Oscar Colas – Imaginary Brick Wall

Posted on June 26, 2023June 29, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/26/23)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (6/26/23):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 331 JUNE DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-UPDATED TOP 456 JUNE DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (6/16/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-TOP 44 ROOKIE BALL/DSL PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (6/29/23)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JUNE MAILBAG! (6/27/23)

Matt McLain CIN, 2B/SS, 23.9 – Elly who? Little Matty McLain, all 5’11”, 180 pounds of him is having a historic rookie season himself after going 4 for 5 with 4 extra base hits yesterday. He notched a 104.1 MPH double, 102.2 MPH homer, 101.8 MPH double, and a 94.5 MPH double. He’s now slashing .325/.380/.541 with 5 homers, 4 steals, and a 26.9%/6.4% K%/BB% in 37 games. The underlying numbers don’t look quite as nice as the surface stats (.338 xwOBA), but they are still mighty enticing with a 12.6% barrel%, 89.2 MPH EV, 12.8 degree launch, 25.2% whiff%, and 28.9 ft/sec sprint speed. That is a combination for a fantasy difference maker, and it’s high time McLain starts to get talked about with the most exciting young players in the game. He ranked 115th overall on the June Top 456 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), and that ranking is set to rise in next week’s July update.

Luis Lara MIL, OF, 18.7 – All the fun rookie ball breakouts had us starting to forget about Lara, but he had a “remember me” shot yesterday for his 2nd homer in 38 games at Single-A. Not only hasn’t he slowed down from his hot start to the year, he’s taken it up a notch in June, slashing .396/.500/.528 with 1 homer, 7 steals, and a 9/11 K/BB in his last 14 games. The plate approach is straight elite, the speed is plus, and he doesn’t have any major groundball issues (37.5% GB%), so he should get the most out of his raw power at peak. He ranked 74th overall on the Updated Top 331 Dynasty Prospects Rankings that dropped on the Patreon last week.

Ezequiel Duran TEX, 3B/2B/OF, 24.1 – 2 for 4 with 2 doubles at 110.7 MPH and 99.9 MPH. Duran is a major target for me and is the perfect buy high candidate. He’s been doing his best Adolis Garcia impression all year with power (91.1 MPH EV with 9 homers), speed (28.9 ft/sec sprint with 4 steals) and a mediocre plate approach (24.1%/4.2% K%/BB%) in 58 games. He’s an electric player and has legitimately near elite fantasy upside. You will definitely have to pay up for him, but his value hasn’t cemented yet to where he will be impossible to acquire. I would go after him.

Eury Perez MIA, RHP, 20.2 – Perez is starting to separate himself from the exciting young pitcher pack, and is now entering true ace territory. He went 6 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER and 9/1 K/BB vs. Pitt yesterday for his 5th scoreless outing in his last 6 starts. The fastball sat 97.9 MPH and the slider notched a 60% whiff%. He now has a 1.34 ERA with a 29.2%/8.1% K%/BB% in 47 IP. He will be on a strict innings cap with a career high of 78 IP, so he might not be able to carry your fantasy rotation for the rest of the season, but at only 20 years old, there are many years of dominance on the horizon. He’ll rise into the Top 50 overall on next week’s dynasty rankings.

Tyler Glasnow TBR, RHP, 29.9 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 12/1 K/BB vs. KCR. The fastball sat 96.6 MPH and he put up a 58% whiff% overall. This was Glasnow’s best start of the season and is reminder that he has the type of strikeout upside that only Spencer Strider and Jacob deGrom can even come close to matching. Even with him still shaking the rust off from Tommy John surgery, his 35.2% K% is 3rd best amongst starters with over 30 IP behind the aforementioned Strider and deGrom. I’ll take the injury risk for that type of strikeout upside.

Mason Black SFG, RHP, 23.5 – 4.1 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 5/2 K/BB at Double-A. Black is quickly becoming one of my favorite pitching prospects with an absolutely electric fastball from a funky righty arm angle. He combines that with a damn good slider and changeup as well. This was his 4th straight scoreless outing in a row to bring his season ERA down to 4.00 with a 29.7%/9% K%/BB% in 54 IP. He does look a bit reliever-ish and he’s pitched in mostly short outings, so there is bullpen risk, but I would go after him regardless.

