First Pitch Arizona 2025 - Program
All sessions/times tentative and subject to change.
Updated: 10/1/25
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
| 2:30-5p | Registration/Check-in | BaseballHQ staff |
| 3:00-4:00p | Rostering Relievers for Holds, Ratios and Ks How to find, who to roster, when to employ | Mike Carter, Rick Graham |
| 4:15-5:15p | Thursday breakouts #1 - CHOOSE ONE | |
| 2025: Statistical Year in Review 2025 trends in HR, SB, W and more | Ray Murphy, Rob DiPietro | |
| First Time at First Pitch? A Weekend Q&A Get your bearings—and your questions answered | BHQ staff | |
| 5:30-7:30p | Welcome Reception (at Sloan Park) Appetizers and cash bar | |
| 6:30-9:00 | AFL Game - Scottsdale at Mesa | |
| Thursday Evening Hangouts - CHOOSE FROM: | ||
| 8:30-10:30 | Attendee Gladiator Draft 1 NFBC 15-team 2025 draft-and-hold competition | - |
| 8:45-10:00p | Podcast Room — Beat the Shift | Ariel Cohen |
| 9:30-10:30p | Prospect Q&A Hour Bring your prospect questions! | Eric Longenhagen, Jonathan Mayo |
| 9:30-10:30p | Avoiding Starting Pitching Landmines How do we define SP risk in the offseason? Are there pitchers to shy away from in 2026? | Justin Mason, TBA |
All sessions/times tentative and subject to change.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
| 8:00-8:10a | Welcome and Introductions | Brent Hershey, Ray Murphy |
| 8:10-9:00a | Opening Address | Ron Shandler |
| 9:00-10:15a | Arizona Fall League Scouting Report AFL players you need to know this weekend | Eric Longenhagen, Jonathan Mayo, TBA |
| 10:30-11:30a | Engaging AI for Fantasy Baseball Decision Making Real-life examples of how to put AI to work in a fantasy baseball context. (Related: see AI Office Hours on Friday evening) | Jason Collette, Michael Govier, Nick Richards |
| 11:40-12:40p | Friday breakouts #1 - CHOOSE ONE | |
| Only-Leagues Focus: AL Experts leagues (Tout+LABR) recap; what we learned | Steve Gardner, Tristan Cockcroft, Dave Adler, Andy Andres, Patrick Davitt | |
| Takeaways from the 2025 NFBC season A detailed look at overall winners' teams and trends; Q&A | Toby Guevin, Rob DiPietro, Stephen Goodwin | |
| What is a Projection? Development, expectations, and best uses | Todd Zola, Derek Carty | |
| Lunch on your own | ||
| 1:30p | AFL Game - Scottsdale at Glendale (attendee game) AFL Game - Mesa at Peoria | |
| 1:30-3:45p | Excel and Fantasy Baseball Workshop A hands-on, how-to session on making the most out of Excel. Bring your laptop! | Ariel Cohen |
| 2:15-3:30p | Live Podcast: Sleeper & the Bust | Paul Sporer, Justin Mason, Jason Collette, Joe Orrico |
| 3:45-5:00p | Live Podcasts: Bubba & the Bloom | Brian Entrekin, Ryan Bloomfield |
| Friday breakouts #2 - CHOOSE ONE | ||
| 5:00-5:45p | Tips for Taking Over: A Dynasty Discussion You've signed on to an existing dynasty league. What's next? Plus, an open dynasty-centric Q&A. | James Anderson |
| 5:00-6:00p | Only-Leagues Focus: NL Experts leagues (Tout+LABR) recap; what we learned | Steve Gardner, Derek Carty, Brian Walton, Tristan Cockcroft |
| 5:00-6:00p | Year Two of the New Pitch These starters expanded their arsenal in 2025; can we expect another step up in 2026? | Eric Samulski |
| Dinner on your own | ||
| 6:30-9:00p | AFL Game - Salt River at Surprise | |
| Friday Evening Hangouts - CHOOSE FROM: | ||
| 7:00-8:15p | Podcast Room — CBS Fantasy Baseball Today | Frank Stampfl, Chris Towers |
