Waiver Wire Adds from the Weekend! Royce Lewis, Lars Nootbaar & More! (06/08 Fantasy Baseball Pdocast)
9m 49s
The transcription begins with a BetMGM advertisement promoting its NHL sports betting services for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, targeting Canadian hockey fans with various bet types and app improvements. It then transitions into a fantasy baseball podcast segment hosted by Chris Towers and another analyst. They discuss standout pitchers from the weekend, focusing on Roki Sasaki and Reed Dehrmers. Sasaki has revamped his pitch mix, adding a slider and splitter, and has seen a velocity uptick, making him an exciting addition. Dehrmers has a strong expected ERA but a career trend of underperforming, leading to skepticism. The analysts rank four pitchers: Jared Jones first, followed by Sasaki, Dehrmers, and Gage Jump, with Jones’ reliable fastball giving him the edge. For hitters, Royce Lewis and Nuelvi Marte are compared; Lewis has more consistent playing time and added positional eligibility, while Marte has a better skill set but fewer starts. Lars Nootbaar is also highlighted as a low-rostered outfield option due to past injuries. Finally, closers Alex Lang and Grant Taylor are evaluated: Lang has saves but in non-traditional situations, while Taylor is a superior pitcher with strikeout ability and potential for more saves if Anthony Dominguez is traded. The segment concludes with a promotion for the full fantasy baseball podcast.
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Betemgm operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. Carpalakt, naizen paras ystävä. Carpalakt Carpalaravintolisat, Liokastin Gailin, ja intiimipesunesten löydet optekin intiimihylystä. Weaverware ads from the weekend. Up next on fantasy baseball today, Express. Welcome into FBTC's press on Monday June 8th. I am for example joined by Chris Towers and let's go over to the top. We'll start with two pictures only available in a few leagues, but man, we got to talk about them. Roki Sasaki and Reed Dehrmers. They went up against each other this weekend and they were both awesome. Sasaki seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. He's been amazing over his last four starts. Reed Dehrmers six shutout innings six strikeouts 14 whiffs on 91 pitches. Chris, what have you seen from these two and who do you prefer Roki Sasaki or Reed Dehrmers? I think the likelyest outcome is Reed Dehrmers won't be better than Roki Sasaki, but if you're asking who I would like to add as a priority this week, I would prioritize Roki Sasaki and part of that is just we've been here before with Reed Dehrmers and it's hard to shake that and maybe that's look I generally think you should not worry so much about the players name. You should worry about the profile and Reed Dehrmers profile looks really good. 291-5, 292-XERA. When those two things agree, you should have a lot of confidence that that's who they'll be moving forward. The problem is this is a guy who has underperformed his expected ERA, his FIP, all the peripherals by about the record as a run over the course of nearly 600 innings in his career, which is not a definitive sample size, but it's big enough to suggest that there's something, you know, whether it's pitching with runners on base pitching out of the stretch. There's something about Reed Dehrmers that just doesn't quite fit in our schema. So I'm a little more willing to be skeptical of him, even if I do think he should be basically 100% rostered after six-shot head innings against Dodgers. He had a 14-strike out game a couple of starts ago. A lot to like about Reed Dehrmers, but Roki Sasaki, this is just a brand new version of him and then I think that's what's most exciting, at least from A, let's see what happens here standpoint because he has completely remade himself in the offseason. He got rid of the sweeper that he threw last year, started throwing a slider that's a little more of a gyro shape. Then around the late part of April, he stops throwing his fork ball exclusively. He starts throwing a harder splitter and the softer fork ball of a sudden he's got two breaking balls or two off-speed pitches that he can throw for strikes, throw for whiffs. The splitter gives him a pitch he can throw in any count. Then over the last couple of starts, the velocity's ticked up, 98.3 miles per hour in this one. He got a lot of whiffs with the foreseemer and the previous start to this one. He got a lot of whiffs with the slider and splitter in this one. It's all starting to come together in a really interesting way for Roki Sasaki. Now, if three starts from now, he's averaging 96 miles per hour with his fast ball, I wouldn't be surprised and I also would be a lot less excited because he probably needs the elite velocity to have the fast ball work. But where he's at right now with Roki Sasaki, I think there's a lot to be excited about and I think we should take the possibility that he's figured it out very seriously. Let me add two more pictures to this mix. Jared Jones, who returned recently from injury with the pirates and Gage Jump, who's looked really good with the athletic so far. How would you rank those four? Jared Jones, Sasaki, Depp Merz and Gage Jump. I think that would be the order. So, Jones Sasaki, Depp Merz, Jump. But I like all four of them. If you wanted to put Sasaki ahead of Jared Jones, I think Scott did that on