Royce Lewis MIN, 3B/SS, 24.0 – Lewis is becoming a tough one to evaluate. After going 3 for 4 last night, the surface stats look great, slashing .333/.357/.506 with 4 homers, 1 steal, and a 26.2%/3.6% K%/BB% in 22 games, but the underlying numbers don’t look as good. He has a 86.8 MPH EV, 8.8 degree launch, .295 xwOBA, and a 30.3% whiff%. Not necessarily the best combination there. The good news is that the 28.4 ft/sec sprint speed shows the knee feels good, and it’s still too small of a sample to really pick apart the underlying numbers. I’m betting on the talent and think the underlying numbers will catch up with the surface stats, but the mediocre underlying numbers definitely points towards having some level of caution before flying him up rankings.

Coby Mayo BAL, 3B, 21.6 – Ranking Coby Mayo 8th overall on my Predicting the 2024 Top 50 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings (Patreon) back in February was one of my boldest calls, and he’s fulfilled my prophesy with an absolutely devastating season at Double-A. He’s homered in 6 of his last 11 games and is now slashing .313/.432/.609 with 14 homers and a 24.3%/14.9% K%/BB% in 67 games on the season. His 178 wRC+ leads all qualified hitters at Double-A. The dude is an absolute beast and is setting up to be one the premier power hitters in baseball for years to come.

Bryan Ramos CHW, 3B, 21.2 – Ramos got a late start to the season because of a groin strain, and he’s just now finding his groove at Double-A. He showed off his easy power yesterday blasting one out to centerfield, and he now has a 1.077 OPS with 4 homers in his last 9 games. He has a 126 wRC+ in 21 games at the level on the year. He’s been a favorite of mine for awhile now, and he’s proving it in the upper minors. He’s still underrated.

Evan Carter TEX, OF, 20.9 – Carter returned from a minor wrist injury and has done nothing but rip homers since, cracking his 3rd homer in his last 7 games. It sure seems like the power outage after his early season power binge was at least partly due to the bum wrist, but that’s all in the past now. He still doesn’t project as a monster power guy, but he doesn’t have to be with plus speed and a plus plate approach. He’s an elite dynasty prospect.

Roman Anthony BOS, OF, 19.1 – The Roman Anthony breakout sure seems to have arrived. He went out and got a pitch on the outside corner to smoke his 4th homer in 11 games since getting called up to High-A. He’s barely 19 years old. He’s a smooth operator at the plate with a loose, athletic, and powerful lefty swing that is so easy to dream on. The recent power explosion combines with a mature plate approach and plus speed. His value is exploding.

Kala’i Rosario MIN, OF, 20.11 – Rosario launched his 12th homer in 62 games at High-A, and he has done nothing but mash homers since mid May, slashing .288/.409/.610 with 11 homers and a 34/22 K/BB in his last 32 games. He’s built like a rock and the power is no joke. He rose to 132nd overall on the Updated Top 331 Prospects Rankings.

Alek Thomas ARI, OF, 23.0 – 3 for 4 with a 110.3 MPH double, 99.9 MPH single, and an 88.8 MPH single. Thomas returned to the majors a man possessed, slashing .400/.400/.640 with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 4/0 K/BB in 25 PA. I named him a target back in April, but I moved off him after he got sent back down, and he’s proving I should have stayed patient. He gets the bat on the ball (20.9% K%), hits it fairly hard (89.5 MPH EV) and is fast (28.5 ft/sec sprint). Good things tends to happen on a baseball field with those combination of skills. The upside might not be super high, but I’m back in on him.

MacKenzie Gore WAS, LHP, 24.3 – 5 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 9/2 K/BB vs. SDP. Just call him MacKenzie “inconsistent” Gore. The fastball sat 95.3 MPH and the slider put up a 40% whiff%. He’s been alternating gems like this with mediocrity all season and it’s resulted in a 3.89 ERA and 28.5%/9.9% K%/BB% in 85.2 IP. Inconsistency is likely just a part of his profile like Blake Snell, and like Snell, the upswings mostly make the down turns stomachable.

Jairo Iriarte SDP, RHP, 21.5 – 6 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 10/0 K/BB at High-A. This was Iriarte’s best start of the season which puts an exclamation point on his breakout year. He now has a 2.95 ERA with a 29.7%/11.2% K%/BB% in 55 IP. He has the big stuff to back up the numbers with a mid 90’s fastball, potentially plus slider, and a good changeup too. Control is still issue, but Iriarte is legitimately exciting and continues to climb up rankings.

