RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Podcast

Scott Jenstad and Jeff Erickson break down the weekend news and the FAAB results of the week. --- 00:00 MLB Pod 4-27-25 00:30 Player Talk / Week 5 Preview 01:00 Aaron Judge is just ridiculous (.432 / .520 / .792 – 270 wRC+) 05:00 Taylor Ward (Worst OBP in baseball at .215) 09:30 Marcus Semien (.179 with 2 HR / 1 SB – Keep playing him?) 12:20 How good is Hunter Brown? 14:40 Best winning % in the AL? Seattle Mariners – 6 wins in a row. 17:20 NL West is wild, Dodgers 7 Wins in a row, Padres 5 wins in a row. 19:10 7 Gamers: AL: Royals, White Sox; NL: Dodgers, DBacks, Braves, Reds 19:40 Rockies: Home all week: 3 Det, 3 SD 20:20 Padres: 3 @ NYY, 3 @ Col; Braves: 4 v Cin, 3 @ Pitt; Dodgers: 3 @ Mia, 4 @ AZ 20:50 News and notes 21:00 Triston Casas – Likely out for the year with a ruptured patellar tendon 21:55 Shota Imanaga – Left early Sunday, left hamstring strain while covering first. 23:50 Corbin Burnes – Missing start Monday with right shoulder inflammation – Dbacks hope no IL. 24:25 Tommy Edman – 10 Day IL with an ankle injury. 25:20 Yordan Alvarez – Missed the weekend with inflammation in right hand, no imaging needed 25:40 Anthony Volpe – Sat Sunday after feeling pop in shoulder, but x-rays / MRI clean 26:15 - Isiah Kiner-Falefa – IL with a right hammy strain; Otto Lopez – 10 Day IL with right ankle sprain 26:30 Clarke Schmidt – Scratched Saturday with left side soreness, scheduled to now start Tuesday 27:10 Jackson Merrill – Trending towards return on Monday; Jake Cronenworth – Could return next weekend 31:50 Pitcher FAAB 32:00 Starters 32:15 Tony Gonsolin 35:20 Gunnar Hoglund 37:00 A.J. Smith-Shawver 39:30 Ben Casparius (70% ME) 41:50 Lance McCullers, Jr (Not available in most leagues) 43:00 Ryan Weathers 45:00 Michael Soroka 46:00 Hunter Dobbins 47:00 Logan Evans 47:30 Relievers 48:15 Evan Phillips 49:30 Shelby Miller / Kevin Ginkel 52:00 Hitter FAAB 52:15 Coby Mayo & Hyeseong Kim 53:35 Javier Baez (46% ME); Jeff McNeil (65% ME); Miguel Vargas (90% ME, 11% 12) 57:30 Brandon Marsh (44% ME) 1:00:00 Others - Daniel Schneeman; JP Crawford (58% ME); Chase Meidroth (51% ME); Zach Dezenzo (54% ME); Colt Ketih (42% ME); Javier Sanoja; Alexander Canario; Jorbit Vivas; Eli White; Addison Barger; Jhonkeny Noel; Zack Gelof; Jordan Lawlar Stash? (39% ME); Matt Shaw? (81% ME, 21% 12); Connor Wong (75% ME, 26% 12) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman and Ryan Boyer go over their top waiver pickups of the week. --- --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

0:00 Intro/Rockies have won back-to-back games, don’t let them get hot Pickups from the RotoWire Steak League on Thursday night: 19:03 Two-Start Pitchers (Week of May 5, 2025) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman is joined by Ryan Bloomfield of BaseballHQ to discuss a group of hitters who have improved in multiple different underlying metrics at once. --- 00:00 Intro 02:00 Starting pitcher news 08:20 Injury news 16:05 Skillset 1, early hitters 35:00 Skillset 1, late hitters 53:10 Skillset 2, early hitters 58:35 Skillset 2, late hitters --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

