Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (8/23/21)

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 (8/23/21):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF CONTENT THE REST OF THE SEASON AND ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-Top 422 August 2021 Dynasty Baseball Rankings
-Top 300 July 2021 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings
-2021/22 Top 50 First Year Player Draft Dynasty Baseball Rankings
-Tons of Dynasty Rundowns
-10 Dynasty Baseball Players to Target
-Dynasty Baseball Trade Strategies at the Halfway Point (Contending, Mid Pack, Rebuilding)

Coby Mayo BAL, 3B, 19.7 – After destroying Rookie Ball, Mayo had his coming out party in full season ball by going 2 for 4 with his first homer at the level in 6 games. He has a lightening quick swing and the ball jumps off his bat. I can’t get enough of Mayo as a prospect, but as a condiment, the thought of it globbing out of my sandwich makes me queasy even as I’m writing this. Gotta go light on the mayo. He clocked in at #126 on my July Top 300 Prospects Rankings, and he’ll enter my Top 100 on the Updated August Prospects Rankings that are dropping tomorrow on my Patreon.

Jake Burger CHW, 3B, 25.4 – Burger went 2 for 5 with his 12th dinger in 52 games at Triple-A. The power is certainly legit as he notched a 98 MPH EV in his MLB cup of coffee earlier this year, but the strikeouts will have to come down to get consistent playing time. With Burger slotting in under Mayo, now we just need a prospect named Frankie Buns to complete the happy meal.

Riley Greene DET, OF, 20.11 – Greene had already shot up into elite prospect status by ranking 7th overall on that July update, and he has only taken it up a notch since then, slashing .370/.452/.685 with 7 homers and a 32/15 K/BB in his last 27 games. The last 6 of those games were at Triple-A, and he obliterated an upper deck homer for his first at the level yesterday. It was a lefty on lefty shot off a pretty weak, mislocated breaking ball.

Blaze Jordan BOS, 3B, 18.8 – Jordan already blazed a trail well into my Top 100 prospects on my Updated August Top 422 Dynasty Baseball Rankings on Patreon, and he showed why yesterday as he blasted a grand slam after Nick Yorke was intentionally walked ahead of him. Nothing feels sweeter than getting disrespected and then immediately shoving it in the opposing teams face. It’s his 2nd homer in 3 games in full season ball.

Nick Yorke BOS, 2B, 19.6 – Speaking of Yorke, he got intentionally walked for a reason, and that reason is that he has been molten hot. He went 2 for 4 with 2 walks and is now slashing .413/.500/.800 with 7 homers and a 6/11 K/BB in his last 19 games. Boston obviously knew what they were doing when they drafted him 17th overall in 2020.

Robert Hassell SD, OF, 20.0 – Power is really the only thing Hassell hasn’t answered yet with a 52.7% GB%, but the power stroke looked good yesterday as he went deep to left centerfield on a high fastball. It was only his 6th on the year in 88 games, but his 17.2%/13.6% K%/BB%, 28 doubles, and 30 stolen bases have picked up the slack. It will likely take a swing adjustment to unlock more power, but even as is he is looking like he will be an impact fantasy player.

Cal Quantrill CLE, RHP, 26.7 – 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 9/2 K/BB. His sinker averaged 94.2 MPH and he put up a 29% whiff% overall. He has induced weak contact his entire career with an above average 87.3 MPH EV against, and now his K’s are picking up with 39 strikeouts in his last 37 IP. He has the bloodlines and Cleveland knows a thing or two about pitching development. He’s shaping up to be an interesting target in next year’s draft. This is the type of guy you need to get on the cheap and hit on if you build with offense first in dynasty.

Carlos Hernandez KC, RHP, 24.5 – 7 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 8/3 K/BB. His sinker averaged 97.5 MPH and his slider put up a 43% whiff%. Hernandez has big stuff with some control issues (11.3% BB%), and while he hasn’t put up big K numbers in his career, yesterday was definitely a step in the right direction. He’s another intriguing option who will likely be available in 2022 drafts in many leagues.

