High Stakes Heat - Fantasy Baseball
36 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago -Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and experiences of competing in the highest levels of fantasy baseball. Listen to the guys who have done it before to learn how to win your leagues! Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/high-stakes-heat/support
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Episodes
Player Spotlights Shine Bright
January 21, 2024 11:00 - 1 hour - 93.6 MBBack to quell all of your doubts! Fantasy baseball talk for your Sunday morning... *Driveline founder and former Magic: The Gathering opponent of our boy Tony, Kyle Boddy joins the Red Sox front office. *Angels and Astros bolster their bullpens...Hader's going to close, is it StephenSZN? *Plenty of player spotlights inspired by DMs, pods, Consortium chat, and X interactions: Tyler Glasnow, Tanner Bibee, Cristopher Sanchez, Yu Darvish, Gunnar Henderson, Giancarlo Stanton, Nico Hoerner, Dar...
Extinction Got Nothin' on Us
January 13, 2024 06:23 - 1 hour - 102 MBWe heard you missed us; we're back! Don't act like you didn't... *First, the boys talk lessons learned in 2023 and what that means they are changing in the new draft season, covering: Closer strategies Being boring Don't set the mins Less dumpster-diving on catchers Jake's WHIP problems Dave is OK with injury risks?!?! Still gotta have speed *It's the "He Went to Driveline" crew; does it mean anything? Sean Manaea JP Crawford Joe Ryan Ty France Paul Goldschmidt Henry Davis Sh...
The DeadPullHitter Rob DiPietro Goes Deep
March 04, 2022 19:09 - 2 hours - 140 MBWe welcome the @deadpullhitter Rob DiPietro for a long-awaited appearance on High Stakes Heat! Rob goes deep about where he got his love of fantasy, how he's grown into a high stakes sniper, and a lot of his overarching draft prep process. We also learn a lot about Rob as a person with some deep topics of interest at the end. Strap in! *Rob's origins with his family and Strat-O-Matic *Basketball before baseball?? *What led to the Draft Champions overall title in 2020 *Following that s...
The Player Eliminator & Battle of the Pods SZN3
February 08, 2022 04:40 - 3 hours - 184 MBDave and Jake recently finished their Battle of the Podcasts league draft, presented by Zack Waxman and hosted by the NFBC. This pod is a full review of the league, looking at each team in depth (including their own) and offering strengths, weaknesses, perceived strategy, best/worst picks, and their selections to compete for the title. The draft order and represented pods for this 50 round NFBC draft & hold format league is: *1 Justin Mason, Friends with Fantasy Benefits *2 John Laghezza...
Darik Buchar on Everything NFBC
January 21, 2022 07:04 - 1 hour - 96.2 MBThe Vegas crew of Dave, Tony, and Jake are very excited to bring on the do-it-all of the National Fantasy Championship contests, Darik Buchar @dbuchar). We had a ton of fun and laughs talking shop with Darik about all things NFBC (@TheNFBC)and everything their live events can be! *A viking among cheeseheads; a kicker AND a catcher *Darik's history as an NFBC player, and how he moved to the other side of the game *A couple of hot takes *Who is the best high stakes player? Who will win t...
Cue the Hatemail, with NFBC Monster Jason Duponte
January 14, 2022 06:55 - 2 hours - 138 MBJason Duponte @papelbeast joins the guys to give the perspective of a long-time NFBC player with tons of experience at the highest of stakes! Quite a bit of extremely useful strategy in this one! *Jumping right into the deep end for $5000 *Cue the Duckboats, better than going to Disney World *Stories of the Red Sox beating Cleveland in the 2007 ALCS, much to our delight *More on why the Guardians' ownership can suck it *Mike the Mouth NYC Ultimate leagues: like a home league, only more...
