June 2022 – Imaginary Brick Wall

Posted on June 27, 2022June 29, 2022 by Michael Halpern

IBW Presents Wild Card Week on the Patreon!

It’s Wild Card Week on the Patreon! Wild Card Week will include the Updated OBP Dynasty Rankings, Top 10 Mid-Season Trade Targets, Top 10 Trade Negotiation Techniques and more. First post will drop later tomorrow. There is also tons of content already up for June. Check it all out:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 445 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE POINTS/6+CATS/OPS “UNIVERSAL” TOP 430 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 16 2023 FYPD RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

-Halp

Posted on June 23, 2022June 25, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Patreon Post: Updated Points/6+Cats/OPS “Universal” Top 430 2022 Dynasty Baseball Rankings

The Updated Points/6+Cats/OPS “Universal” Top 430 2022 Dynasty Baseball Rankings are for leagues that juice up good real life hitters and devalues speed. Their 5×5 BA ranking is in parenthesis. Let’s get to it:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS AND TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 445 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 16 2023 FYPD RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Tier 1

1) (3) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 23.7 – Not dropping his ranking at all yet. Underlying numbers are still elite

2) (2) Ronald Acuna Jr. ATL, OF, 24.5

3) (8) Yordan Alvarez HOU, OF, 24.10 – Yordan and Vlad are made for this type of format where speed is devalued. I can see going with them even over Acuna depending on the specific rules

4) (1) Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 27.11

5) (9) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. TOR, 1B, 23.2

6) (4) Kyle Tucker HOU, OF, 25.4

7) (5) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 23.5

8) (16) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 30.9 – So good that I think he deserves to be in Tier 1 in these kinds of formats despite the fact he is 30

9) (18) Rafael Devers BOS, 3B, 25.6 – Low walk rates are the only thing keeping me from ranking him even higher

10) (21) Aaron Judge NYY, OF, 30.0 -.465 xwOBA is 2nd to only Yordan

11) (11) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 29.6

12) (15) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 29.5 – UCL thing is still in the back of my mind even though it doesn’t look to be affecting him much

Tier 2

13) (24) Pete Alonso NYM, 1B, 27.5

14) (31) Austin Riley ATL, 3B, 25.1

15) (14) Wander Franco TBR, SS, 21.3 – He’s a great long term 5×5 fantasy asset, but he’s even better in a format that rewards good real life hitters

16) (6) Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 21.4 – Julio and Witt take a hit in these rankings because they have not established themselves as elite hitters yet and their stolen bases don’t make as much of an impact.

17) (7) Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 21.10

Shadow17) (16) Shohei Ohtani LAA, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 27.9

18) (10) Trea Turner LAD, SS, 28.10

19) (19) Corbin Burnes MIL, RHP, 27.6

20) (20) Shane McClanahan TBR, LHP, 25.0

21) (32) Matt Olson ATL, 1B, 28.1

22) (12) Bo Bichette TOR, SS, 24.3

23) (13) Luis Robert CHW, OF, 24.10

24) (22) Manny Machado SD, 3B, 29.10

25) (17) Mookie Betts LAD, OF, 29.6 – On the IL with a cracked rib but they are hopeful he can return in a couple of weeks. There is definitely risk this could hurt his production when he returns

26) (44) Corey Seager TEX, SS, 28.0

Tier 3

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

Posted on June 20, 2022June 25, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/20/22)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/20/22):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 445 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 16 2023 FYPD RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Juan Soto WASH, OF, 23.9 – Cranked his 14th homer on a 1 for 5 day but is still “struggling” with only an .807 OPS. This is deja vu from last year where he had a .851 OPS in the first half before going off in the 2nd half. The underlying numbers are elite with a .413 xwOBA, so the bonkos 2nd half is inevitable this year too. If this even opens up the tiniest sliver of a buying opportunity, I would be all over that, but clearly any dynasty owner worth their salt won’t price him any lower. Let me know if anyone sells low on Soto because I will personally show up at their house and collect all of their salt. They don’t deserve it.

