RotoWire Fantasy Baseball Podcast

Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson review five overachieving pitching staffs, five underachieving pitching staffs, and discuss injuries to Bryce Harper and Nick Kurtz.---00:00 Fred Pod 5-2700:30 Welcome01:00 Bryce Harper03:30 Nick Kurtz to the IL06:00 Overachieving Pitching Staffs06:30 1. Mets13:50 2. Royals18:40 3. Tigers24:50 4. Giants29:35 5. Rangers33:55 BlueWire34:00 Underachieving Pitching Staffs34:20 1. Orioles40:20 2. Marlins44:45 3. D-backs47:45 4. Dodgers51:00 5. Brewers 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 wrap up the weekend in baseball, talking Phillies A's and Rays, and then jump into a busy week in FAAB, highlighted by aggressive bidding for Red Sox rookie, Marcelo Mayer. Follow us on Twitter / X: Jeff_Erickson I @ScottJenstad I @RotoWire 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 Jake Halusker to discuss their favorite FAAB pickups of the week.---00:00 Headlines15:00 Chase Meidroth17:15 Matt Shaw20:00 Matt Wallner21:25 Miguel Vargas25:00 Parker Meadows26:15 Nick Kurtz28:40 Daniel Palencia32:10 Hayden Birdsong35:20 Michael Lorenzen36:50 Will Warren41:10 Deep-league pitchers52:30 Deep-league hitters 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/Happy Ronald Acuna DayPickups from the RotoWire Steak League on Thursday night:5:59 Hayden Birdsong $31Daniel Palencia $10Miguel Vargas $9Slade Cecconi $7Noah Cameron $415:49 Robert Hassell $4Denzel Clarke $3Kody Clemens $3Abner Uribe $122:36 Two-Start Pitchers (Week of May 26, 2025)J.P. Sears 0Spencer Strider 4 (Todd 3)Tomoyuki Sugano 3Jameson Taillon 2 (Todd 3)Nick Martinez 2Gavin Williams 3Carson Palmquist 0Adrian Houser 1Keider Montero 0Hunter Brown 5Michael Lorenzen 3Jack Kochanowicz 1Yoshinobu Yamamoto 537:37 Ryan Weathers 4 (Todd 3)Joe Ryan 4 (Todd 5)Clay Holmes 4Ryan Yarbrough 1 (Todd 0)Ranger Suarez 3 (Todd 4)Andrew Heaney 2Randy Vasquez 1Hayden Birdsong 4 (Todd 3)Erick Fedde 3Zack Littell 3Taj Bradley 3 (Todd 2)Jacob deGrom 5Kevin Gausman 4Bowden Francis 1 (Todd 2)Mitchell Parker 1 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 Rufe to discuss every bullpen around the league, trying to figure out where the next saves will come from on the waiver wire.---00:00 Headlines14:30 Tier 1: clear closer, no worries27:20 Tier 2: clear closer, some questions42:00 Tier 3: close enough to a closer47:50 Tier 4: committee, clear #153:05 Tier 5: committee/co-closer57:20 Tier 6: Don't know, don't care 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 Alex Jensen go through the Arizona and Florida Complex Leagues to find breakout hitters, such as Rainiel Rodriguez and Tyson Lewis, before looking at which Dominican Summer League prospects have star potential, such as Yorger Bautista!00:00 Intro 01:20 Tyson Lewis 07:50 Jose Anderson 11:35 Paulino Santana, Yolfran Castillo 14:30 Kale Fountain 17:10 Alex's Arizona Complex League Guys 33:30 Rainiel Rodriguez 38:20 Yairo Padilla 40:50 Stiven Martinez, Jose Dickson 42:40 Eduardo Beltre, Eduardo Florentino 46:00 Alex's Florida Complex League Guys 54:20 Dominican Summer League Watch List 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. 

Sparked by the emergence of Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Cubs lead the list of overachieving offenses a quarter of the way through the season. Fred Zinkie and Jeff Erickson evaluate the sustainability of these overachievers, and review the recent Yahoo Friends & Family draft.---00:00 Fred Pod 5-2000:30 Welcome01:00 Y! Friends & Family Draft03:00 Fred’s Team14:00 Geraldo Perdomo, Nate Eovaldi15:45 Royce Lewis18:30 Jeff’s Recency Bias Team21:30 Timing the Closer Market24:30 BlueWire25:00 Overachieving Offenses25:10 1. Cubs; 277 R, 117 wRC+27:45 2. Tigers 257 R, 116 wRC+33:30 3. Cardinals 235 R, 110 wRC+40:20 4. Giants 223 R, 96 wRC+45:30 5. Athletics 202 R, 106 wRC+50:45 6. Mariners 221 R, 115 wRC+57:00 Sandy Alcantara1:00:00 Underachieving Offenses1:00:10 1. Orioles1:07:45 2. Rockies 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. 

