Angel Martinez – Imaginary Brick Wall

Posted on August 29, 2022August 29, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (8/29/22)

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 (8/29/22):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INCLUDING:
-TOP 350 AUGUST 2022 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 455 AUGUST 2022 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 10 TRADE NEGOTIATION TACTICS (one of my favorite things I’ve ever written)
-MID-SEASON OBP TOP 447 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-MID-SEASON POINTS/6+CATS/OPS “UNIVERSAL” TOP 430 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 40 2023 FYPD RANKINGS
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Kyle Manzardo TBR, 1B, 22.0 – Italian Lunch made quick work of the Blue Wahoos, ripping a line drive homer that made a beeline for the Truly Hard Seltzer sign hanging beyond the right field wall. I’m old enough to remember when a man choosing to drink a hard seltzer would be met with endless ridicule, but these days we can drink anything we want without being made fun of! Progress! Since being called up to Double-A he’s dominating with a 1.052 OPS and a 15.9% K%. Not missing a beat in the upper minors takes away any obstacle to flying him up the rankings. He checked in at #188 on the Updated Top 455 Dynasty Rankings that hit my Patreon last week.

Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 18.6 – Speaking of flying up the rankings, Jackson “flying up the rankings” Chourio cracked his 5th homer in 21 games at High-A (17 homers in 83 games overall) on a 1 for 2 with 0 K day. He now has a 130 wRC+ with a 20.8% K% at the level. I know some people are hesitant to go all in on an 18 year old in the lower minors, but this stage of a superstar’s career is when the biggest mistakes are made in dynasty. Don’t let a savvy manager steal him away from you for a good but not truly great win now piece this off-season.

Oswald Peraza NYY, SS, SS, 22.3 – “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” That quote couldn’t be truer when it comes to prospects. A bad start to the season will have guys tumble down the rankings, and even they play with their hair on fire for the rest of the year, it’s like barely anyone notices. Peraza legitimately decimated a 426 foot homer that left his bat in the blink of an eye. He also tacked on a stolen base and went 4 for 7 in a doubleheader. He’s slashing .293/.361/.507 with 13 homers, 21 steals, and a 61/20 K/BB in his last 58 games at Triple-A.

Nick Lodolo CIN, LHP, 24.5 – 7 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 5/1 K/BB vs. Miami. The underlying numbers looked better though with his curve and change putting up a silly 77% whiff% and 50% whiff%, respectively. The Solo Lodolo man is going to have to do it by himself because Cincy has the 3rd worst defense in baseball and the home ballpark is terrible too. It definitely puts a little damper on how good I think he could be in a more neutral pitching environment, but I love him enough to overlook the negatives. He clocked in at #116 overall on the Updated Top 455 Dynasty Rankings. I’m all in on him despite the red flags that are being waved directly in front of my eyes.

Roansy Contreras PIT, RHP, 22.9 – 5 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 7/2 K/BB vs. PHI. The underlying numbers were a mixed bag with his velocity down majorly across the board, but it was working for him because he put up a 40% whiff% with a 86.4 EV against. The fastball being down almost 2 MPH to a pedestrian 94.3 MPH isn’t great to see though. I’m honestly not sure what to think here, but I’m leaning more towards the positive side.

Taj Bradley TBR, RHP, 21.7 – Bradley desperately needed a good start at Triple-A after a stretch of rough ones, and he got it yesterday, going 6 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB. His 20.6%/7.4% K%/BB% in 30 IP at the level isn’t great. He might be setting up to be more Drew Rasmussen than Shane McClanahan. I don’t even mean that as too much of a diss as I love Rasmussen.

Max Muncy LAD, 1B/2B, 31.11 – This is just a heads up that Muncy is completely healthy after an elbow injury tanked the first half on his season. He went 3 for 5 yesterday and has a 176 wRC+ with a 92.8 MPH EV in 95 August PA. He’ll probably come at a discounted price this off-season unless he really goes out of his mind the rest of the way, which is possible.

Alex Bregman HOU, 3B, 28.4 – Continuing the “just a heads up that this guy is healthy now” segment of our programming, Bregman lifted off for his 7th homer in his last 17 games. He’s fully healthy after off-season wrist surgery sapped his power earlier in the year.

Mike Trout LAA, OF, 31.0 – Trout ripped his 4th homer in 9 games since returning from that “pretty rare” back injury. Apparently the back injury wasn’t rare enough to stop Trout.

Jake McCarthy ARI, OF, 25.1 – 1 for 4 with a 104.6 MPH double off Kendal Graveman. He stole 2 bags on Saturday. He’s now slashing .291/.352/.432 with 4 homers, 12 steals, and a 20.4%/7.7% K%/BB% in 68 games. I loved taking a flier on McCarthy this off-season. I ranked him 238th on my off-season Top 500 Prospects Rankings and wrote, “McCarthy is going to have to scratch and claw for playing time, but he has a very fantasy friendly profile if he can win some. He put up an elite 30.1 ft/sec sprint speed in his MLB debut and was 29 for 33 on the bases in 85 games split between Double-A and Triple-A. He hits the ball on the ground too much and showed some swing and miss this year, but if you are looking for a close to the majors option with legitimate upside, McCarthy is your guy.”