James Anderson and Chris Welsh preview the rookie-level complex leagues that are about to get underway in Arizona, Florida and the Dominican Republic! Players discussed: Yolfran Castillo JD Dix Emil Morlaes Kale Fountain Paulino Santana Jhonny Level Yairo Padilla Rainiel Rodriguez Luke Dickerson Josuar De Jesus Yorger Bautista Elian Pena + Many more! Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson break down 10 polarizing closing situations, highlighted by Devin Williams losing the closer's job in New York. --- 00:00 Fred Pod 4-29 00:30 Welcome 01:00 10 Polarizing Closers 01:30 Early Closers Draft Mistakes? 03:45 Devin Williams 10:15 Emmanuel Clase 15:10 Raisel Iglesias 17:30 Vivid Seats 18:30 Edwin Diaz 21:30 Ryan Helsley 25:00 Carlos Estevez 27:40 Ryan Walker / Camilo Doval 31:38 BlueWire 31:55 David Bednar / Dennis Santana 34:20 Will Vest / Tommy Kahnle 37:30 Luke Jackson 43:30 Remaining Team-by-Team Rapid Fire 43:45 NL East - Phillies, Nationals, Marlins 45:45 AL East - Blue Jays, Red Sox, Orioles, Rays 50:45 NL Central - Cubs, Reds, Brewers 56:00 AL Central - Twins, White Sox 59:20 NL West - Dodgers, Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies 1:03:10 AL West - Mariners, Athletics, Astros, Angels --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Jeff Erickson and Scott Jenstad discuss the weekend in baseball and then jump into all the adds and drops in a busy week in FAAB, including massive bidding on Nick Kurtz and Agustin Ramirez. They also discuss all the shifting closing situations across the league and try and figure who to add in each one and also talk Orioles, Astros, Nick Lodolo, Tyler Glasnow and a whole lot more. Follow us on Twitter / X: @Jeff_Erickson I @ScottJenstad I @RotoWire Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman and guest Marty Tallman go over their top waiver pickups of the week. --- 00:00 Headlines 16:30 Nick Kurtz 22:15 Agustin Ramirez 25:25 Rhys Hoskins 28:50 Ranger Suarez 31:30 Noelvi Marte 35:30 Tony Gonsolin 37:35 Andrew Vaughn 39:20 Porter Hodge 41:45 Connor Norby 43:20 Cade Smith 47:00 Josh Smith 50:00 Deep-league pitchers 1:02:30 Deep-league hitters --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! 0:00 Intro/Night of returns Pickups from the RotoWire Steak League on Thursday night: 20:25 Two-Start Pitchers (Week of April 28, 2025) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman is joined by Scott Chu of Pitcher List to discuss a handful of struggling hitters, trying to figure out which cold starts are genuinely worrying and which have presented buy-low opportunities. --- 00:00 Intro 02:15 Injured Closers 05:45 Other Headlines 20:00 Juan Soto 23:45 Gunnar Henderson 27:55 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 32:35 Julio Rodriguez 36:35 Yordan Alvarez 40:45 Trea Turner 43:00 Rafael Devers 46:40 Mid-round Cs 50:35 Mid-round 1Bs 56:15 Mid-round 2Bs 59:40 Mid-round 3Bs 1:02:40 Mid-round SSs 1:06:10 Mid-round OFs --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

James Anderson and Zac Beck talk realist breakout, buy-low targets, breakouts we're not buying, FYPD prospects on the rise, relief prospect with the most upside and much more! 01:40 Aroon Escobar 04:55 Cristian Hernandez 06:45 Spencer Jones 09:45 C.J. Kayfus 11:35 Dylan Crews 13:25 Brandon Winokur 15:15 Carson Williams 17:00 Matt Shaw 19:20 Brandon Clarke 22:40 Michael Forret/Ben Hess 25:10 Nick Kurtz/Ryan Sloan 29:50 Caleb Bonemer/Bryce Cunningham 32:25 Best Relief Pitching Prospects 38:40 Zyhir Hope 40:20 Ernesto Martinez Jr. 43:10 Otto Kemp 44:30 Ian Seymour 46:45 Noah Cameron/Jack Perkins 48:15 Gabriel Rincones 50:05 Luis Pena Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Will the real Zac Gallen please stand up? Is this version of Chris Bassitt for real? Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson discuss the news of the day and at least 10 polarizing starting pitchers. --- 00:00 Fred Zinkie 4/22 Pod 00:30 Welcome 01:30 Nick Kurtz Getting the Call 14:30 How Much FAAB do you need for five months? 24:15 Chandler Simpson 27:50 Spencer Strider to IL 31:10 Vivid Seats 32:01 BlueWire 32:15 Polarizing Pitchers 33:15 Bowden Francis 38:00 Chris Bassitt 42:30 Zac Gallen 44:10 Corbin Burnes 49:00 Brandon Pfaadt 51:15 Aaron Nola 55:30 Shota Imanaga 58:00 David Festa 1:02:00 Ben Brown 1:05:35 Casey Mize --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Jeff Erickson and Scott discuss the weekend in baseball and then jump into all the adds and drops in FAAB, including heavy action on Chandler Simpson and Caleb Durbin. They also preview Week 5, talk Cubs and Royals offenses and try and find possible pitching adds in a really scarce week in pitcher FAAB. Follow us on Twitter / X: @Jeff_Erickson I @ScottJenstad I @RotoWire. Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman and Ryan Boyer go over their top waiver pickups for a week that was full of prospect callups. --- 00:00 Headlines 15:26 Chandler Simpson 21:08 Nick Kurtz 25:29 Caleb Durbin 29:04 Edgar Quero 32:14 Austin Hays 33:47 Pavin Smith 38:19 Hayden Wesneski 39:50 Tyler Mahle 42:04 Luis L. Ortiz 45:04 David Bednar 48:55 Deep-league Pitchers 59:59 Deep-league Hitters --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product. Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! 0:00 Intro/23 mph winds blowing out at Wrigley today Pickups from the RotoWire Steak League on Thursday night: 17:48 Two-Start Pitchers (Week of April 21, 2025) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman is joined by Nick Pollack, founder of Pitcher List, to figure out which pitchers off to hot starts are genuinely breaking out and which are merely in a groove. --- 00:00 Intro 02:45 Spencer Strider 07:25 Bobby Miller 12:00 How Nick analyzes pitchers Hot starts: 21:00 Cole Ragans 26:00 Hunter Greene 28:50 Joe Ryan 32:30 Logan Webb 36:20 Shane Baz 39:55 MacKenzie Gore 42:55 Chris Bassitt 45:30 Hayden Wesneski 48:30 Jesus Luzardo Cold starts: 52:40 Jacob deGrom 57:00 Roki Sasaki --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