Nick Gonzales PIT, 2B/SS, 22.3 – 4 for 5 with a double and dinger. Gonzales has been red hot at High-A, slashing .375/.441/.602 with 5 homers, 2 steals, and a 35/12 K/BB in his last 31 games. He’s still striking out too much, but the guy definitely has some legit juice in his bat.

Nick Pratto KC, 1B, 23.0 – Pratto’s comeback tour continued yesterday as he ripped his 10th homer in 29 games at Triple-A. He’s homered in 4 straight games and is now putting up a higher wRC+ at Triple-A than he did at Double-A (164 vs. 156). Not too bad for a guy who was left for dead 2 years ago.

Ezequiel Tovar COL, SS, 20.2 – Tovar’s breakout season slowed down a bit at High-A, but he picked it up big time yesterday, going 5 for 8 with a double and a homer in a doubleheader. He’s maintained his elite contact percentage with a 10.9% K% in 14 games, so while his GB% and BB% have tanked, he hasn’t been too overmatched.

Jhonkensy Noel CLE, 1B/3B, 20.3 – Noel slammed his first homer in 5 games at High-A to left center. He’s had some swing and miss issues at the level with a 8/0 K/BB which he didn’t show at Single-A (16.7% K%), so that will be something to watch. The power is unquestioned though as he now has 12 homers in 49 games on the year.

Matthew Fraizer PIT, OF, 23.8 – Fraizer annihilated High-A with a 158 wRC+, but he was a bit old for the level to start getting excited. Now he’s performing even better at Double-A as he cracked his 2nd homer to go along with 6 doubles and 3 triples. He has a 1.112 OPS in 16 games. He’s still not a spring chicken at 23 years old, but I think it’s time to start getting excited.

Drey Jameson ARI, RHP, 24.0 – 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 10/2 K/BB at Double-A. Since giving up 8 earned in 3.1 IP on June 19th, Jameson has been lights out with a 1.81 ERA and 79/13 K/BB in 59.2 IP. 27.1 of those innings have come at Double-A where he’s dominated hitters with mid 90’s heat and a 4 pitch mix. After putting up a 4.2 BB/9 in college, he now has that down to 2.9 in pro ball.

Ryan Murphy SF, RHP, 21.10 – 5 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 7/1 K/BB at High-A on Friday. A Patreon member, Tate, who has a close eye on San Francisco prospects asked me why Ryan Murphy hasn’t been getting any hype. I’ll let him take it away: “I’ve been watching his starts every time they come up. I thought it was FB/SL but I’ve come away feeling (and if my numbers are correct) that the knuckle curve he throws is his best pitch. Most swinging strikes. Changeup is not good. Really stiff. I’m going to say something controversial: I think I prefer him to Kyle Harrison at this time.” If Murphy wasn’t on your radar before, he should be.

Kyren Paris LAA, SS, 19.10 – Paris got ahold of his 2nd homer in 28 games at Single-A. He has double plus speed (16 steals) and is a walk machine (20.5% K%), but either the K% is going to have to come down (28%) or the power is going to have to seriously tick up for him to take the next step.

Michael Busch LAD, 2B, 23.10 – Busch launched his 16th homer in 88 games at Double-A. He hasn’t been as extreme of a flyball hitter as the year has gone on with a 40% GB%, but he is still walking a ton with a 15.1% BB%

Connor Norby BAL, 2B, 21.2 – The 41st pick in the draft, Norby is known as a good all around hitter who uses the whole field, and he showed just that he cracked his first pro homer at Single-A to the opposite field. He put up some eye popping numbers this year in the AAC, and is starting to get hot in pro ball with a 1.020 OPS in 5 games at Single-A.

Jake McCarthy ARI, OF, 24.1 – 3 for 4 with a triple and a homer at Triple-A. McCarthy has been quietly putting together a very fantasy friendly season in the upper minors this year with 13 homers and 29 steals in 82 games. He brought his K% down to 22.9% in 47 games at Triple-A (29.5% at Double-A). He still hits the ball on the ground too much and will have to fight for playing time when he does eventually get his shot in the majors, but I have a sneaky suspicion he will be fantasy relevant in the near future.

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

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