Baseball America

On this week's Hot Sheet Show, Jacob Rudner, J.J. Cooper and Geoff Pontes look ahead to the MLB playoffs with a breakdown of top rookies and second-year stars in the field. We also analyze big league strike zone changes in 2026.
The Hot Sheet Show airs live on the BA YouTube channel every Tuesday at 3 p.m. Give us a sub, and we'll see you then!
Time Stamps
(0:00) Introduction
(0:45) Young stars to watch in the postseason—Misiorowski, Schlittler, De Paula & more
(15:30) The MLB strike zone shrunk in 2026—why?
(18:12) What comes next for the strike zone evolution & fallout?
(20:15) Why aren't hitters dominating then?
(23:40) Answering viewer questions

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Baseball America national college writer Jacob Rudner is joined by former MLB pitcher and Texas A&M alumnus Ross Stripling to talk about changes in amateur baseball over the last decade, which arsenals are suited to benefit from ABS in college and advice for college pitchers hoping to make the jump to the pros.
(1:40) Welcoming Ross Stripling to the show
(4:18) How college baseball has evolved since Stripling played
(5:53) Caden Sorrell vs. Tyler Naquin
(9:04) How amateur pitching has changed beyond velocity
(20:42) ABS in college
(23:49) Could breaking balls benefit from ABS?
(27:43) The benefits of ABS in college
(29:20) The college ball
(32:24) Advice to amateur pitchers
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In the second series of our draft lookbacks, JJ and Carlos go back to the 2018 draft. How has the class aged? Who are the standout picks? Which teams picked smartly and which would rather have a do-over? What are the lessons we can learn?
—
Time stamps:
(0:00) Intro
(2:15) Was Casey Mize the clear 1-1?
(09:00) So many prep pitchers 
(13:00) Nick Madrigal & Nico Hoerner
(17:00) Carter Stewart
(23:00) Kyler Murray
(32:00) The opportunity cost of high school pitchers early
(37:00) Jordyn Adams
(42:00) Seth Beer
—
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This week on the Baseball America fantasy podcast, James Anderson and Geoff Pontes get ready for the release of our upcoming First-Year Player Draft rankings next week. We discuss 15 players of note, hitting on pros and cons of each profile, who we think present the best FYPD values and which picks come with the greatest inherent risk.
2:30 Grady Emerson, in a tier on his own?
8:30 Vahn Lackey future elite catcher
15:00 Jacob Lombard upside bigger than Emerson
19:00 Jackson Flora the best pitcher in the draft
25:00 Roch Cholowsky’s debut, could he run more?
29:00 Tyler Bell now underrated?
35:00 Do we believe in Justin Lebron
38:00 Drew Burress in the top tier of the FYPD?
45:00 Zion Rose a potential 1.1?
49:00 What is Derek Curiel’s upside
54:00 Is Eric Booth Jr. dropping after his debut? 
58:00 How high is Ace Reese’s upside
62:00 Trevor Condon another high upside player outside the top 10. 
67:00 Jared Grindlinger and Bo Lowrance compare and contrast.  

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The Arizona Fall League rosters have been released, and we have the analysis of who are the prospects to watch. Josh Norris and JJ Cooper have the breakdown.

(00:00) Josh loves the Arizona Fall League
(02:00) This year's AFL Rosters Are _______
(06:00) Who are the best prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League
(12:00) Which teams are the best in the AFL
(13:00) Some AFL insights for fans contemplating a trip
(17:15) Lesser-known prospects to watch in the AFL
(19:45) Vance Honeycutt talk
(22:15) Other things to know about the Arizona Fall League

Everything you need to know about the AFL: https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2026-arizona-fall-league-rosters-schedule-everything-you-need-to-know/

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