| 7:00-8:30p | The Arizona Challenge A timed, whole-room auction 2025 retro league where a panel chooses player nominations. If it sounds chaotic, wait until you try it! More to come .. | |
| 7:30-8:30 | Intro to Bat Tracking Data What to look for; levels to expect; players to target | Eno Sarris |
| 8:30-9:45p | Podcast Room — Fantasy Pros | Chris Welsh, Joe Orrico |
| 8:30-10:00p | AI Office Hours A drop-in, interactive, how-to workshop on engaging AI for fantasy. Bring your laptop and let's ask some questions | Ray Murphy |
| 8:30-11:00p | XFL Draft - Experts Keeper League | |
| 9:00-10:00p | Post-Pick 300 Starting Pitchers How to hunt for late-draft pitching help | Nick Pollack, TBD |
All sessions/times tentative and subject to change.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8
| 8:00-8:10a | Saturday intro/Housekeeping | Hershey/Murphy |
| 8:10-9:10a | Player Spotlights: Pitchers | Panelists: Paul Sporer, Nick Pollack, Toby Guevin, Brian (Bubba) Entrekin; Moderator: Ryan Bloomfield |
| 9:20-10:20a | Player Spotlights: Hitters | Panelists: Jeff Erickson, Chris Towers, Eric Karabell, Alain de Leonardis; Moderator: Ryan Bloomfield |
| 10:30-11:45a | Live Podcast: Rates & Barrels | Derek VanRiper, Eno Sarris |
| 12:00-1:00p | Lunch Provided | |
| 1:00-2:00p | Bullpen Hour The 2026 saves landscape and Q&A session | Doug Dennis, Greg Jewett |
| 2:00p | FIRST PITCH ARIZONA DRAFTERNOON Real 2026 standalone leagues, real prizes, a ton of fun. Signup details to come … | |
presented by:  | NFBC Draft Champions #1 | |
| NFBC Draft Champions #2 | ||
| NFBC Best Ball | ||
| Mixed Auction | ||
| Scoresheet | ||
| 2:15-3:30p | Podcast Room — BaseballHQ Radio | Patrick Davitt |
| 3:45-5:00p | Podcast Room — Pallazzo Podcast | Michael Govier, Sam Wirsching, Britton Allan |
| Dinner on your own | ||
| Saturday Evening Hangouts - CHOOSE FROM: | ||
| 6:30p | AFL Home Run Derby / Sloan Park | |
| 7:00-8:00p | Applied Stats for Fantasy Managers A primer on advanced stats, their benchmarks, and fantasy application | Patrick Davitt |
| 7:30-8:45p | Podcast Room — On the Corner | Nick Pollack, Eric Samulski |
| 9:00-10:30 | Pallazo Podcast Presents: Fantasy Family Feud Pallazo Podcast crew hosts an interactive fantasy game show will combine popular content providers and you! Signup details to come … | Michael Govier, Sam Wirsching, Britton Allan, and Sara Sanchez |
| 9:15-10:15 | 2026 Rookies for Redraft Leagues Which prospects have the best chance of making an impact in 2026? Our panel will discuss… | James Anderson, TBA |
All sessions/times tentative and subject to change.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9
| 8:30-9:15a | Sunday breakouts - CHOOSE ONE | |
| How to Build Your Best Fantasy Sports Experience Share your league’s unique rules and find out what others are doing to maximize the challenge and the fun. Based on Ron’s new book, “Fantasy, Reconstructed.” | Ron Shandler | |
| Statcast Search How-To A tutorial in filtering Statcast data by splits; timeframe and more. Plus extensive Q&A session | Andy Andres | |
| 9:20-9:30a | Sunday Housekeeping | Hershey/Murphy |
| 9:30-10:30a | Injuries: Facts and Analysis Who is healing … and who might not be | Matt Cederholm |
| 10:40-11:55a | Scout talk | Derek VanRiper, TBA |
| 11:55-12p | Final Wrap-up | Hershey/Murphy |
| 6:00-9:00p | AFL Fall Stars Game / Sloan Park | |
All sessions/times tentative and subject to change.