Prospect Scouting Reports – Page 3

Posted on October 16, 2023December 15, 2023 by Michael Halpern

New York Mets 2024 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk)

Along with a Top 10 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Ranking, I like to highlight some interesting MLB guys for every team, and talk some strategy to give a more complete Dynasty Team Report. Like during the regular season, I’m still going to be posting a few articles a month for free on my website. This is one of those articles. Here is the New York Mets 2024 Dynasty Baseball Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-SEPTEMBER 2023 TOP 476 DYNASTY RANKINGS
-SEPTEMBER 2023 TOP 393 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 54 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-TOP 10 EARLY OFF-SEASON DYNASTY TARGETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: SEPTEMBER MAILBAG! (9/22/23)
-Off-Season content includes team dynasty reports, deep positional rankings, predicting future prospects lists, strategy articles, podcasts and very, very early releases of my Top 100 FYPD Ranks, Top 500 Prospects Ranks, and Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Chicago White Sox–Colorado Rockies–Kansas City Royals–Milwaukee Brewers–New York Yankees (free)–San Diego Padres–Washington Nationals

Hitters

Francisco Alvarez NYM, C, 22.4 – Two of the oldest tricks in the dynasty book of trading make Alvarez a very attractive target this off-season. A .222 BABIP dragged his BA down to .209 (only 5 players in all of baseball with over 400 PA had a lower BABIP), and he didn’t immediately put up Hall of Fame numbers in his rookie season with a below average 97 wRC+. Bad luck (the 26% K% and 31.8% whiff% weren’t bad at all), and lack of patience with prospects in their rookie year are basically the playbook on how to make trades that look fair at the moment, but end up looking like major rip-offs not too far into the future. And with top prospects flying through the minors faster than ever, these type of buy opportunities are likely to explode when everyone’s favorite 20 and 21 year olds take a minute to adjust to MLB pitching. It’s not like Alvarez’ price will be dirt cheap though, because his 25 homers were the 2nd most for all catchers, and the 90.1/95.7 MPH EV backs up the production. The scary thing is, this is just scratching the surface of his power potential. Alvarez is going to be a perennial 30+ homer bat from the catcher position for the next decade. 2024 Projection: 72/32/80/.239/.324/.472/4 Prime Projection: 85/34/93/.254/.351/.520/3

Mark Vientos NYM, 3B/1B, 24.4 – If Alvarez is out of your price range, Vientos might be more your speed, and you should be able to acquire him for next to nothing in most leagues. Like Alvarez, he got unlucky in 2023 with a .267 wOBA vs. .305 xwOBA, and like Alvarez, he has beastly power with a 92.5/97.6 MPH AVG/FB EV. That isn’t even “beastly power,” that is truly elite power. He put up a 94.4 MPH EV at Triple-A too. Speaking of Triple-A, he showed hit tool improvements at the level with a 21.6%/10.8% K%/BB% in 61 games, and completely demolished the level in general with a 143 wRC+. Showing that kind of swing and miss improvement gives hope he can do the same against MLB pitching with more experience (30.5% K% and 36.7% whiff%). Lack of defensive value is the biggest snafu, but elite power bats tend to force their way into the lineup, and at Vientos’ current dirt cheap price, it’s an easy call to take a shot on him. 2024 Projection: 59/23/71/.236/.315/.450/2 Prime Projection: 77/31/88/.248/.327/.493/2

Brett Baty NYM, 3B, 24.5 – Baty is stuck somewhere in between Alvarez and Vientos, in the sense he still has enough name value where his price won’t be that cheap, but his upside might not be quite high enough to pay that high price. He’s put up very high groundball rates his entire career and he had a 6.6 degree launch in 389 MLB PA in 2023. It led to a lowly 9 homers and 68 wRC+. He also doesn’t have the high contact rates to make up for it with a 28% K% and 31.5% whiff%. I don’t want this to come off like I don’t like him though, because I would bet on Baty becoming a very good MLB hitter. He has a mature plate approach, he hits the ball very hard, he has great size (6’3”, 210), he’s a solid defender at 3B, and he just looks like a hitter in the box. I’m just concerned about his upside in 5×5 BA leagues, and I don’t think his price will be all that cheap this off-season. 2024 Projection: 77/22/74/.246/.322/.435/4 Prime Projection: 84/26/88/.264/.347/.475/5