2020 NFBC Main Event Champ Jim Tomony
January 07, 2022 07:03 - 2 hours - 148 MBThe boys flip the calendar to 2022 by bringing in one of the best players in the NFBC right now, and he has the hardware to prove it! 2020 Main Event overall champion Jim Tomony joins the show to explain just what goes into being a consistent winner at the highest level of fantasy baseball. *Jim's start in fantasy, and how he married the Fantasy Baseball Queen of Ann Arbor *What spurred his big win in 2020? *Why does he use song titles to name all of his squads? *12 team or 15 team leag...
Early ADP Looks for Draft Champions
December 10, 2021 08:23 - 2 hours - 130 MBDave and Jake dive into ADP for the last three weeks of NFBC Draft Champions leagues, giving you some players they think you should move up or down your draft boards. *Going too early: Kopech, Semien, Witt Jr., Franco, Gallegos, Chisholm, C Seager *Going too late: Torres, Bogaerts, Lindor, Story, Snell, Kimbrel, Rogers Jake is taking part in his first NFBC DC, which also happens to be the "Beat Razzball's Grey Albright" league. *Jake runs through his strategy going in from pi...
Manfred Can't Lock You Out of This
December 03, 2021 07:34 - 3 hours - 178 MBThe commissioner has locked out the players because he "had to," but that won't stop us from commenting on the absolute flurry of activity in MLB leading up to this dreadful day. Jake and Dave discuss the fantasy implication of tons of moves, and also laugh heartily at the teams that deserve it (we're looking at you, Guardians). *Astros resign Justin Verlander, 2y/$50mil *Cubs sign Marcus Stroman, 3y/$71mil *Dodgers resign Chris Taylor, 4y/$60mil *Max Muncy's injured elbow *Twins resig...
Crossing Streams with Michael Simione
November 19, 2021 06:43 - 1 hour - 99.6 MBThe illustrious SPStreamer Michael Simione (@SPStreamer) lends his talents to High Stakes Heat tonight as he walks the boys through his growth both as a player and as an analysis brand. *The FPAZ experience: people, panels, and poker *A look at the FPAZ draft from mid-October with many fantasy analyst participants *Michael's journey to high stakes *Learning from 2021 and moving forward to 2022 *The TURF League, members of EARTH *Does a league have to have an entry fee to be a priority...
Dissecting Jake's Painful 2021
November 13, 2021 08:47 - 2 hours - 139 MBToday on High Stakes Heat, we take a detailed look at Jake's 2021 fantasy season, with all its ups and more frequent downs. Strap in and get ready to learn from his trials and tribulations... *Dave recounts his GLARF league and EARTH overall championships *A quick look at Dave's season; check out the FWFB pod #718-719 for more details *A detailed rundown of Jake's 2021 teams *Major trends and practices that contributed to his downfall *Mea culpa session on players like Corbin Burnes an...
Overall, You Still Have a Shot at Winning Money
July 17, 2021 07:54 - 2 hours - 126 MBDave, Jake, and Tony @Spectre14 all together IN THE SAME STUDIO! What better way could there be to jump start High Stakes Heat again!? *An update on our high dollar and industry league teams *Players that each of us has gotten right and wrong, as we currently stand *Some players that look due for a good or improved second half *A speculative saves list of ten relievers from Dave *A look at possible innings limits in the second half *What should you be doing right now if you're in an...
Draft Strat Blowout! Auctions, 12&15 Snakes
March 23, 2021 08:14 - 2 hours - 158 MBWe are one week from another beautiful (full) baseball season, and Jake and Tony @Spectre14 are here to give you an evergreen draft strategy pod for the ages! This episode is essentially devoid of specific player analysis, and it is meant for you to use as a comprehensive strategy primer for any of your drafts this last week of March, and even beyond to other seasons. *Why drafting live is just plain awesome *What to do to prepare for your live draft (with us in Vegas) *What to expect ...
Heel Pod! Part 2 with John L
March 09, 2021 07:50 - 1 hour - 97.8 MBBig Sexy John L @MLBMovingAvg is back for Round 2 with Dave and Jake, and the heat does not stop until the outro plays! *The @baseballpods Podcast Bracket "controversy" *John breaks down the NFBC Tag Team draft and doesn't hold back...Check the DRAFT BOARD *Checking in on our TGFBI drafts after one week (John #19, Dave #3, Jake #2) *The Great Lakes Area Roto Fantasy (GLARF) League update, Dave's and Jake's teams *Differences when approaching a QS/OBP league as opposed to the norm ***...