Oscar Colas CHW, OF, 24.8 – It took a minute, but Colas is finally having his first real heater of the season. He smoked his 3rd homer in 2 games and now has a .968 OPS in his last 11 games. Chicago’s RF job is still waiting for him, and he could be on tap for his 2nd chance against big league pitching, and my guess is that he will be better the 2nd time around.

Thomas Saggese TEX, 2B/3B, 21.2 – Saggese has very quietly been hitting up Double-A, and that continued yesterday, going 2 for 4 with a double and 0 K’s. He’s now slashing .312/.372/.502 with 10 homers, 6 steals, and a 22%/8.5% K%/BB% in 67 games. He doesn’t have the biggest power/speed combo, but the guy can clearly hit, and it’s not like the power/speed combo is non existent. He deserves some more hype.

Nathan Martorella SDP, 1B, 22.3 – Martorella continued his dominance at High-A with his 12th homer in 68 games. Italian Snack is just waiting for the callup to Double-A to have his Vinnie Pasquantino/Kyle Manzardo-like come up on prospect lists with plus power and a mature plate approach (17.7%/15.3% K%/BB%).

Tanner Schobel MIN, SS/2B, 21.11 – The power has arrived as Schobel went deep for the 4th time in 4 games yesterday. He was already displaying a strong plate approach (19.6%/10% K%/BB%) and speed (9 steals), so the power breakout is big to see and firmly puts him on the radar for all league sizes. He has a solid across the board profile and cracked my latest prospects rankings at #246th overall.

Carlos Jorge CIN, 2B, 19.8 – Jorge went 2 for 5 with a homer and a steal and is now slashing .286/.385/.457 with 5 homers, 25 steals, and a 21.1%/13% K%/BB% in 60 games at Single-A. Seeing the strikeout rate settle in at a very reasonable range is great to see after it rose to 26.6% in rookie ball last year. Just what Cincinnati needs, another exciting infield prospect 😉

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

Posted on August 15, 2022August 16, 2022 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (8/15/22)

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 (8/15/22):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT, INCLUDING:
-TOP 350 AUGUST 2022 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 437 JULY 2022 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 10 TRADE NEGOTIATION TACTICS (one of my favorite things I’ve ever written)
-TOP 10 MID-SEASON TRADE TARGETS
-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

Fernando Tatis Jr. SD, SS, 23.7 – Is Tatis an irredeemable fuck up who you should sell immediately in dynasty? Or is he an immature 23 year old kid making bad decisions with the expectations of the world on his shoulders? I like to think I’m a good judge of character, and to me this is a clear case of the latter, which is why I would buy everywhere I could. It’s like when my mom busted me for smoking weed in my room in high school at 1 a.m. in the morning while watching Late Night with Conan O’Brien. No ma, that’s not weed you smell, I’m just super gassy from that Claritin D you gave me! I swear it! Deny, deny, deny. And look at me now, I turned out fine, quitting a career in law to become a fantasy baseball writer. My parents couldn’t be prouder!

Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 18.5/Gunnar Henderson BAL, SS, 21.0 – My #2 and #3 ranked prospects on my Top 350 August 2022 Dynasty Prospects Rankings both had huge days at the dish. Chourio went 4 for 4 with a homer that absolutely exploded off his bat. Henderson went 3 for 6 with a homer that he crushed so hard I think it landed in the forest behind the ballpark. I could make a strong argument for both of these guys to be the top prospect in the game and are players you really shouldn’t be using in win now deals. These are the type of core offensive pieces who make you a contender for several years. I’m all for win now mode and living in the present, but the word “untouchable” was made for prospects like this.

Vinnie Pasquantino KCR, 1B, 24.7 – 3 for 4 with a homer. Here’s what I wrote about Vinnie in my July Top 437 Dynasty Baseball Rankings, ranking him 109th overall, “.387 xwOBA vs. .293 wOBA. He’s a major buy.” In one of the easiest calls ever, Vinnie got hot since then with 4 homers in his last 6 games.

Michael Harris ATL, OF, 21.4 – 2 for 4 with a double and 111.2 MPH dinger. He’s now rocking a .293 BA with 12 homers and 13 steals in 69 games. Harris is undisputedly a Top 50-ish dynasty asset, the only question is how much higher to go on him. A 30% whiff%, 3.8% BB%, and 4.6 degree launch angle are legitimate concerns, and if he cools off down the stretch you can look at those numbers and say it was inevitable to happen. On the other hand, he’s only 21 years old and skipped right over Triple-A, so it would be insane to expect him to already be a finished product.