Gleyber Torres NYY, SS, 25.8 – 3 for 5 with a double and a homer. Over his last 21 games he’s slashing .321/.369/.718 with 8 homers, 1 steal, and an 18/5 K/BB. I kept the faith on Torres this off-season, finishing his blurb in the Top 1,000 by writing, “Gleyber is starting to hit those man muscle years and the power should only tick up from here. I love him as a trade target this off-season.” I ranked him 78th overall on the Updated Top 445 June Dynasty Baseball Rankings that hit my Patreon last week. 2018-19 Gleyber is back.

Masyn Winn STL, SS/RHP, 20.2 – Power is the final step to go full breakout, and it seems to be happening as Winn destroyed his 4th homer in 23 games at Double-A all the way to the parking lot. He already cracked my Top 50 in the Top 350 June Prospects Rankings, and the arrow continues to point up.

Bryan Ramos CHW, 3B/2B, 20.3 – One of my favorite prospects in the minors, Ramos obliterated his 11th homer of the season so hard that it drew audible oooohhs and aaahhs from the crowd. He’s been red hot with 7 homers, a 10/8 K/BB and a .961 OPS in his last 19 games at High-A.

Quinn Priester PIT, RHP, 21.6 – Priester returned from an oblique injury a couple weeks ago and made his first start at Double-A yesterday, going 3 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER and a 3/0 K/BB. He throws a diverse pitch mix and the fastball has been sitting in the mid 90’s. The eye test has always looked better than the numbers with Priester, and I’ve decided to split the difference between the two when valuing him.

Gavin Williams CLE, RHP, 22.10 – Williams made his 2nd start at Double-A and went 3 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 6/2 K/BB. The fastball is way too advanced for minor league hitters, and the breaking balls were so refined in this one that he pitched the entire game with his pinky up.

Jack Suwinski PIT, OF, 23.10 – Jack jacked 3 homers yesterday and Jack’s now jacked 11 homers on the year. He has a .339 wOBA with a .339 xwOBA. This guy jacks.

Tyler O’Neill STL, OF, 27.0 – 3 for 4 with a double. O’Neill returned from the IL a new man, slashing .354/.385/.521 with 2 homers, 3 steals, and a 12/3 K/BB in 12 games. Unfortunately he left the game with hamstring tightness, so we are back in wait and see mode.

Nick Pivetta BOS, RHP, 29.6 – 7 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 10/1 K/BB vs STL. He dominated with the fastball, throwing it 56% of the time with a 36% whiff% and 84.3 MPH EV against. Fantasy managers have been riding the Nick Pivetta rollercoaster for years now, so it’s hard to fully buy in, and the 3.31 ERA is much better than the 4.02 xERA. He’s solid, but I wouldn’t expect him to keep this up.

Juan Yepez STL, 1B/3B/OF, 24.4 – Drilled a pinch hit 114.4 MPH homer. That basically describes Yepez’ value all right there. He can rake, but playing time is an issue as he’s a bad defensive player with a negative 6 defensive value. It’s such a pain trying to figure out the correct ranking of a guy like Yepez, because if he gets the playing time his ranking will look silly low, and if he doesn’t his ranking will look silly high. There is no in between.

Jerar Encarnacion MIA, OF, 24.8 – Encarnacion made his MLB debut and it didn’t take long for him to show off the skills, crushing his first homer with a K on a 1 for 4 day. He hit the ball hard all day and starts his MLB career with a 99.6 MPH EV. The BA is going to be an issue with a 30.2% K% at Triple-A, but at 6’4”, 220 pounds, he’s going to mash.