the full episode of the pod. I think that would be perfectly defensible. I think it's a very similar combination of arm talent and youth, but I have a little more confidence in the fastball for Jared Jones working really well than Sasaki. So I'll give Jones the edge, but I think Jones, Sasaki, Depp Merz, really close. Jump. I actually think it's really interesting. We just haven't seen him miss bats yet. He's doing a really good job of filling up strike zone, avoiding walks. And he was like a 14k per nine guy in the minors before getting called up. So, I think there's a lot of upside here. I do think he should be rostered pretty much everywhere if you can, but the other guys are showing more tangible evidence of them figuring it out. So I'll give them the edge. Alright, let's take a quick break. We'll be back right after this. Welcome back in the FBT Express. Let's take a look at a few hitters from the weekend. Royce Lewis was recalled by the twins on Saturday. He was sent down in mid May, but he destroyed AAA pitching. He did start humble Saturday and Sunday. He's 35% rostered. Chris, who do you prefer between Lewis and Nuelvi Marte, who is recently called up? What size leagues would you be looking to add? Either of those two. I'd be looking at Marte and basically any rodo league. I think the skill sets a little more interesting for rodo, especially because we have seen Lewis run a little bit more over the past like three months, stating back to the last season, but I still don't know how much of that I expect to be part of his game. Marte, the skill sets are really interesting. He dominated AAA in a larger sample size. He's younger. I just don't know if the playing time's going to be there. He's only started two of the first four games since being recalled. They are not treating him like an everyday player still. I'm kind of surprised why I call him up if you're not going to play him every day, but that's where we're at. Whereas Lewis did start two games, won at second base, won at first base. That's an interesting wrinkle. We could add some additional eligibility for Royce Lewis if that keeps up. It seems like they really want Brooksley at third base. They're opening up shortstop for Kellen. Cole Pepper pretty soon. Royce Lewis is going to have to be on that right side of the end field and we'll take the added eligibility. I want to say, Marte, I think I'll give Royce Lewis the edge just because the playing time looks a little more secure. Welcome back to Lars Newbar. He returned on Friday. He went two for six with a run and an RBI. He had a pinch hit home run on Saturday. He did start two of three games this weekend. I also saw that the Cardinals just optioned Victor Scott down to the miners. I think that will open up a little bit more playing time in their outfield as well. Chris, I think in all five outfielder leagues, it's kind of hard to find names right now. I think Lars Newbar has always been pretty interesting. I think he's going to play quite a bit as well. If you need now-fielder and some of those five outfielder leagues, I think it's a totally fine option to take a shot on. I think a lot of the interest in Newbar has died off because he's gotten a lot of hype from the fantasy community. Last year, he played 135 games and was very bad. It was a sub-700 OPS. I think only four steals, like 13 lomers. I think people look at him and say, "Well, he finally said healthy and he wasn't very good." He was playing through issues in both of his heels that ultimately required surgery. That's why he missed the first two months of this season. I think you could look at him and say he wasn't healthy last year. Maybe he's healthy now and can figure it out. It's not. I'm not saying I think it's the most likely outcome, but it's at least possible. Like you said, it's kind of hard to find help in the outfield right now. I'll take it from Lars Newbar. Only 13% roster. That feels way too low. Let's wrap up with a few closers here, relievers, potential closers, I guess. For the Royals, Alex Lang picked up another save on Saturday. He picked up saves on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday this week for the Royals. But they weren't traditional saves. The Royals took the lead in the ninth inning in each of those save opportunities. So not the most traditional saves. Then on Sunday, Lucas Erseg picked up another save, but he looked shaky once again there for the Royals. Then for the White Sox, Grant Taylor picked up a save on Saturday. He struck out the side against the Phillies. So Anthony Dominguez seemingly should have been available, but they went to Grant Taylor instead. If you're chasing saves, who would you prefer to take a shot on Alex Lang or Grant Taylor? It feels like Alex Lang is more likely to get his team's next save. But I don't think he's especially likely just because of the weird circumstances that you mentioned. They were not leading heading into the ninth inning in any of his three saves. And so is that, is that, I'll review this guy as our closer or is that we were viewing him as the bridge to the next guy? I genuinely have no idea how to approach that. But the fact that they went back to Lucas Erseg for a save on Sunday suggests he's still the preferred guy, but gave up a run, had the, I think the go ahead run on second base or the tying run on second base, the go ahead run on first, bad at ball to the warning track.
