First Pitch Arizona 2025 - Program
Updated: 11/3/25
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6
| 2:30-5:30p | Registration/Check-in | BaseballHQ staff | Conference lobby |
| 3:00-4:00p | Thursday breakouts #1 - CHOOSE ONE | ||
| Rostering Relievers for Holds, Ratios and Ks How to find, who to roster, when to employ | Mike Carter, Rick Graham | Canyon A | |
| Stat Trends of the Past 30 Years How MLB—and our game—has evolved since the initial meeting of First Pitch Arizona | Matt Martingale | Madera | |
| 4:15-5:15p | Thursday breakouts #2 - CHOOSE ONE | ||
| 2025: Statistical Year in Review 2025 trends in HR, SB, W and more | Ray Murphy, Frank Stampfl | Canyon A | |
| First Time at First Pitch? A Weekend Q&A Get your bearings—and your questions answered | BHQ staff | Agua Fria | |
| 5:30-7:30p | Welcome Reception (at Sloan Park) Appetizers and cash bar | Upper Terrace, 1B side | |
| 6:30-9:00 | AFL Game - Scottsdale at Mesa | Sloan Park | |
| Thursday Evening Hangouts - CHOOSE FROM: | |||
| 8:30-10:30 | Attendee Gladiator Draft 1 NFBC 15-team 2025 draft-and-hold competition | - | Agua Fria |
| 8:45-10:00p | Podcast Room — Beat the Shift | Ariel Cohen, Reuven Guy | Canyon C |
| 9:30-10:30p | Prospect Q&A Hour Bring your prospect questions! | Eric Longenhagen, Jonathan Mayo | Canyon F |
| 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, Joe Orrico, Dave McDonald | Arroyo |
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7
| 8:00-8:10a | Welcome and Introductions | Brent Hershey, Ray Murphy | Canyon Ballroom |
| 8:10-9:00a | Opening Address | Ron Shandler | Canyon Ballroom |
| 9:00-10:15a | Arizona Fall League Scouting Report AFL players you need to know this weekend | Brent Hershey, Eric Longenhagen, Jonathan Mayo, TBA | Canyon Ballroom |
| 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 | Canyon Ballroom |
| 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, Ian Kahn | Canyon C | |
| Takeaways from the 2025 NFBC season A detailed look at overall winners' teams and trends; Q&A | Toby Guevin, Mike Mager, Stephen Goodwin | Canyon F | |
| What is a Projection? Development, expectations, and best uses | Todd Zola, Derek Carty | Arroyo | |
| Scoresheet Meetup/Q&A Bring your Scoresheet questions | John Kracum | Madera | |
| 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 | Madera |
| 2:15-3:30p | Live Podcast: Sleeper & the Bust | Paul Sporer, Justin Mason, Jason Collette, Joe Orrico | Canyon Ballroom |
| 3:45-5:00p | Live Podcasts: Bubba & the Bloom | Brian Entrekin, Ryan Bloomfield | Canyon Ballroom |
| 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 | Arroyo |
| 5:00-6:00p | Only-Leagues Focus: NL Experts leagues (Tout+LABR) recap; what we learned | Steve Gardner, Derek Carty, Brian Walton, Tristan Cockcroft, Matt Cederholm | Canyon C |
| 5:00-6:00p | What makes a Top 25 Starting Pitcher? Characteristics of 2025's best SPs—and who can get there next year | Eric Samulski | Canyon F |
| 5:00-6:00p | Bring-your-own Roster Analysis Get a second opinion on your home league roster - keepers, trade targets, strengths/weaknesses, more | BHQ staff | Madera |
| 5:00-6:00p | Strat-O-Matic Meetup/Q&A Bring your Strat questions and chatter! | Dean Peterson | Agua Fria |
| 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 | Canyon C |
| 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 .. | Madera | |
| 7:30-8:30 | Intro to Bat Tracking Data What to look for; levels to expect; players to target | Eno Sarris | Canyon F |
| 8:30-9:45p | Podcast Room — Fantasy Pros | Chris Welsh, Joe Orrico | Canyon C |
| 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 | Madera |
| 8:30-11:00p | XFL Draft - Experts Keeper League | Agua Fria | |
| 9:00-10:00p | Post-Pick 300 Starting Pitchers How to hunt for late-draft pitching help | Nick Pollack, Jeff Zimmerman | Canyon F |
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8
| 8:00-8:10a | Saturday intro/Housekeeping | Hershey/Murphy | Canyon Ballroom |
| 8:10-9:10a | Player Spotlights: Pitchers | Panelists: Paul Sporer, Nick Pollack, Toby Guevin, Brian (Bubba) Entrekin; Moderator: Ryan Bloomfield | Canyon Ballroom |
| 9:20-10:20a | Player Spotlights: Hitters | Panelists: Jeff Erickson, Chris Towers, Eric Karabell, Alain de Leonardis; Moderator: Ryan Bloomfield | Canyon Ballroom |
| 10:30-11:45a | Live Podcast: Rates & Barrels | Derek VanRiper, Eno Sarris | Canyon Ballroom |
| 12:00-1:00p | Buffet Lunch | sponsored by  | Canyon EHG |
| 1:00-2:00p | Bullpen Hour The 2026 saves landscape and Q&A session | Doug Dennis, Greg Jewett | Canyon D |
| 1:00-2:00p | Bring-your-own Roster Analysis Get a second opinion on your home league roster - keepers, trade targets, strengths/weaknesses, more | BHQ staff | Madera |
| 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 | Canyon D - Left | |
| NFBC Draft Champions #2 | Canyon D - Right | ||
| NFBC Best Ball | Canyon A | ||
| Mixed Auction | Agua Fria | ||
| Scoresheet | Canyon B | ||
| 2:15-3:30p | Podcast Room — BaseballHQ Radio | Patrick Davitt | Canyon C |
| 3:45-5:00p | Podcast Room — Pallazzo Podcast | Michael Govier, Sam Wirsching, Britton Allan | Canyon C |
| 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 | Arroyo |
| 7:00-9:00p | Baseball Franchise Demo Drop in to learn more about (and play) this pre-production tabletop baseball game | Canyon B | |
| 7:30-8:45p | Podcast Room — On the Corner | Nick Pollack, Eric Samulski | Canyon C |
| 9:00-10:30 | Pallazzo Podcast Presents: Fantasy Family Feud Pallazzo 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 | Canyon D |
| 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… | Jesse Severe, James Anderson, Eric Cross, Chris Welsh | Canyon F |
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 | Canyon F | |
| Statcast Search How-To A tutorial in filtering Statcast data by splits; timeframe and more. Plus extensive Q&A session | Andy Andres | Agua Fria | |
| The Changing SB Landscape: Year Three Checkup Since the new rules, SB totals have exploded. Where do we find the next Josh Naylor or Juan Soto? | Kyle Bland | Arroyo | |
| 9:20-9:30a | Sunday Housekeeping | Hershey/Murphy | Canyon Ballroom |
| 9:30-10:30a | Injuries: Facts and Analysis Who is healing … and who might not be | Matt Cederholm | Canyon Ballroom |
| 10:40-11:55a | Scout talk | Derek VanRiper, TBA | Canyon Ballroom |
| 11:55-12p | Final Wrap-up | Hershey/Murphy | Canyon Ballroom |
| 6:00-9:00p | AFL Fall Stars Game | Sloan Park | |