The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast · InsiderBaseball

June 26, 2025 - Hot POIs (Pitchers of Interest)

·1 hr 22 min·2 clips

Sonny Gray's velocity is down two and a half miles an hour over a decade, yet his 1.8 walks per nine keep him reliable.

1. The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast, in its June 26, 2025 episode "Hot POIs (Pitchers of Interest)," evaluates whether recent hot streaks from specific pitchers justify fantasy pickups. 2. Hosts Lou Blasio and Sky Dabrowski, both of Fantistics and InsideofBaseball.com, compare notes on how they build pitching staffs in three tiers: core horses, trusted skills, and the hot hand. 3. The core thesis is that pitchers can "find things" through rehab, bullpen sessions or conversations, so owners must check for real changes in walks, strikeouts and ground balls rather than just recent results. 4. Sky cautions that Jacob Mizorowski, who has allowed three hits in 16 innings and touches 102.5 mph, has never shown this control and will eventually walk "six guys in four innings," while rejecting a top-10 projection for next year after three starts. 5. On Sonny Gray, they contrast a 3.11 xFIP with a 4.00 xERA and a 3.72 ERA, noting a decade of velocity loss totaling 2.5 mph and a career-best 1.8 walks per nine in his 13th season. 6. On Clarke Schmidt, they note 20 2/3 scoreless innings across his last three starts, a 2.84 ERA against a 2.67 xERA, and a 25% hard contact rate, but question a walk rate they criticized in Mizorowski as well. 7. They also discuss the Yankees outfield and lineup logjam involving Jasson Dominguez and Trent Grisham, and the Red Sox's Rafael Devers trade, which they call a "salary dump." 8. On Christopher Sanchez, they cite a 13% swinging strike rate, an 80.6% left-on-base rate and a velocity gain of two and a half mph over two seasons, and call him a possible top-20 starter who "could be knocking on the door of an SP1." 9. For Ranger Suarez, they point to nine straight quality starts after a seven-run first outing, a 53% ground ball rate and a 9.4% swinging strike rate, with Sky arguing ground ball rate is "the most overlooked metric" because a mistake becomes a single instead of a home run. 10. Fantasy baseball players who stream and chase pitchers during the season.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Fantistics Fantasy Baseball Podcast