Vaughn Grissom ATL, SS, 21.7 – 2 for 3 with a 0/2 K/BB. Calling up a 21 year old straight from Double-A worked once already for Atlanta, and they rolled the dice again with Grissom and it just keeps coming up sevens. He has a 1.228 OPS in 5 games. He already rose all the way up to 33rd overall in my July rankings, and he checked in at #20 on the Updated August Top 350 Prospects Rankings.

Brandon Pfaadt ARI, RHP, 23.9 – 6 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 10/2 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball averaged 93.7 MPH, he threw 6 pitches, and he put up a 49% whiff% led by his fastball, slider and change. Pfaadt is a guy who has just kept growing on me, and I think he is one of the more underrated prospects in the minors. He might not have ace upside, but I do think he has potential to end up in that sneaky 2/3 range and could probably be had for a pretty reasonable price at this point. He checked in at #82 on the Updated Prospects Rankings.

Dustin May LAD, RHP, 24.9 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 10/1 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball averaged 97 MPH, he threw 5 pitches, and the curve put up a 3297 spin rate. May was breaking out to such an extreme level before going down with Tommy John surgery that I just couldn’t budge his ranking very much. I already had him up to #73 on the July Dynasty Rankings, and now with both the stuff and control back, he very well could be pushed into the top 50 on next week’s Updated Rankings.

Emerson Hancock SEA, RHP, 23.1 – 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 5/1 K/BB at Double-A. Hancock is a classic case of eye test vs. results. He gets an A+ on the eye test. If you love the art of pitching and watching a guy who commands the mound, you will love Hancock. On the other hand, a 22.6%/7.4% K%/BB% with a 5.28 xFIP (2.19 ERA) is less impressive. “Art of pitching” your way through Double-A is much different than doing it in the majors. He’s a top 100 prospect for me, but if he ends up a back end starter it will look pretty obvious in hindsight.

Zach Neto LAA, SS, 21.6 – Neto looked so impressive in his 7 game pro debut at High-A that he was sent up to Double-A already, and he lifted off for his first homer at the level on a 2 for 4 with 0 K day. He’s now 10 for 23 in 5 games there. The only slight quibble with Neto was that he didn’t play in the strongest conference in college (Big South), but with him ripping up the upper levels of the minors that is really irrelevant now. He already climbed to #6 on my First Year Player Draft Rankings, and the arrow continues to point up.

Brooks Lee MIN, SS, 21.5 – My previous 6th ranked prospect, Lee, isn’t having too shabby of a pro debut himself, showing off the plus hit tool on a 4 for 5 day at High-A. He’s hitting .364 in 8 games split between rookie ball and High-A and is one of the safer bats in this year’s class.

Alexander Canario CHC, OF, 22.4 – It’s impossible to watch Canario jack a homer and not get excited. Here he is smoking his 21st homer in 75 games at Double-A. Go ahead, I dare you to not get excited.

Yanquiel Fernandez COL, OF, 19.7 – 2 for 5 with a double and homer at Single-A. Fernandez is quietly having a very exciting season for a 19 year old at Single-A with 16 homers and a 21.6%/8.4% K%/BB% in 93 games. He’s been red hot in August with a 1.092 OPS in 12 games. He’s 6’2” with some projection left on his frame and he has a vicious lefty swing. He’s severely underrated.

Endy Rodriguez PIT, C, 22.3 – Endy has been a man possessed for a few months now, and he took the show to Double-A last week and is showing no let up, ripping his 2nd homer in 5 games to go along with a 1.093 OPS. He might be passing Henry Davis as Pitt’s presumed catcher of the future, although there are plenty of at bats to go around for both of them with their depleted roster. This is just the beginning for Endy. He should really change his name to Beginy.

Bobby Miller LAD, RHP, 23.4 – Nobody looks as good as Miller when he’s on, and he was on yesterday, going 7.1 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER, and a 9/2 K/BB at Double-A. The fastball gets into the upper 90’s and the secondaries are nasty. Here is a cut of all of his K’s from last night.