Michael Harris ATL, OF, 21.2 – Checking in at #112 on the Updated Top 445 Dynasty Rankings, Harris launched his 3rd homer off Kyle Hendricks on a 105.4 MPH shot. Considering he’s 21 years old jumping straight from Double-A, he’s had a damn exciting MLB debut, slashing .321/.346/.538 with 3 homers, 2 steals, and a 18/3 K/BB in 21 games.

Buddy Kennedy ARI, 3B, 23.10 – Kennedy made his MLB debut last week and he got on the board with his first homer yesterday on a 394 foot bomb. He’s looked mature at the plate so far in 3 games with a 18.2%/9.1% K%/BB% and 1.164 OPS. I ranked Kennedy 693rd overall on my off-season Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings and wrote, “When you watch Kennedy he doesn’t exactly scream upside, but he has baseball bloodlines and it definitely shows because he looks mature beyond his years at the plate. He vaguely reminded me of Jhonny Peralta a little.” He’s sneaky good.

Curtis Mead TBR, 3B, 21.7 – 2 for 4 with 2 homers at Double-A. Mead’s plus hit tool has transferred to the upper minors with a 18.2%/10% K%/BB% and .305 BA in 50 games, and now the power is coming too with 6 homers in his last 15 games. He has an unorthodox, Statue of Liberty like batting stance that you can’t help but love. He has a chance to be really damn good.

Blaze Jordan BOS, 3B, 19.5 – It was only a matter of time before the power started to come, and it came hard yesterday with 2 homers. He has all fields power, with one to the pull side and one going the opposite way. His contact rates have been excellent all year with a 17.3% K% in 57 games at Single-A. He’s laying the foundation to be one of the top power hitting prospects in the game in a year or so.

Andrew Heaney LAD, LHP, 30.10 – Heaney returned from a shoulder injury and he picked the breakout up right where he left off, going 5 IP with 5 hits, 1 ER, and a 7/1 K/BB. The fastball averaged 92.1 MPH, which is up 0.6 MPH from his season average, and he put up a 31% whiff% overall. He now has a 0.59 ERA with a 38.1% whiff% in 15.1 IP on the season. Heaney is yet another player I hit on in my early February Target Series on Patreon, writing, “I liked Heaney a lot going into last year because of above average strikeout and walk rates, but it obviously didn’t materialize. This is a bet on LA’s developmental prowess. If he’s good enough for the Dodgers rotation, he’s good enough for my fantasy squad.” We can’t develop the players as Dynasty owners, so taking the organization into account is a must for us.

Oscar Gonzalez CLE, OF, 24.7 – Gonzalez powered up with the lone run off Heaney, cracking a 395 foot homer off him for his 1st of the year in 22 games. A 1.8 degree launch is why it took this long to get on the board, but a 91.2 MPH EV shows there is more raw power in the tank if he can make adjustments.

Robert Gasser SDP, LHP, 23.2 – 7 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 8/1 K/BB at High-A. The 4.10 ERA in 63.2 IP isn’t great, but the 31%/7.8% K%/BB% looks much better. The stuff isn’t huge, making him more of a “crafty lefty” with a back end starter profile.

Gordon Graceffo STL, RHP, 22.3 – 7 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 6/0 K/BB at Double-A. The breakout has slowed a little bit a Double-A despite the 2.73 ERA in 29.2 IP. His K% is all the way down to 19.1%. His control has still been otherworldly though with a 1.7% BB%. Here he is painting the black with a 99 MPH fastball.

Everson Pereira NYY, OF, 21.3 – 4 for 7 with 2 doubles. Pereira has been heating up at High-A, slashing .294/.347/.533 with 5 homers, 4 steals, and a 22/8 K/BB in his last 22 games. He had only 1 homer before that, so it’s nice to see him finding his power stroke again after hitting 20 homers in 49 games last year.

Jordan Westburg BAL, SS, 23.3 – Westburg has been excelling since getting the call to Triple-A, going 2 for 3 with a double and steal yesterday, and is now slashing .405/.444/.810 with 3 homers, 2 steals, and a 22.2%/6.7% K%/BB% in 10 games. He’s no Gunnar Henderson, but he can be a solid across the board contributor as a key member of Baltimore’s next winning core.