James Anderson welcomes on Taylor Corso and Kyle Sonntag of Prospects Live to talk about the best prospects to add in your shallow, mid and deep-sized dynasty leagues! 00:00 Intro 01:45 Yophery Rodriguez 05:40 Tommy Troy 07:05 Dasan Hill 10:10 Nolan McLean 13:45 Gabriel Rincones 16:35 Ernesto Martinez Jr. 19:55 Jonathan Santucci 21:35 Brandon Young 22:50 Austin Overn 25:30 Henry Bolte 27:30 Miguel Ullola 29:10 Khal Stephen 32:05 Kyle Karros 33:40 Anderson Brito 35:15 Ben Hess 35:45 Brandon Clarke 39:10 Bishop Letson 40:05 Matt Allan 43:20 Carlos Lagrange 45:20 Manuel Rodriguez 47:45 Asbel Gonzalez 49:00 Paul Bonzagni 50:00 A.J. Ewing 52:45 Romeo Sanabria 53:45 Yerlin Confidan 54:25 Alfonsin Rosario Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson discuss 10 hitters that are off to interesting early hitter stat lines, including Jazz Chisholm and Jacob Wilson. --- 00:00 Fred Pod 4-15 00:30 Welcome 01:45 Jacob Wilson 10:00 Gabriel Arias 12:11 BlueWire 12:15 News and Injuries: 12:30 Marcell Ozuna will miss the Jays series (hip)….. 15:15 Jays notes - Easton Lucas, George Springer seems to have avoided a major injury….Max Scherzer has a setback 18:40 Reds Moves… McLain, Hays, Diaz active Alexis Diaz won’t be the closer right away 22:15 Rooker/Kurtz 25:15 VIVID Seats 26:15 Polarizing Hitters 28:00 Jose Altuve 31:15 Jazz Chisholm Jr. 33:30 Xavier Edwards 34:45 Triston Casas 36:50 Christian Yelich 39:30 Dylan Crews 43:00 Salvador Perez 45:45 Jo Adell 48:45 Christian Walker 52:45 Marcus Semien 54:15 Nolan Arenado 57:30 Michael Toglia 1:01:15 Alec Bohm --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! (hyperlink: https://www.vividseats.com/?wsUser=948) Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Jeff Erickson and Scott Jenstad discuss a busy weekend across baseball and break down all the adds and drops in FAAB. They talk the scoreless Rockies, Jung Hoo Lee, Chris Sale and more before getting into all the popular names in FAAB this week, including Chase Dollander, Davis Festa, Zac Veen and Chase Meidroth. Follow us on Twitter / X: @Jeff_Erickson I @ScottJenstad I @RotoWire Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.

Erik Halterman and Ryan Boyer go over their top waiver wire pickups of the week. --- 00:00 Headlines 17:45 David Festa 20:30 Zebby Matthews 23:45 Landen Roupp 26:40 Justin Verlander 29:00 Nick Kurtz 30:25 Sean Murphy 33:35 Zac Veen 36:40 Matt Wallner 39:10 Dylan Moore 42:30 Geraldo Perdomo 45:25 Jesus Sanchez 48:30 Deep-league pitchers 1:00:15 Deep-league hitters --- Vivid Seats Swing into the season with MLB tickets + unbeatable rewards from Vivid Seats! Take in all the on-field action from the first pitch to the final inning with a great selection of MLB tickets. Plus, as a Vivid Seats Rewards Member, you can earn amazing rewards all year long just for buying! So, sign up today and start earning toward your next purchase. Get tickets today! Get the latest fantasy sports insights, expert analysis, and premium tools at RotoWire.com—enter promo code ROTO15 at checkout to receive 15% off any product.