Pitchers

Kodai Senga NYM, RHP, 31.2 – Senga blew past all reasonable expectations in 2023. He put up a 2.98 ERA with a 29.1%/11.1% K%/BB% in 166.1 IP, and he was even better in the 2nd half with a 2.44 ERA and 29.8%9.1% K%/BB% in his final 84.2 IP. He did it on the back of an insane forkball that put up a 59.8% whiff% and .184 xwOBA. It was the highest whiff% on any pitch in all of baseball thrown at least 317 times (and if you lower the threshold all the way down to 54 pitches, it was the 4th highest mark). He throws gas with a 95.6 MPH fastball and has as diverse 6 pitch mix. Control is really the only thing that can tank him, and if you take into account he was adjusting to a new league and new ball in the 1st half of the season, his 2nd half 9.1% BB% really isn’t bad at all. It’s definitely possible he takes another step forward in year 2. Senga is the real deal. 2024 Projection: 13/3.37/1.17/197 in 165 IP

Bullpen

Edwin Diaz NYM, Closer, 30.0 – Diaz almost returned from March knee surgery in September, which makes me pretty confident he will be 100% in 2024. Any major surgery adds risk, but it’s not like it’s his elbow or shoulder. I’m treating him like the elite of the elite closer he is with a ridiculous 50.2% K% in 2022 on the back of a 99.1 MPH fastball and 90.8 MPH slider. If there is any slight discount to be had because of the injury, I would be all over it. 2024 Projection: 4/2.59/1.00/105/33 saves in 60 IP

New York Mets Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Prospects

1) Ronny Mauricio NYM, 2B, 23.0 – I named Mauricio one of my top targets in the Top 10 Early Off-Season Dynasty Baseball Target article on Patreon. Mainstream prospects lists have been slowly sliding him down the rankings the closer he’s gotten to the majors, but I’ve done the exact opposite on my lists. He crushes the ball with a 117.3 MPH Max EV that was the 10th hardest hit ball all season. He had a 90.7 MPH AVG EV in 108 MLB PA (91.1 MPH at AAA). He loves to run with 7 MLB steals and 24 AAA steals, and his speed gets underrated with an above average 27.7 ft/sec sprint. He’s never had any major contact issues and he most certainly looks the part at 6’3” with a vicious swing. He doesn’t have a good plate approach with low walk rates, but keep in mind he’s always been very young for his level, and his 6.6% BB% at Triple-A (6.5% BB% in the majors) was a career high, so I wouldn’t bet against future improvement there either. His mediocre ranking on prospects and mediocre .643 OPS in the majors should create a very nice buy opportunity this off-season. 2024 Projection: 69/19/74/.254/.309/.435/21 Prime Projection: 83/24/83/.267/.325/.466/24

2) Jett Williams NYM, SS, 20.4 – Jett Williams got much thicker in all the right places in 2023, and that extra muscle paid dividends with him cracking 14 homers in 125 games split between Single-A (79 games), High-A (36 games), and Double-A (10 games). 9 of those homers came in his final 47 games. He combines the uptick in power with elite speed (45 steals), and an excellent plate approach (22.1%/19.5% K%/BB%). If he wasn’t 5’6”, he might be a consensus elite prospect already. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 93/20/77/.274/.350/.445/38

3) Luisangel Acuna NYM, SS/2B, 22.1 – Acuna’s power didn’t take a step forward in 2023 as hoped with only 9 homers in 121 games at Double-A, but there is definitely more raw juice in the tank with an explosive righty swing, and that was the only blemish on an otherwise excellent season. He put up a career best (other than the DSL) 18.6% K%, and he stole a career high 57 bases. It’s also really, really hard to resist the pull of elite bloodlines. Even if Acuna never develops big power, he can still be an impact fantasy player, and if does, watch out. 2024 Projection: 36/6/25/.239/.300/.382/14 Prime Projection: 82/17/68/.258/.328/.427/35

4) Drew Gilbert NYM, OF, 23.6 – Gilbert might be the safest prospect on this list. He does everything well on a baseball field with contact ability (18.9% K%), on base ability (11.3% BB%), power (18 homers), speed (12 steals), and good defense in 116 games at mostly Double-A. The power/speed combo isn’t quite big enough at only 5’9”, 195 pounds to really fly him up prospect lists, but he has a big lefty swing that makes him look much bigger in the box than his listed height, and I wouldn’t be shocked if his power surprised in the bigs. He’s a high floor prospect who might have more upside than his small stature would indicate. 2024 Projection: 41/10/33/.253/.318/.409/7 Prime Projection: 84/20/72/.273/.340/.438/14