Jacob Amaya LAD, SS, 23.10 – Amaya was starting to cool off at Double-A, but he must have been getting bored, because he’s exploded after the call to Triple-A. He went 2 for 3 with 2 walks yesterday and now has 2 homers with a 11.1%/11.1% K%/BB% in 6 games. He swings a wickedly dangerous bat, and he continues to grow on me. He hasn’t cracked my Top 100 yet, but that could end up being a mistake.

Oneil Cruz PIT, SS, 23.8 – The savoir of Pittsburgh has finally ascended with Cruz getting the call for tonight’s game vs. Chicago. I hope NL Central pitchers enjoyed their Father’s Day yesterday, because their new daddy has arrived.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 445 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 16 2023 FYPD RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

Posted on June 14, 2022June 18, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Patreon Post: Top 445 June 2022 Dynasty Baseball Rankings

It’s Dynasty Baseball Rankings Week over on the Patreon. We complete the rankings today with the Top 445. Quick notes for almost every player. Here is the Top 445 June 2022 Dynasty Baseball Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 445 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Tier 1

1) (1) (1) Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 27.11 – Surface stats haven’t been as good on the hitting side, but a .395 xwOBA shows he’s as good as ever. On the pitching side he’s setting a career high mark on K% (31.7%) and BB% (5.8% BB%).

2) (3) (3) Ronald Acuna Jr. ATL, OF, 24.5 – What torn ACL? Acuna is right back to being a beast with a .424 xwOBA and 11 steals in 32 games. His sprint speed is down to 28.1 ft/sec, but a 4.29 HP to 1B runtime is right in line with where he was in 2020-21

3) (2) (2) Juan Soto WASH, OF, 23.7 – 89.3 MPH EV is a career low, but his down surface stats (.835 OPS) are mostly due to a .228 BABIP.

4) (5) (8) Kyle Tucker HOU, OF, 25.4 – 13.4% BB% is a career high by far. He’s on pace for a 29/29 season

5) (4) (5) Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 23.5 – CT scan did not show enough healing to resume swinging and his timeline is pushed back

6) (22) (21) Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 21.4 – Hasn’t established himself as a truly elite hitter yet, but it seems like a foregone conclusion

7) (26) (20) Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 21.10 – Slashing .278/.339/.602 with 7 homers, 5 steals, and a 27/9 K/BB in his last 29 games. Rodriguez and Witt have done enough to prove they are going to be elite fantasy players, even if they aren’t quite there yet

8) (7) (15) Yordan Alvarez HOU, OF, 24.10 – .489 xwOBA is just stupid. In a 5×5 BA league I just don’t think I can give up the all category potential of Witt and Rodriguez though. I will update the Universal Rankings (and OBP rankings too) in 2 weeks, and those rankings will be a different story

9) (6) (4) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. TOR, 1B, 23.2 – .247 BABIP is keeping the surface stats down, and a .392 xwOBA is still elite. The launch angle is back down to 4.4 degrees though

Tier 2

10) (11) (7) Trea Turner LAD, SS, 28.10 – Here’s what I wrote in last month’s update, “2021 homer breakout hasn’t held with only 1 homer, but a career high 50% HardHit% shows the power will likely come” He’s ripped 6 homers since then

11) (12) (12) Jose Ramirez CLE, 3B, 29.6 – He’s back to running with 6 steals in his last 19 games. If I was rebuilding, I would likely prefer the youngsters ranked after him

12) (8) (6) Bo Bichette TOR, SS, 24.3 – Slashing .314/.369/.598 with 7 homers, 1 steal, and a 23/9 K/BB in his last 24 games. Sprint speed is down to a mediocre 27.3 MPH and he’s only 4 for 7 on the bases. It’s not a great sign for his future stolen base numbers