Lars Nootbaar STL, OF, 24.11 – 1 for 3 with a walk and a 355 foot dinger off Jake Odorizzi for his 9th homer in 75 games. Nootbaar has been smashing the ball with a 91.7 MPH EV and his 20.4%/14.9% K%/BB% is impressive. He’s a line drive hitter and he doesn’t run a ton, so the fantasy upside isn’t huge, but St. Louis develops underrated hitters like him like it’s their job … come to think of it, it is their job.

Matt Mervis CHC, 1B, 24.4 – McCarthy and Nootbaar both ended up being excellent older fringe types to take a shot on last off-season, and Mervis is shaping up to be that guy this off-season. He went 2 for 5 with his 6th homer in 31 games at Triple-A, and it comes with a 13.7%/9.2% K%/BB%. The first base job could be his for the taking next year.

Stone Garrett ARI, OF, 26.9 – Stone Garrett crushed a 105.8 MPH dinger off Dylan Cease for his first MLB homer. He’s been absolutely crushing the ball in his 5 game debut with a 98.8 MPH EV. This is the first time he’s playing in a week, and considering Stone Garrett sounds like the protagonist in a spy novel, I have questions as to what he’s been up to over that missing week. Playing time might be an issue while he takes down international criminals on the side, but the power is for real when he does play. And before you say being a major league baseball player and a spy is unrealistic, you should look into Moe Berg.

Henry Davis PIT, C, 22.9/Endy Rodriguez PIT, C, 22.3 – Davis has been on a rehab assignment at Single-A returning from his 2nd wrist injury and he walloped his first homer in 4 games. Endy Rodriguez has been so dominant in his absence at Double-A (3 for 4 with a double yesterday) that a catcher competition is definitely brewing. The good news is that there is plenty of at bats to go around for everyone in Pitt. Both guys can keep catcher eligibility, stay healthy, and thrive.

Logan O’Hoppe LAA, C, 22.5 – I called O’Hoppe the most underrated catcher in baseball this off-season, and he’s not underrated anymore as he absolutely unloaded on his 22nd homer of the year at Double-A. He has a 184 wRC+ in 16 games since joining LA, and the future catcher job is his for the taking.

Triston Casas BOS, 1B, 22.4 – Casas busted out the whooping stick against a side winding righty, crushing a homer out to left center on a 2 for 4 day. He has a 1.040 OPS in his last 27 games at Triple-A. I think it’s time for Casas to get his feet wet against MLB pitching.

Joey Wiemer MIL, OF, 23.5 – Just when you’re ready to give up, Wiemer pulls you back in, going 2 for 4 with his 5th homer in 22 games at Triple-A. The K% is at a not terrible 23.3% and he’s also stolen 4 bags. I’ve held strong on Wiemer towards the back of the Top 100 because despite the struggles the raw talent is just too good to completely give up on. He’s also knocking on the door of the bigs.

Angel Martinez CLE, SS, 20.7 – Martinez got called up to Double-A and he’s thriving. He went 2 for 3 with a triple and homer yesterday, and he’s now slashing .292/.357/.750 with 2 homers, 1 steal, and a 13.8%/10.3% K%/BB% in 7 games. The power ticked up this year, and he combines that with plus speed and a plus plate approach. He’s setting up to be a solid across the board contributor, and considering he’s only 20, maybe he has another gear in there too.

Mick Abel PHI, RHP, 21.0 – 2.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 2/3 K/BB at Double-A. I don’t have Abel quite on the same level as Painter (who had another good start at Double-A on Saturday), but I still like Abel a lot despite the clunker yesterday. He might be settling in more in the mid-rotation range though as he didn’t really dominate High-A either with a 4.01 ERA and 27.7%/10.2% K%/BB%.

Chase Silseth LAA, RHP, 22.3 – 6 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 11/1 K/BB at Double-A. Silseth has been jerked around a bit as an up and down arm, which I doubt was the best thing for his development, but I do get that sometimes the team comes first. Regardless, he’s ripped up Double-A with a 2.63 ERA and a 33.5%/8.7% K%/BB% in 65 IP. He throws a 5 pitch mix headlined by a 95.4 MPH fastball. Despite getting hit up in the majors, he’s still an exciting pitching prospect.

Will Warren NYY, RHP, 23.2/Taylor Dollard SEA, RHP, 23.6 – Warren went 6 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB at Double-A. Dollard went 6 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/0 K/BB at Double-A. Neither guy has the K rates to get me really excited for fantasy (19.8% and 23%, respectively), but both can definitely be solid real life pitchers. The deeper the league, the more I would like them.

Garrett Mitchell MIL, OF, 24.0 – Mitchell made his MLB debut on Sunday and went 1 for 4 with a K and 2 RBI. The K rate and GB% is what to watch for, and right now the launch angle is sitting at 26.2 degrees and the whiff% is 28.6%. It’s only one game, but it’s better than if he had a 50% whiff% with a negative 2 degree launch angle. One game down, an entire career to go.

Corbin Carroll ARI, OF, 21.11 – The #1 fantasy prospect in baseball will make his MLB debut today after working over upper minors pitching all season. He’s only 5’10” and has played in favorable hitter’s environments. He’s also shown some swing and miss throughout his career. The speed is unquestioned, so the power and strikeouts will be what to watch for in this final month.

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)