Damn it feels good to have pro ball back. I’ll be running down the action all spring and all season on my Patreon (free posts on my site are usually on Monday’s). Here is the Spring Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/19/22):

Akil Baddoo DET, OF, 23.7 – Baddoo is gonna Doo Bad things to MLB pitching this year, and he got off to a strong start this spring by smashing a 405 foot, 107.5 MPH dinger off Cam Bedrosian. I named him one of my Hitters to Target (Patreon) because I thought the power was going to tick up. So far, so good.

Riley Greene DET, OF, 21.6 – Greene crushed the hardest hit ball of the game with a 109.8 MPH moonshot that was launched 47 degrees in the air. Detroit’s manager claims they aren’t going to play team control games with Greene and Tork, so if they perform well this spring, we’ll see if he was just blowing smoke or not.

Nick Pratto KCR, 1B, 23.6 – Pratto went to deep to centerfield off Jack Leiter for his first spring homer, and finished the day 2 for 2 with a walk and 0 K”s. If he can improve his strikeout rate, watch out, because the power is so sincere. I ranked Pratto 9th on my Top 100 Redraft Prospects Rankings (Patreon), and think he is one of the best values in redraft leagues.

Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 21.3 – Rodriguez hit the shot heard round the world, decimating a 117 MPH pull side homer. If you didn’t know yet, he is going be prettttty, prettty, pretttty good. I don’t care if you are a win now team, don’t trade this man.

Jack Leiter TEX, RHP, 21.11 – Speaking of Leiter, he got lit up, pitching 1.2 IP with 2 hits, 3 ER and a 4/2 K/BB. His fastball was up into the upper 90’s and the K numbers looked good, so I obviously wouldn’t panic.

Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 21.9 – Witt went 2 for 2 with a double and no strikeouts. We already know he can dominate spring pitching, but it’s still important he does it in order to force KC’s hand to start him on Opening Day.

Justin Verlander HOU, RHP, 39.1 – Verlander has been one of the best targets for win now teams this off-season, and that value could disappear after proving the stuff was back yesterday. His fastball averaged 95.9 MPH and the spin on his curve and slider were back to normal. He went 2 IP with 0 hits, 0 earned and a 2/1 K/BB.

Matthew Liberatore STL, LHP, 22.5 – Liberatore knows how to pitch, but his strikeout numbers didn’t pop in 2021 and he didn’t have overpowering stuff. His first appearance in 2022 shows there could be improvement coming, averaging 94.5 MPH with his fastball and putting up a 44% whiff%. He went 2 IP with 2 hits, 1 ER, and a 3/0 K/BB. Arrow is pointing up early.

Bobby Dalbec BOS, 1B, 26.9 – For the 2nd game in a row, Dalbec ripped a homer and struck out once in 2 AB. He needs to improve his K% if he wants to lock down that starting job long term. Although if he keeps hitting homers every game I guess it’s easy to overlook that.

Drew Waters ATL, OF, 23.3 – Waters will try to regain his value this year after a rough 2021, and he got on the board early with an absolute shot to left center that hit that perfect sweet spot on the bat which results in one of my favorite sounds in the world.

Bryce Elder ATL, RHP, 22.10 – Elder clocked in at #899 on my Top 1,000 Rankings (updated rankings will be released for free sometime next week) because of his ability to be a solid, if unspectacular starter. He showed those skills yesterday, going 3 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 2/0 K/BB.

Hayden Wesneski NYY, RHP, 24.4 – Wesneski looked absolutely filthy in his spring debut with a 95.6 MPH fastball that put up a 38% whiff%. His curve (best secondary) put up a 40% whiff%, his change put up a 50% whiff%, and he threw one slider which had twitter’s head exploding. He went 3 IP with 2 hits, 1 ER, and a 4/1 K/BB.

Nick Lodolo CIN, LHP, 24.2 – Lodolo was straight filthy, going 2 perfect innings with 4 K’s. He’s going to be a strikeout machine no matter what level he pitches at.

Brandon Williamson CIN, LHP, 24.0 – The newest Red made his debut, going 1.2 IP with 3 hits, 1 ER and a 2/2 K/BB. I have him more as a mid to back end guy, especially in Cincy’s hitter’s park.

Jorge Alfaro SDP, C, 28.10 – There is a catcher competition in San Diego which likely will last into the season, and Alfaro put himself on the map first with a walk off 3 run homer. Nola and Campusano both went 0 for 2.

MacKenzie Gore SDP, LHP, 23.1 – There were already reports that Gore was consistently hitting the upper 90’s, but his control was the biggest thing in need of improvement. He proved the velocity gains were legit yesterday, and the control was on point too, going 2 perfect innings with 2 strikeouts. He clocked in at 86th overall on my Top 500 Prospects Rankings and the arrow continues to point back up.

Jo Adell LAA, OF, 23.0 – In 2020, Adell hit the ball really hard, but struck out a ton. In 2021, he brought his K% way down, but his EV plummeted. This is the year to put it all together, and so far, so good as Adell blasted a dinger off Brent Honeywell on a 2 for 3 day with 0 K’s. This could be the beginning of the breakout. Don’t give up on him.

Brent Honeywell OAK, RHP, 27.0 – We all want the Honeywell resurrection, but that hope isn’t off to a great start as he went 2.1 IP with 7 hits, 3 ER, and a 1/0 K/BB. Oakland has plenty of rotation spots up for grabs, but this doesn’t help his case to win one out of camp.

Ryne Nelson ARI, RHP, 24.2 – 4 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 2/0 K/BB. Nelson is known for is at least plus, mid 90’s fastball but it was non existent yesterday as the pitch averaged a measly 92.4 MPH. He put up an underwhelming 22% whiff% overall on the day. I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he is slowing ramping up, and he pitched well despite the velocity, but it’s something to watch at least.

Sandy Alcantara MIA, RHP, 26.7 – There is a split in the fantasy baseball world on Alcantara’s strikeout potential this year, and score one for the pessimists as he went 3 perfect innings with only 1 K. He’s going to be an excellent pitcher no matter what, but the question is just how good. Long way to go before drawing any conclusions.

Jazz Chisholm MIA, SS, 24.2 – Chisholm went 1 for 3 with a homer that he needed to bend down to almost dig it out of the dirt. He’s about to ascend to star status this year.

Clint Frazier CHC, OF, 27.7 – 1 for 1 with 2 walks and 0 K’s. Great to see Frazier shake off his concussion plagued 2021 to get off to a great start this spring. He’s going to need a strong showing to lock down the DH job, and my money is on him winning it.

Paul DeJong STL, SS, 28.8/Lars Nootbaar STL, OF, 24.7 – DeJong got the start at SS and Nootbaar got the start at DH. They are certainly in competition for these jobs, but this could indicate they are the favorites.

Keston Hiura MIL, 1B, 25.8 – 0 for 2 with a K. New swing, same results (so far)

Marco Luciano SFG, SS, 20.6 – 0 for 2 with a K. Here we go again

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