I’m going to be running down all of the latest happenings in the dynasty baseball world every Monday morning (check out my Patreon for a ton more of this content all week). Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/22/21):
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Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 26.9 – Just another average day for Ohtani where he went 2 for 2 with a walk at the dish, and went 4 IP with 2 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB on the mound. Ho hum.
Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 20.3/Jarred Kelenic SEA, OF, 21.8 – Rodriguez and Kelenic both went deep (a sentence that is going to be music to Mariners fans ears for years to come), and both are ripping up spring pitching (1.035 OPS for Rodgiguez and 1.212 OPS for Kelenic).
Freddy Peralta MIL, Setup, 24.10 – Peralta sure looks ready for a rotation spot, going 4.2 IP with 5 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB on 85 pitches. There was a bidding war for him that skyrocketed his price in my auction league on Saturday, so the buy window may already be closed.
Trevor Rogers MIA, LHP, 23.5 – Another excellent outing (5 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 6/1 K/BB) as he averaged 94.6 MPH on the fastball and put up a 33% whiff% (50% whiff% on the slider). He’s been a strikeout machine this spring with a 19/4 K/BB in 13.1 IP. I mentioned it in my Patreon Rundown for his last outing, but I’ve been high on Rogers since he was drafted and continued to be this off-season by ranking him 84th overall on my top 100. The hype is in overdrive now, so hope you were able to get in early.
Jazz Chisholm MIA, SS, 23.2 – Chishom is another Marlins prospects I was high on this off-season, and he showed off his power yesterday with a 415 foot, 109.8 MPH homer off Enoli Paredes. He’s out hit Isan Diaz easily this spring (.871 OPS vs. .499 OPS), but it seems like the Marlins want Diaz to win the job, so Chisholm may be sent down regardless.
William Contreras ATL, C, 23.3 – Knocked his first homer of the Spring and is now 3 for 12 with a 4/5 K/BB. He’s not ready to concede the starting catcher job of the future to Shea Langeliers, and ultimately we could be looking at a timeshare for years to come if one isn’t traded.
Matt Manning DET, RHP, 23.3 – 2 IP with 3 hits, 2 earned and a 2/2/ K/BB. He couldn’t maintain the 95.6 MPH fastball velocity he showed in his last outing, sitting 92.7 MPH yesterday.
Akil Baddoo DET, OF, 22.7 – Make it #4 for Baddoo on a 104 MPH blast off Chase Anderson. He also stole his 2nd base of the spring. He might not even be next man up in Detroit’s OF with Victor Reyes ahead of him, but he’s put himself back on the map to say the least.
Jeremy Pena HOU, SS, 23.6 – Got ahold of his 2nd spring homer on a 104.5 MPH bomb off Trevor Rogers. The more he shows off that power the more his stock will rise.
Trevor Larnach MIN, OF, 24.1 – Launched his first dinger of the spring in 8 at-bats. He’s been the forgotten Twin with Kirilloff and Rooker getting all the attention recently.
Ryan Mountcastle BAL, OF/1B, 24.1 – Mountcastle is heating up with a homer in back to back games and now has 3 overall. He has still yet to walk with a higher BA than OBP (.250 vs. .243), and the 7.9% mark he put up in the majors was the highest of his career, so it will be interesting to see if that number regresses a bit in 2021.
Ke’Bryan Hayes PIT, 3B, 24.2 – He’s yet to cool off from 2020, as Hayes ripped his 2nd triple and is now slashing .441/.486/.824 with 1 homer, 2 steals, and a 4/3 K/BB.
Carlos Rodon CHW, LHP, 28.4 – Is running away with the 5th starter job as Rodon pitched well again, going 4 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 5/0 K/BB (Reynaldo Lopez got hit up for 4 ER with 1 K in 3 IP). He averaged 93.9 MPH on the fastball which is the hardest he has thrown since 2016. He’s put himself on the map as a late round flier.
David Bote CHC, 2B/3B, 28.0 – Bote is one of my favorite part time players in the league, and he went deep twice yesterday to continue his dominant spring (1.212 OPS).
Keibert Ruiz LAD, C, 22.8 – 2 for 2 with 0 K’s yesterday and is now 4 for 4 with 0 K’s on the spring. Ruiz has shown a special ability to hit since he stepped foot on a professional baseball field.
Tony Gonsolin LAD, RHP, 26.11 – Gave up a couple dingers to sully his pitching line (4.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER), but the 5/0 K/BB was on point. He’s looked great this spring with a pitching line of 2.61/0.39/12/0 in 10.1 IP. I’m high on him even without a rotation spot, but if he had one, I would be all over him.
Oscar Mercado CLE, OF, 26.4 – Sent down to the alt site in a surprising move (I wasn’t all that high on him to begin with at 341), which opens the door for a possible timeshare with Bradley Zimmer and Amed Rosario. Zimmer went 1 for 3 with a double, walk, and a strikeout yesterday. The batting average might tank you (.224 career BA), but he has a fantasy friendly speed/power combo. Rosario will have to improve his defense to get an extended shot.
Ian Anderson ATL, RHP, 22.11 – He didn’t pitch yesterday, but he impressed in his start on Friday with 9 K’s in 4.1 IP. That gives him 18 K’s in 9.2 IP on the spring as he has consistently induced swinging strikes with his elite ability to tunnel his pitches.
By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)