Heel Pod! Part 1 with John L
March 07, 2021 14:38 - 1 hour - 110 MBBig John Stud @MLBMovingAvg joins the boys and there's no stopping this train! We went for a whopping 225 minutes, so we slashed this episode in two; look for the second part to drop Tuesday. *Injuries to Calhoun, Bogaerts, Woodruff, Kelenic *John's feeling on the Yankees rotation *Aaron Civale has new mechanics *How do we feel about Bellinger's recovery? *Kimbrel and Colome got blasted *Flaherty looked better the second time around *John's background and start in fantasy *It's all ...
Tag Teams, Tourneys, and Tweetstorms
February 26, 2021 09:45 - 2 hours - 124 MBCheck this behemoth! Shout out to the Dingers pod for our epic first round battle in the Baseballpods Tourney! *Justin Mason's Podapolooza this Saturday/Sunday Feb. 27-28 *When will the Blue Jays migrate back to Buffalo? *COVID cases, news, and signings *How can you determine who closes in a murky backend bullpen situation? *Do people still think that Mondesi hits second? Referencing this tweet *Jacob deGrom is a first round talent, but we're not comfortable drafting him *Just stop ...
Objectively, Projections Are Flawed
February 10, 2021 08:34 - 2 hours - 122 MBWe heard you missed us; we're back! There are tons of things to cover in the world of fantasy baseball: *So many transactions! 15+ players/situations to discuss *MLB changing the baseball and actually TELLING us about it?? *Can there be objective truth in fantasy? *How much we should use or "rely on" projections *Battle of the Podcasts draft review (courtesy of @draftchampagne) Thanks to everyone for putting us over the 5000 listen mark!!! ****************************************** ...
A Veritable Smorgasbord of Baseball Goodness
January 15, 2021 09:21 - 2 hours - 118 MBBack in the saddle! *The Browns are the greatest team in football *Nickelodeon shows that didn't suck (except for the ones Dave likes) *Lindor and Carrasco to the Big Apple *Hendriks, Schwarber sign *Sticky situation in LA *Closers whom you might feel totally comfortable drafting, but you probably shouldn't *Certain players that we will be watching in spring *Lots of teams ran a ton last year; will it continue? *Invest in skills, not results *ADP risers and fallers in NFBC Draft Ch...
ROBOT POD!! Phil Dussault Takes Over HSH!
December 18, 2020 08:29 - 2 hours - 133 MB--INITIATE SHOW NOTE TRANSMISSION-- The Robot's infamous System has seized control of High Stakes Heat! Phil Dussault (@PhilDussault27) has written our entire script for us and is forcing us to execute his fantasy baseball wishes. Tune in for a wide variety of heinous topics that the Robot has prepared for us! *Landing spots for Bauer and Lindor *Can Giolito be elite? *Stolen base theories *The Consortium on Survivor? *Dave and Jake, South Korean immigrants *Luis Robert vs. Kyle Tuc...
A Non-tender Look at Bestball and Avoiding Landmines
December 06, 2020 09:03 - 1 hour - 90 MBHappy December! Only the best and bravest are diving into their analysis at this point, and we have you covered as you foray deep into your prep for 2021. Topics covered include: *Analyzing the non-tenders of note *Urshela elbow surgery, Wander Franco biceps injury *Concerns with Tyler Glasnow *Why all the hate for Dylan Moore? *Dave rantin' on Stanton *Jake approach to the #pullhitterbestball draft *Early NFBC trends/observations *Hit up the Rotosaurus Merch Department! ********...
Onward to 2021! Please? Can We?