Scott Jenstad review the weekly FAAB run in a tricky prospect week. How much did your league bid on Hayden Birdsong, Jordan Lawlar, Dalton Rushing and Moises Ballesteros? Who did you pivot to if you didn't add those prospects?---00:00 MLB Pod 5-18-2500:30 Week 5 Preview01:15 Twins finally lost a game after 13 in a row – Went from 13-20 to 26-20!03:00 Six teams in the AL over .540 winning % - 4 of them in the Central04:30 AL East has one team over .500 – Where the heck does Balt go from here? Lost 6 in a row.Reds sweep Guardians10:50 Schedule Notes11:00 7 Gamers: AL - Boston, Balt, Cleve, Det, A’s, Angels, Hou11:10 NL: Phillies, Pirates, Brewers, Rockies11:20 Balt, Bos and Hou facing 7 RHP.Nice schedules:11:30 Phillies monster, 4 @ Col, 3 @ A’s12:00 Nick Kurtz13:00 A’s: 7 home, 4 LAA, 3 Philly (Also get 7 home in 2 weeks)15:00 Red Sox 7 home: 3 NYM, 4 Balt15:45 Brewers: 3 Balt, 4 @ Pitt16:00 Angels: 4 @ A’s, 3 Miami17:50 Rockies – Home 7: 4 Philly, 3 NYY18:13 BlueWire18:20 News and notes18:25 Jose Alvarado – 80 Game PED Suspension19:30 Cole Ragans – 15 Day IL with left groin tightness; Seth Lugo – 15Day IL with middle finger inflammation.19:45 Xavier Edwards - 10 Day Il with a mid-back strain.20:15 Evan Carter – 10 Day Il with right quad strain; Tyler O’Neill – 10 Day IL with left shoulder impingement20:50 Spencer Strider – Liked to return to rotation Tuesday22:30 Hayden Wesneski – Having TJS22:45 Chandler Simpson – Missed Sunday with sore hand23:05 Brandon Woodruff – New rehab assignment starting Wednesday23:15 George Kirby – Went 64 pitchers in rehab assignment Saturday.23:30 Justin Martinez – On rehab and nearing return.24:15 Chris Martin – Removed Sunday with right shoulder discomfort25:00 Pitcher FAAB25:10 Starters25:15 Ryan Weathers (37% ME, 57% 12)28:25 Hayden Birdsong (84% ME, 47% 12)32:00 Zebby Matthews (97% ME, but 13% 12 – pitched badly Sunday)34:45 Clayton Kershaw36:50 Logan Henderson (93% ME, 18% 12)39:15 Mick Abel (Not available in NFBC – great game Sunday)40:50 Noah Cameron; Slade Cecconi; Hunter Dobbins (77% ME); JT Ginn (30% - LAA, Phil)42:40 Yu Darvish stash44:30 Relievers44:40 Jordan Romano (91% ME, 29% 12)45:30 Luis Mey46:40 Cubs48:15 Hitter FAAB49:00 Dalton Rushing (Playing Time Issues)53:30 Jordan Lawlar (Playing Time Issues)59:30 Moises Ballesteros (Big prospect, but PT issues)1:00:30 Will Benson1:05:40 Matthew Lugo1:08:00 Otto Lopez1:10:00 Player Talk1:10:20 My god, Pete Crow-Armstrong! (.290, 12/14, 2 more extra base hits Sunday, 27 on the year) 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 goes over his top waiver wire recommendations of the week.---00:00 Headlines10:45 Ryan Weathers13:20 Zebby Matthews16:00 Clayton Kershaw18:20 Jordan Romano20:15 Spencer Horwitz22:05 Jordan Lawlar24:35 Dalton Rushing26:30 Trevor Larnach29:00 Gavin Sheets31:25 Deep-League Pitchers45:20 Deep-League Hitters 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/Dalton Rushing has his first big-league hitsPickups from the RotoWire Steak League on Thursday night:Dalton Rushing $125:25 Brett Baty $11Stephen Kolek $11Dennis Santana $9Drake Baldwin $6Addison Barger $5Daysbel Hernandez $5Lenyn Sosa $3Yimi Garcia $3Pierce Johnson $120:27 Two-Start Pitchers (Week of May 19, 2025)Brandon Pfaadt 2 (Todd 3)J.T. Ginn 0Oswaldo Bido 1Strider Strider 4Dean Kremer 0Tomoyuki Sugano 228:27 Hunter Dobbins 3 (Todd 2)Walker Buehler 2Ben Brown 1 (Todd 2)Nick Lodolo 3Logan Allen 1Gavin Williams 3 (Todd 2)Kyle Freeland 0Antonio Senzatela 0Davis Martin 0Tarik Skubal 5Framber Valdez 5Kris Bubic 4Jose Soriano 2 (Todd 1)Kyle Hendricks 0Edward Cabrera 0Quinn Priester 0Bailey Ober 5Kodai Senga 5 (Todd 4)Will Warren 3 (Todd 2)Jesus Luzardo 4 (Todd 5)49:00 Aaron Nola 1 (Todd 2)Mitch Keller 2 (Todd 3)Bailey Falter 1Dylan Cease 4Luis Castillo 5Robbie Ray 4 (Todd 5)Erik Fedde 2Ryan Pepiot 4 (Todd 3)Patrick Corbin 0Chris Bassitt 3Mitchell Parker 0 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.