Blake Snell SD, LHP, 29.7 – 6 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 10/0 K/BB vs. WAS. I almost didn’t include Snell in the Rundown because Washington’s lineup is Triple-A quality, but he’s been ripping it up for awhile now with a 2.08 ERA and 67/17 K/BB in his last 43.1 IP. Here is how I closed the Snell blurb in my off-season Top 1,000 Ranking, “Robbie Ray is a good reminder to never give up on strikeout machines with control problems.”

Brady Singer KC, RHP, 26.0 – 6 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 7/3 K/BB vs. LAD. A start like this versus the Dodgers really cements Singer’s come up. He’s done it on the back of improved control with a career best 6% BB%. The 3.83 xERA is still worse than the 3.29 ERA, and the 25% whiff% is only slightly above average, so I don’t think he is a world beater, but he’s clearly taken a step forward.

Emmet Sheehan LAD, RHP, 22.1 – 6 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 6/0 K/BB at High-A. It seems like the Dodgers just grow these guys on trees. Sheehan pumps mid to upper 90’s heat with a starter’s 4 pitch mix (change could be his best secondary). He has a 2.80 ERA with a 36.1%/11.5% K%/BB% in 54.2 IP. Control has been an issue for him his entire career, so he may end up in a multi inning pen role especially considering the Dodgers never ending depth, but the upside is legit.

Carson Williams TBR, SS, 19.1 – Williams smacked one down the opposite field line for his 15th homer in 92 games at Single-A. Even better, he didn’t strikeout once. The 32.6% K% is worrisome, and he’s only hitting .210 in his last 59 games since getting off to a hot start, but his upside is worth taking on the extra risk.

Nick Yorke BOS, 2B, 20.4 – Yorke is finally heating up with his 3rd homer in his last 8 games at High-A. The season has been a struggle overall with a 23.5% K% and 78 wRC+ in 62 games. The hit tool just hasn’t been elite enough considering his modest power/speed combo to really keeping ranking Yorke extremely high. I still like him a lot, and he was banged up this year, but I’ve started to lower him in my rankings.

Oscar Colas CHW, OF, 23.9 – Colas continues to be out his mind at Double-A, going 3 for 5 with a dinger yesterday. He’s slashing .353/.439/.694 with 9 homers and a 23.5%/9.2% K%/BB% in 22 games at the level. He moved into my Top 50.

Jose Rodriguez CHW, SS, 21.1 – Rodriguez has gotten a bit forgotten about after a slow start, but he’s been heating up for awhile now. He went 2 for 5 with a double and homer yesterday at Double-A. In his last 39 games he’s slashing .317/.395/.549 with 7 homers, 20 steals, and a 25/20 K/BB. There’s probably still time to jump on the bandwagon as the hype hasn’t caught back up.

Edgar Quero LAA, C, 19.4 – Quero demolished his 14th homer in 90 games at Single-A, and while the video is poor quality, you can see the fielders barely move and the announcer claimed the ball landed on “E Street.” He’s put up over a 1.000 OPS in June, July, and August. He’s quickly becoming one of the most exciting teenage catcher prospects in the game.

Jake McCarthy ARI, OF, 25.1 – 1 for 3 with a walk and 2 steals. I’ve always liked McCarthy as one of my favorites in the fringy close to the majors bucket, and he’s showing why with 3 homers, 9 steals, and a .261 BA in 57 MLB games. He’s lightning fast with a 30 ft/sec spring speed (Top 1% of the league), he’s hitting the ball respectably hard with a 88.1 MPH EV, and he’s making contact with a 23.7% K%. I still have him in that “fringe MLB guy” bucket, but his fantasy friendly skillset makes him a no brainer stash if you have the room.

Gavin Cross KC, OF, 21.5 – Cross cracked his first homer in full season ball at Single-A. I have him ranked 13th on the FYPD rankings, and the reason I couldn’t go higher on him is because the hit tool wasn’t quite as good as the hitters ranked above him. That is playing out in the early going with a 27.8%/5.6% K%/BB% in 4 games at the level. Clearly way too small of a sample to draw any conclusions, but it means his value holds steady for me for now.

Dalton Rushing LAD, C/1B, 21.6 – If you’re looking for an early 2022 Draft pro debut breakout, Rushing could be your guy. He cracked his 2nd homer in 8 games at Single-A and it comes with a 7/8 K/BB and 1.372 OPS. He was drafted 40th overall to one of the best organizations in the game on the back of 23 homers in 64 games in the ACC. He’s quickly rising up my ranks.

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