November 17, 2020 07:51 - 1 hour - 90.4 MBIt's time to turn the page to 2021! Well, at least in terms of fantasy baseball anyway...still gotta get through 6 more weeks of this garbage in real life. Dave and Jake are back and they're ready to move forward with draft prep for the new season. Let's start getting ready to dominate! *Why the Dolans are horrible *Smyly gets $11mil? *Clevinger gets Tommy John *We're trying to help, really! *Digging deep into Dave's mock draft with the boys from RotoFanatic, find the board here *Wh...
2020 Season Retrospective, Part 2
October 07, 2020 08:29 - 2 hours - 124 MBThe second half of our season retrospective closely examines the pitching hits and misses from the less than optimal year 2020. Dave, Tony (@Spectre14), and Jake blaze through a vast number of starters and relievers...would they do it all again the same way? Listen in to find out! ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their stra...
2020 Season Retrospective, Part 1
October 02, 2020 07:51 - 2 hours - 148 MBThe band gets back together to closely examine the offensive hits and misses from the 2020 season. Dave, Tony, and Jake recap their fantasy seasons and lay it all out there for you all to absorb and grow your own game. Part 2 will cover pitching, due sometime next week. ****************************************** Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listeners their strategies and ...
The Final Weekend Rundown
September 25, 2020 07:15 - 1 hour - 63.2 MBDave and Jake work to carry you to the finish line in today's episode, both helping you to set that final weekend offensive lineup in NFBC and looking ahead to a number of topics that will dominate our thoughts heading into 2021. Best of luck to all our listeners as they close out their championships! *Injuries and players returning that could affect your weekend *Reevaluate your standings *Hitters to get into your lineups for the last three days *Our top 5 SPs heading into 2021 *Limit...
How to Approach the Final Week
September 20, 2020 07:30 - 1 hour - 71.1 MBThe boys are again joined by their close friend and another member of The Consortium, Tony DiVincenzo (@Spectre14), and together they tackle what everyone should be looking at heading into the final week of baseball. There's a ton of great strategy points in here, and they also have an opportunity at the end to give some advice on targets for your final Sunday of FAAB. What's inside: *Injury returns now: Teoscar, Pham, Hosmer *Injury returns soon: Sonny Gray, Gallegos, Berti, deGrom, Cle...
Closer Conversation with the FAABulous Scott Jenstad
August 25, 2020 05:35 - 1 hour - 96.7 MBDave and Jake are excited to welcome another incredible NFBC stalwart to the pod in RotoWire's Scott Jenstad (@ScottJenstad)! The gentlemen hit on tons of ever-in-flux closer situations, some injury and promotion news, plenty of in-season management strategy topics, and a number of great listener questions. Scott is an exemplary guest, and it was an absolute blast having him on the pod! We will cover: *Scott's early fantasy career pre-NFBC *How he got started in the industry *Scott doe...
Fraternizing with the FAAB Whisperer, Vlad Sedler
August 14, 2020 06:15 - 1 hour - 91.5 MBEpisode 9 of the pod features the incredibly successful high stakes redraft and DFS player Vlad Sedler (@RotoGut) of Guru Elite fame! This is an absolutely jam-packed show, full of insights into who Vlad is and what makes him a winner, plenty of player analysis and news, and short season adjustments. More specifically, we will cover: *Vlad's beginnings playing and analyzing fantasy *The makings of a FAAB Whisperer *Tough pitcher holds - Manaea, Boyd, Ray, Verlander, Morton *Hot FAAB hi...
FAAB and Main Event Strategies with Justin Mason
August 11, 2020 07:52 - 2 hours - 125 MBThe boys return with special guest Justin Mason (@JustinMasonFWFB), the busiest analyst in fantasy baseball and an all-around great guy. He is nothing but candid with us about his process, experience, and life in general; plenty to take out of this episode! Among the topics covered: *Justin and his career *FWFB, TGFBI, and the Mason Face *Cleveland's discipline breakdown *Pitchers galore on the IL *Tons of other news *Toxic masculinity *Sunday's NFBC FAAB results *FAAB processes in...