13) (9) (10) Luis Robert CHW, OF, 24.10 – In the midst of a cold streak with a .520 OPS in his last 14 games. Underlying numbers show he is still a 5×5 BA beast

14) (10) (11) Wander Franco TBR, SS, 21.3 – Has been out for all of June with a quad injury

15) (13) (13) Bryce Harper PHI, OF, 29.5 – Small tear in his UCL doesn’t seem to be an issue as he has a 1.006 OPS in his last 20 games

16) (14) (17) Mike Trout LAA, OF, 30.9 – He’s dodged a couple of land mines with some minor injuries that he’s managed to come back quickly from

Shadow16) (14) (13) Shohei Ohtani LAA, DH only/Weekly Leagues, 27.9

17) (19) (22) Mookie Betts LAD, OF, 29.6 – 1.038 OPS in his last 29 games definitely answered the question of whether he is still elite or not

18) (16) (14) Rafael Devers BOS, 3B, 25.6

19) (17) (16) Corbin Burnes MIL, RHP, 27.6

20) (35) (69) Shane McClanahan TBR, LHP, 25.0 – 0.90 ERA with a 51/4 K/BB in his last 40 IP. He might be the best pitcher in baseball. I named McClanahan as one of my Top 10 Targets on July 1st of last year, finishing the write up by saying, ” I would consider making an offer that seems like an overpay on it’s face, but actually might look like a steal one year from now.” Safe to say if you traded for him then, it looks like a steal today.

21) (24) (27) Aaron Judge NYY, OF, 30.0 – 24 homers leads the majors by far. Alsono is 2nd with 18

22) (18) (18) Manny Machado SD, 3B, 29.10 – Cooling off a little with a .625 OPS in his last 18 games

Tier 3

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)

Posted on June 6, 2022June 6, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/6/22)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/6/22):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED JUNE 2022 TOP 350 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED MAY 2022 TOP 433 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Emmanuel Rodriguez MIN, OF, 19.4 – 1 for 2 with a homer, 2 walks and 0 K’s. Baby Bonds has more walks than strikeouts with a 51/54 K/BB in 45 games at Single-A, and his 1.063 OPS is far and away the best OPS in the FSL (the underrated Gabriel Martinez is 2nd at .883). Rodriguez still doesn’t get nearly the respect he deserves, and is already a Top 100 Prospect for me, checking in at #90 on my Top 350 June Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings that hit my Patreon last week.

Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 18.3 – Chourio has a legitimate shot to be the next big thing. He’s a tooled up 18-year-old who is beating up on older competition in full season ball, muscling out his 4th homer of the year yesterday. He’s slashing .371/.417/.595 with 4 homers, 3 steals, and a 26.0%/7.9% K%/BB% in 27 games at Single-A.

Logan O’Hoppe PHI, C, 22.3 – O’Hoppe homered for the 3rd time in 4 games at Double-A. He now has 11 homers with a .997 OPS and 15.6%/11.8% K%/BB% in 44 games. The hype has really started to percolate on him. Here’s what I wrote about O’Hoppe in my off-season, February 10th Hitters to Target (Patreon) writeup, “Easily the most underrated catcher in the minors. He’s a lock to stick behind the plate with plus raw power and plus contact rates.” Let the record show that the aforementioned Chourio was also included in that off-season Target Series.

DL Hall BAL, LHP, 23.8 – 5 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 9/2 K/BB at Triple-A. Isn’t Grayson just the perfect child with his pristine walk rates, diverse pitch mix, and trendy first name, but now he’s out until September with a lat injury, and it’s time for the wild child to take centerstage. Yea, Hall’s control isn’t that great, and yea, he’s not 6’5” 220 pounds, but he’s ready to shine for all of the kids out there who grew up in their sibling’s shadow. And no, I’m definitely not projecting at all! 😉

Cole Henry WASH, RHP, 22.11 – Henry made his Triple-A debut and went 5 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/1 K/BB. He’s 6’4”, 215 pounds with some legitimately filthy stuff. He made Gabriel Moreno and his plus hit tool look silly on a first inning K.

