The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast · InsiderBaseball

July 17, 2025 - The EV Leaderboard at the Break!

·1 hr 30 min·2 clips

O'Neill Cruz has created another tier above Judge, Ohtani, and Stanton on quality of contact.

The episode opens in a loose, conversational tone, with the hosts joking about the worst day on the sports calendar and a dog barking in the background. They mention golf before turning back to baseball analysis. From there, the discussion centers on how to read exit velocity without getting carried away by a small sample. The hosts treat the stat as a clue, not a verdict. Ben Rice becomes the main case study. They like the power, the age, and the way his pull side plays in Yankee Stadium. Catcher eligibility makes the profile even more appealing. The batting average looks ordinary on the surface. The hosts argue that the underlying numbers point to a better hitter than the box score suggests. They describe that gap as a classic example of anchor bias. They also note that since he reached A ball, he has not had a batting average under .261 at any level. Jonathan Aranda is introduced next, and the hosts admit they do not know much about him. That uncertainty becomes part of the point, because the show keeps asking what the skills actually support. Later, the discussion widens into roster strategy and pitcher trade value. The hosts warn that top arms are unusually valuable in keeper formats and hard to replace. In redraft leagues, though, they think managers should shop them because a lot of people will not fully price in that value. The episode keeps circling back to the same habit: separate noise from signal, then decide whether the market is behind the skill.

As heard by us

Contact, context, and a sane read on pitcher value make this a useful midseason listen.

This episode starts in a slightly messy All-Star-break mood, with golf talk up front before it settles into a clear look at Ben Rice. The discussion stays grounded in the numbers and keeps asking the right question: real fantasy edge, or just a hot stretch dressed up as more…

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Why you'd press play

You want a calm fantasy reset on the worst day of the sports year.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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