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
August 04, 2020 05:35 - 1 hour - 90.7 MBDave and Jake are joined by the Robot himself, Phil Dussault (@PhilDussault27)! Phil has only played in the NFBC for four seasons, but he brings a wealth of successful experience and heavy analysis to the pod. Together they cover a plethora of topics: -The wackiest NFBC Sunday FAAB we've ever seen -Tons and tons of closing situations in flux -A retrospective on Phil's heavily automated draft system, with discussion about any factors that he would change -Covid and injury news galore -...
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto (Phil Dussault)
August 04, 2020 05:35 - 1 hour - 90.1 MBDave and Jake are joined by the Robot himself, Phil Dussault (@PhilDussault27)! Phil has only played in the NFBC for four seasons, but he brings a wealth of successful experience and heavy analysis to the pod. Together they cover a plethora of topics: -The wackiest NFBC Sunday FAAB we've ever seen -Tons and tons of closing situations in flux -A retrospective on Phil's heavily automated draft system, with discussion about any factors that he would change -Covid and injury news galore -...
Main Events & the Dumpster Fire That Is 2020
July 29, 2020 06:50 - 1 hour - 92.6 MBThe boys are back after their long drafting hiatus, and they brought in their long-time friend and Dave's Main Event partner, Tony DiVincenzo (@Spectre14)! The three review their strategies for drafting their four total $1200 NFBC Sprint Main Event leagues, as they highlight their primary points of focus in building their teams facing the Covid nightmare season. They then turn to the topic of injury risk assessment, which all RotoSaurus followers know as one of their main foundations of dr...
ADP, Pitcher Scheduling, and Mrs. Keuchel
July 14, 2020 08:42 - 1 hour - 88.7 MBThe summer rolls on, and your intrepid NFBCers fill you in on the news, some of which can be found at the Covid Watch. The Main Event drafts started on Sunday, but there's not enough ADP data yet for solid analysis; however, there is more than enough July Online Championship data to get a good feel for where we are. Dave and Jake also take a look at pitcher schedules through week 3, highlighting some delectable matchups and others not so much. Plus, Dave stuck another of his #NoFilter ra...
The Do's and Don'ts of Drafting
July 10, 2020 06:58 - 1 hour - 79.7 MBDave and Jake return to bring you some summer updates and direct you to RotoSaurus's Covid Watch. The boys touch on setting your KDS (Kentucky Derby Style) order for your drafts, some rarer resources to be targeting, and many of their DOs and DON'Ts for drafting in roto leagues. They may even debut a new segment! They then close by evaluating how the 60 game season affects 15 different prominent hitters. Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in...
KC at the Bat
July 06, 2020 05:17 - 1 hour - 67.8 MBDave and Jake wrangle all of the news from the beginning of the 'Summer Training' period (You like that, Jon Heyman?) for you: Covid diagnoses, opt-outs, new births, managerial comments...all to help you organize everything as you prep for more drafts. Dave warns you again about drafting Josh Hader as your first closer, when you should be drafting your first or second SP. Then the boys break down an interview from March of NFBC Hall of Famer KC Cha conducted by Vlad Sedler of Elite Fantasy...
Long Views on a Short Season
July 01, 2020 06:12 - 1 hour - 69.5 MBIn round 2 of High Stakes Heat, the boys touch on the news of the day, with players opting out and even *gasp* a trade! Dave breaks down spring training stats for starters that could be indicators of future performance, and then he highlights specific performances of pitchers from Spring 2020 whose 'summer training' we should be keeping an eye on. Lastly, the guys express their new opinions on fifteen early to mid-round starters in light of our new 60-game season. Dave McDonald and Jake...
A Dave and His Dustmite
June 27, 2020 19:55 - 1 hour - 143 MBWelcome to the highly-anticipated RotoSaurus High Stakes Heat podcast! The boys banter about their childhoods, origins in fantasy baseball, NFBC experience, and... oh yea! Baseball is coming! They give a flyover of things to expect in a 60-game, travel-reduced season. We'll keep pumping out the episodes; thanks so much for listening! Dave McDonald and Jake Halusker are consistently successful high stakes players in the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, and they share with listener...