Ezequiel Duran TEX, 2B/SS, 23.0 – I ranked Duran 39th overall in last week’s Top 350 June Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings and wrote, “Quickly becoming one of my favorite prospects with 7 homers, 7 steals, and a 17% K% in 41 games at Double-A. He also passes the “eye test” as he’s an explosive player and the ball explodes off his bat. 6.6% BB% shows he’s still a little too aggressive at the plate.” He has since got the call to the bigs and showed that explosiveness, drilling a 402 foot dinger off a 99.5 MPH Andres Munoz fastball. This dude can be a true difference maker.

Alejandro Kirk TOR, C, 23.7 – The inevitable Kirk breakout has finally arrived with him hitting a 416 foot blast for his 4th homer in 5 games. His underlying numbers are straight elite with a 8.6%/12.3% K%/BB% and a .393 xwOBA. Gabriel Moreno keeps getting more and more blocked.

Brendan Rodgers COL, 2B, 25.10 – 3 for 5 with a double and a homer. Rodgers has been red hot since May began, slashing .344/.380/.566 with 6 homers and a 20/6 K/BB in 30 games. The underlying numbers still aren’t all the great on the season with a 3.5 degree launch angle and .313 xwOBA, but if you’ve been holding strong on Rodgers for the last several years, this is your time.

Alex Kirilloff MIN, 1B/OF, 24.4 – 2 for 5 with 2 homers and now has 4 homers in his last 3 games at Triple-A. The wrist must be feeling A-OK as he’s utterly destroying Triple-A with a 1.050 OPS in 26 games. He’s back on track to become one the top young hit/power combo hitters in the game.

Bryson Stott PHI, SS, 24.8 – Stott is heating up, walloping his 2nd MLB homer and now has a 1.122 OPS in his last 5 games. An 84.1 MPH EV is still horrific, but a 24.3% whiff% and 16.7 degree launch angle is forming a nice foundation if he can keep hitting the ball harder.

Shane Baz TBR, RHP, 22.11 – 10/1 K/BB in 4.1 IP at Triple-A. Ummmm … I think it’s safe to say the rust has been shaken off. I can’t imagine it’s that much longer before he gets recalled.

Jakob Junis SFG, RHP, 29.9 – 6 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 8/2 K/BB vs. Miami. He has a 2.51 ERA in 43 IP, but I’m not sure I’m really buying in. A 23.9% whiff% overall is mediocre and his slider is only putting up a 26.8% whiff%. The sinker sits 91.1 MPH. I trust the 3.96 xERA more, which is still a step forward from where he’s been in his career prior to this year.

Martin Perez TEX, LHP, 31.2 – 6 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, 7/2 K/BB vs. Seattle. 20.7% K%, 5.9% BB% and 2.6% barrel% are all career bests. This isn’t exactly an in your face breakout, more of a doing a little bit of everything better breakout. My gut says this will be hard to maintain, and I surely wouldn’t want to pay up big for him in a trade, but if I owned him (I don’t) I would be enjoying the hell out of the ride while it lasts.

Mike Trout LAA, OF, 30.10 – 29.4 ft/sec sprint speed is a 5 year high and nearly a career high, and yet he hasn’t attempted a single steal. Even with him absolutely mashing he’s still ranked only 24th on the Razzball Player Rater. That, plus his age, is why I find it hard to rank him over 14th overall on my Top 433 May Dynasty Baseball Rankings.

Spencer Steer MIN, SS, 24.6 – Steer went nuclear yesterday, cracking 3 homers. He now has 6 homers with an 11/6 K/BB in 13 games since getting the call to Triple-A. I see some Alex Bregman in his game and a little Brian Dozier too. Not saying he’ll be as good as those guys, but I’m buying in.

