bats at AAA. He was ready for the majors in 2024 when he got called up and performed well. Just spent the last couple of years recovering from Tommy John. He looks ready to go again. And there'll be a lot of enthusiasm for River Ryan given a supporting cast when he gets called up. Number three on this list is Carson Milbrandt of the Marlins. We've talked a lot about him over the past month. And on the day, the night of recording, Tyler Phillips just got destroyed in the Marlins rotation. So perhaps one step closer here. Yeah, they've been going with a lot of bullpen games. I mean, to the point that, you know, I send my bullpen games. Let's call them because in certain cases, it seems like they're just stretching out relief pitchers and kind of making do with them as starters. And that's how they've addressed their rotation shortfall. But as you pointed out, diminishing returns, I would say. And Carson Milbrandt just waiting there at AAA. So his first start at AAA as we talked about last time, he had just one strike out in six innings and it was like, "Yeah, what's going on there?" K back, second start at AAA, seven strike outs at five innings. That's more like it. Obviously, it's, you know, most of his success this year, Milbrandt has come at AA. But it won't. Like once you master AA like that, it's a, it's a, it's a short climb to the majors, particularly if the need is there. Overall, this season between the two stops, Milbrandt has a 124, Yara, and 12.1, Cape R9. Number two on this list remains at Luis Lara of the Brewers. And I noticed South Freelix starting to lose some playing time. So another one, I think we're getting a little bit closer here. Yeah, what's hurting Lara's chances, he's also slowed down in June 167, batting average for the month. But overall, still slashing 322, 435. I don't think I wrote down the slugging here, but it's, it's the low 400s. 20 stolen bases on the year, more walks than strike outs. Just signed that seven year, $31 million deal. Great defender. So like the Brewers need an outfield upgrade. He's waiting there. He's cost controlled. I think it's going to happen sooner than later. And the real reason you're here, the number one prospect on the verge, the top name to stash right now, Joshua Baez, from the Cardinals who on Tuesday night, not one, not two, not three, four homers in the same game with seven RBI. Scott, I think he is just breaking that door down and he is just about ready for the Cardinals. Yeah, at this point, he has to be acknowledged. It has to be acknowledged, especially since the Cardinals just last week, they kind of initiated this youth movement, turned the page on a couple of the deadbeats in their line-up, brought up Blaze Jordan, brought up Jimmy Crooks, and Joshua Baez could be next after this kind of performance for Homer game that gives him 12 home runs in his last 18 games. And the power has been there all year. The reason why I've hesitated to put Joshua Baez in my five on the verge is because his strike-out rate has blown up again this year, dropped down to 21% last year. That was the key to the breakthrough. It's back up to 31% this year, close to where it was in the lower minors when he wasn't very good. And that does concern me. That's a high strike-out rate for anybody. But in that 18 game stretch with the 12 home runs, it's down to 24% at least, so maybe he's trending the right direction. And the bottom line is there's just too much power here to ignore despite with the strike-out. Sorry, I think Joshua Baez's chance is coming very soon. All right, for more extensive Fantasy Baseball coverage, listen to our full-length podcast, Fantasy Baseball Today on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or anywhere else podcasts are found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Baseball today, express, and we'll be back again later this week. Bye-bye! [Music] Paramount Podcasts.