Damn it feels good to be doing the Rundowns again! It’s only Spring and it’s only one game, but I’m buzzing that there is officially new games and data to analyze … and more accurately at this time of year … to overanalyze. As usual, I’m doing Dynasty Baseball Rundowns all Spring, with most of them coming on the Patreon, and a few coming on the Brick Wall like this one (usually on Monday’s, but I’ll make an exception for Spring Training Opening Day). There is sooooooooo much off-season content already up on the Patreon, and there is much more coming, in particular one of my favorite articles to write every year, Predicting the Top 50 2026 Prospects Rankings which doubles as a Bold Predictions article. But first, here is the Spring Training Opening Day Dynasty Baseball Rundown:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 C–Top 83 1B–Top 98 2B–Top 109 3B–Top 154 SS–Top 260 OF-Top 305 SP-Top 76 RP
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST
-SPREADSHEETS

Gage Workman – CHC, SS/3B, 25.5 – Is it too early to victory lap? … Mere days after naming Workman a target in my Position by Position Target Series, he stole the show on Spring Opening Day, going the opposite way off lefty Justin Wrobelski at 101.5 MPH for his first dinger. He also tacked on a 99.9 MPH single off a 95.7 MPH Yamamoto fastball. Those are legit pitchers, but granted, they weren’t exactly game planning against him. I’ve never wanted to be more wrong about a target in my life, because if Workman breaks out, it very likely means the true love of my life, Matt Shaw, was a bust. This will be my saddest victory lap ever. It will be like one of those Tik Tok’s where the girl is both dancing and crying at the same time. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t ignore that he’s 6’4”, 202 pounds with a plus power/speed combo and big time production at Double-A. Being a Rule 5 pick means he’s almost certainly going to make the team. Being right on Workman will be a disaster!

Kevin Alcantara – CHC, OF, 22.8 – The only thing that can be a bigger disaster than a Workman breakout is an Alcantara breakout. My love for Pete Crow Armstrong makes Matt Shaw look like a mere side piece. I’ve named Alcantara a target for a couple years now because he has straight Forgotten Unicorn status at 6’6”, 188 pounds with an at least plus raw power/speed combo. He just needs continued refinement, and he looked damn refined yesterday, going 2 for 3 with a 107.3 MPH single, a 79.7 MPH single off a 95.9 MPH Yamamoto fastball, a 97.3 MPH flyout, and 0 strikeouts. The bat control and hit tool didn’t look bad at all here. I will be on my knees weeping if I’m right about Alcantara, because that means PCA was a bust or hurt, but if you know me, I’ll still cry crawl that victory lap like one of those marathon runners who lost control of all of their bodily functions and just drags their ass over the finish line.

Bobby Miller – LAD, RHP, 26.0 – I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, because really the most important thing by far is that Miller’s okay after getting drilled with a 105.5 MPH comebacker to the head. I almost don’t want to do this blurb, because holy crap was that angle of it was so scary. Genuinely just hope there aren’t any lasting effects both physically and mentally. So I say this reluctantly, but he looked like the same guy from 2024 before that scary moment. He went 0.1 IP with 1 hit, 2 ER, and a 0/1 K/BB. He had a 0% whiff% on 11 pitches. His fastball sat 97.9 MPH which was in line with his decreased velocity from 2024. Basically everything looked like 2024. If you were hoping for him to come back this year looking like fire and going on a revenge tour, well, it certainly it didn’t happen in his first outing. He also needs to actually win a rotation spot back, so easing into things might not really work. But back to my original point, a moment like that makes you remember what is really important in life. Without your health, you have nothing. It’s also only February 21st, so he has plenty of time.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – LAD, RHP, 26.8 – Yamamoto was everyone’s favorite shiny new toy at this time last off-season, and now that he went out and proved in 2024, I feel people just kinda quietly cooled on him. People are weird like that. The most important thing for him is to just look healthy though, and he certainly did yesterday, going 1.2 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 2/0 K/BB. The fastball sat 95.6 MPH and the curve and cutter notched a 33% whiff%. He’s not in mid season form, but this start is all systems go for Yamamoto.

Justin Wrobleski – LAD, LHP, 24.9 – 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB. The fastball was down 1+ ticks to 93.6 MPH, but it’s likely he’s just easing back into things, and it’s not like he’s realistically competing for a rotation spot or anything, so no need for him to come out throwing flames. Honestly, he seems miles away from a rotation spot. I like Wrobleski, but I’m not sure his upside is high enough to really voluntarily give yourself the headache that is the Dodgers rotation depth.

Ivan Brethowr CHC, OF, 22.1 – Brethowr didn’t have the type of pro debut (.527 OPS in 23 games at Single-A) to get on my radar as a 7th round college bat last year, but he surely got on radars yesterday as the 6’6”, 250 pound behemoth destroyed a batting practice 92.1 MPH fastball. It was a lefty pitcher (he’s a righty), and even with the terrible pro debut, he destroyed lefties with a .958 OPS in 9 PA. The swing doesn’t look particularly fast or short to me, which is likely why he dropped to the 7th round, and it seems a short side of a platoon bat is the best case scenario. But I mean, he’s a giant who clearly has real power. Feel free to keep an eye on him, but not sure there is much here.

Jonathon Long – CHI, 1B, 23.2 – I pulled a rabbit out of my hat with Long as a deep FYPD sleeper last year who went bonkos in 2024, and while he didn’t have a great game, he keeps on proving the bat is real. He went 0 for 2 with a walk, but those 2 outs were hit damn hard. One he crushed at 107.5 MPH for a lineout and the other was a 92.7 MPH flyout (not as impressive). But point being, the guy can hit the ball hard. I don’t see a path to playing time, and he’s the type that is going to have to absolutely kick the door down, probably in his mid 20’s, so he’s still only a deeper league guy.

Hye-seong Kim – LAD, 2B, 26.2 – Bet against the Dodgers development at your own risk. I already like Kim as a low key target, trusting the Dodgers to get the most out of his development, and then I read this article that is just gushing with praise about him out of Dodgers camp. He apparently loves to brag about his extremely low body fat percentage, but why do I have the feeling that 6 months in America is going to change that. hah … or maybe not if Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has anything to say about it Either way, maybe a smash burger or two won’t do him so bad to get those EV’s up. The article talks about changing his bat path to get to more power, adding EV, and how his glove his straight elite. He went 0 for 1 with a 49.4 MPH groundout, so I guess he can only go up from here. You know, it’s a process. He ranked 408th overall in my Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon).

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 C–Top 83 1B–Top 98 2B–Top 109 3B–Top 154 SS–Top 260 OF-Top 305 SP-Top 76 RP
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST
-SPREADSHEETS

By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)