Colin Barber HOU, OF, 21.4 – Barber has quietly been having an excellent season, but it got a whole lot louder after going deep twice yesterday. He has a 17.4%/12.8% K%/BB% with a .956 OPS in 37 games at High-A. He’s ridiculously underrated.

Ian Lewis MIA, 2B, 19.4 – Lewis got a late start to the season, but it didn’t take him long to prove his skills will translate to full season ball. He drilled his 2nd homer of the year and has a .864 OPS with a 18.3% K% and 2 steals in 20 games at Single-A. His stock is rising.

Sal Frelick MIL, OF, 22.2 – Frelick got ahold of his first homer in 19 games since getting called up to Double-A. It’s just his 3rd homer in 41 games on the season, but it comes with 9 steals and a 14.6%/10.8% K%/BB%. I will say I’m a little concerned with how much his value will be tied to stolen bases. He’s been caught 4 times this year, and we’ve seen guys like Nick Madrigal not run at all. If the steal totals are mediocre on the MLB level, the upside really isn’t there.

Noelvi Marte SEA, SS, 20.7 – 2 for 4 with his 5th homer in 46 games at High-A. People are starting to sour on Marte with a mediocre .732 OPS, but I think it’s mostly due to poor HR/FB luck. 24.9%/10.8% K%/BB% with a 40.7% GB% tells me a homer binge is likely coming down the pike. If you’re a rebuilding team, now could be a good time to buy low if he’s sitting on the roster of a contender.

Angel Martinez CLE, 2B/3B/SS, 20.2 – Martinez went 3 for 5 with a double and 2 homers at High-A (3 homers in 34 games). The power is big to see because the plate approach (19.7%/13.6% K%/BB%) and speed (7 steals) are both there, so developing some legitimate power will take him to the next level.

Andres Gimenez CLE, 2B/SS, 23.9 – The power breakout is holding up with Gimenez smacking a 105.9 MPH dinger for his 3rd homer in his last 5 games in the majors. His 89.9 MPH EV is up 3.6 MPH from last year. He feels like he’s been around forever, but he’s only 23 years old, and he’s lightning fast with a 29.3 ft/sec sprint speed. 2.8% BB% isn’t great, but there is very real upside here in a 5×5 BA league especially.

Cal Mitchell PIT, OF, 23.4 – Mitchell rocked his first MLB homer off Zac Gallen. It’s nice to see the above average K rates transferring to the majors with a 18.4% K%, but there doesn’t seem to be much upside here with a 3.5 degree launch angle and 26.2 ft/sec sprint speed. His groundball rates were high at Triple-A too. He’s getting his shot and can certainly be solid, but not sure he’s going to be a difference maker.

Jack Suwinski PIT, OF, 23.10 – Between Mitchell and Suwinski, I think I prefer Suwinski, but it’s close. He went 3 for 4 with 2 doubles at 108.9 and 107.5 MPH. He’s kept the K% in check in the majors with a 25.6% K%, and he has some speed (28.5 ft/sec sprint speed) and some pop (6 homers in 34 games).

Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC, OF, 20.2 – Pete Crow got the call to High-A last week and it didn’t take long for him to get acclimated, cracking his first homer at the level to the deepest part of the ballpark. He has 8 homers in 43 games overall. He never got enough credit for his power potential, and he’s now leaving no doubt there is legitimate juice in his bat. I predicted the power breakout in my off-season Predicting the 2023 Top 50 Dynasty Baseball Prospects (Patreon), but I also predicted that Luis Matos would go 20/20, so it’s a give and take.

Marcus Semien TEX, SS/2B 31.8 – 2 for 5 with a dinger, and now has 3 homers, 4 steals, and a .822 OPS in his last 10 games. We have a pulse.

Cristian Hernandez CHC, SS, 18.6 – Rookie Ball starts today. Can’t wait to start digging for the next group of breakouts.

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)