track out and left field to end the game. He's not good at it. He's not good at it. He's certainly not pitching well right now. I think is the definite way to say it. So I wouldn't surprise me if Alex Lang got the next save, but I think Grant Taylor is a much better pitcher. And so if you're not specifically just trying to max my saves, then you can just say, hey, Grant Taylor, you're going to get a bunch of strikeouts, you pitch his multi-anings occasionally. You're going to get good ratios, all that stuff. And you'll get the occasional save. And if something happens to Mr. Anthony Manga as like he gets traded at the deadline, like I expect to happen, then I think Grant Taylor could be a dynamite fantasy closer in the second half. So all other things being equal, I would prefer to target Grant Taylor unless I'm absolutely desperate for saves. And even then, I'm not sure Alex Lang's a great bet for them. All right, for more extensive fantasy baseball coverage, listen to our full-length podcast, Create a CV baseball today on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or Anyworld's Podcasts found. Thanks for listening to Fantasy Vs. Ball Today Express. And we'll be back again later this week. Bye-bye. [MUSIC PLAYING]
Podcast Summary
Key Points:
BetMGM is an official NHL sports betting partner offering various bet types for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including live bets, same game parlays, player props, and futures, with enhanced app features like instant withdrawals and data insights for Canadian users.
In fantasy baseball analysis, pitchers Roki Sasaki and Reed Dehrmers are compared: Sasaki has reinvented his pitch arsenal with a new slider and splitter, showing increased velocity and whiffs, while Dehrmers has a strong profile but a history of underperforming peripherals, making Sasaki the preferred add.
A ranking of four pitchers (Jared Jones, Roki Sasaki, Reed Dehrmers, Gage Jump) is provided, with Jones leading due to fastball confidence, followed closely by Sasaki, then Dehrmers, and Jump noted for upside but less tangible results.
Hitters Royce Lewis and Nuelvi Marte are evaluated
For closers, Alex Lang and Grant Taylor are discussed
Summary:
The transcription begins with a BetMGM advertisement promoting its NHL sports betting services for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, targeting Canadian hockey fans with various bet types and app improvements. It then transitions into a fantasy baseball podcast segment hosted by Chris Towers and another analyst. They discuss standout pitchers from the weekend, focusing on Roki Sasaki and Reed Dehrmers.
Sasaki has revamped his pitch mix, adding a slider and splitter, and has seen a velocity uptick, making him an exciting addition. Dehrmers has a strong expected ERA but a career trend of underperforming, leading to skepticism. The analysts rank four pitchers: Jared Jones first, followed by Sasaki, Dehrmers, and Gage Jump, with Jones’ reliable fastball giving him the edge.
For hitters, Royce Lewis and Nuelvi Marte are compared; Lewis has more consistent playing time and added positional eligibility, while Marte has a better skill set but fewer starts. Lars Nootbaar is also highlighted as a low-rostered outfield option due to past injuries. Finally, closers Alex Lang and Grant Taylor are evaluated: Lang has saves but in non-traditional situations, while Taylor is a superior pitcher with strikeout ability and potential for more saves if Anthony Dominguez is traded.
The segment concludes with a promotion for the full fantasy baseball podcast.
FAQs
Betemgm is an official sports betting partner of the NHL, offering live bets, same game parlays, player props, and futures on the 2026 Stanley Cup champion for hockey fans in Canada.
The Betemgm app now includes instant withdrawals, data insights, and a brand new reward program.
Betemgm is available in Ontario only for those 19 and older, and it operates under an agreement with iGaming Ontario.
Roki Sasaki and Reed Dehrmers are pitchers discussed in the fantasy baseball segment, with Sasaki showing improved velocity and new pitches, and Dehrmers having a strong profile but a history of underperforming peripherals.
The recommended order is Jared Jones, Roki Sasaki, Reed Dehrmers, and Gage Jump, though Sasaki could be ranked ahead of Jones based on recent performance.
Royce Lewis is preferred due to more secure playing time, as he started multiple games since his recall, while Nuelvi Marte has only started a few games despite being called up.
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