5) Ryan Clifford NYM, 1B/OF, 20.7 – Here is what I wrote about Clifford in January of 2023 in my FYPD Target & Strategy Guide, “I’m planning on leaving every draft with Clifford, and he could be my #1 target in general. This guy checks almost every box you want to see for a monster power hitter (size, swing, lift, EV, organization, good pro debut, history of production). He also got drafted 343rd overall, meaning he should go super, super late in drafts. The one hiccup is the K rate was a bit on the high side, but the BB% was even higher to even it out, and he wasn’t expected to have major hit tool problems coming into the draft. He has legit star upside.” … you’re damn happy right now if you took my advice, as Clifford slashed .262/.374/.480 with 24 homers, 5 steals, and a 27.4%/12.5% K%/BB% in 115 games at mostly High-A. He scuffled after the trade to the Mets (so did Acuna), but I think you have to take into account an adjustment period when you join a new team, new city, new coaches etc … He’s right on track to become a high OBP, low BA slugger. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 78/30/86/.248/.332/.487/6

6) Christian Scott NYM, RHP, 24.10 – Scott had a truly elite 32.8%/3.4% K%/BB% in 62 IP at Double-A. He had a 107/12 K/BB in 87 IP on the season. Let’s not overthink things too much. Those are eye opening K/BB numbers and they led to a 2.57 ERA with a 0.86 WHIP. And it’s not like he did it with smoke and mirrors. He’s 6’4”, 215 pounds with a relatively easy, smooth, and athletic delivery . He throws a low to mid 90’s fastball that he can even got into the upper 90’s, and his slider is a plus, bat missing weapon. He rounds out the arsenal with a curve and change. To sum it all up, this a big man with elite control, a fastball that consistently hits the mid 90’s, a put away slider, a diverse pitch mix, and upper minors dominance. The more I think about and watch Scott, the more I love him. He’s getting considerably underrated. 2024 Projection: 3/4.22/1.28/44 in 45 IP Prime Projection: 12/3.82/1.18/169 in 160 IP

7) Alex Ramirez NYM, OF, 21.3 – Ramirez continues to sit in the breakout waiting room for his 3rd straight year. I know it’s getting frustrating, but all of the same ingredients are there that made him so exciting in previous years. He had a very good 21.9%/10.7% K%/BB% in 120 games at High-A, and he also stole 21 bags. He just needs to finally start tacking on mass to his skinny 6’3” frame, because only 7 homers with a 78 wRC+ is not going to get the job done. He’s too young to give up on such tantalizing tools, but 2024 is the last year he gets to live on “potential.” We need to see some real production. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 73/18/72/.252/.320/.423/21

8) Colin Houck NYM, SS, 19.6 – Selected 32nd overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, the 6’2”, 190 pound Houck is an excellent all around athlete who was also a heavily recruited star quarterback in high school. He’s not just raw tools though, he also has a good feel to hit with a mature approach at the plate. His value held serve in his pro debut with a dead average 100 wRC+, 0 homers, 0 steals, and a 22.2%/19.4% K%/BB% in 9 games. The power isn’t plus quite yet, and while he’s fast, he’s not lightning fast, so it all might project to an above average across the board profile. ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 81/22/79/.272/.338/.453/14

9) Kevin Parada NYM, C, 22.8 – Parada had such an underwhelming season for an advanced college bat. He had 11 homers with a 25.1%/7.9% K%/BB% in 87 at High-A, and then he put up a 38.3%/6.7% K%/BB% with a 70 wRC+ in 14 games at Double-A. He didn’t hit for a ton of power, he didn’t get on base, and he didn’t hit for average. He’s not considered a good defensive catcher, so he was probably putting a ton of focus into his defense, which is often why catchers take longer to develop in general, but that isn’t exactly a point in Parada’s favor for fantasy either. He’s starting to look like a pretty low upside option with multiple areas of risk (hit tool, defense, Francisco Alvarez). ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 66/22/75/.247/.323/.447/2

10) Blade Tidwell NYM, RHP, 22.10 – The 6’4”, 207 pound Tidwell is a high upside pitcher with both control risk and reliever risk. He throws an electric fastball/slider combo with the fastball sitting mid to upper 90’s and the slider racking up whiffs. It led to a 3.09 ERA with a 33% K% in 81.2 IP at High-A and a 4.72 ERA with a 27.7% K% in 34.1 IP at Double-A. The problem is that his control is in the danger zone with a 12.9% BB%, and the changeup needs to develop into a legitimate 3rd pitch. You want to aim for upside in fantasy, which is why I like Tidwell at his current value, but he can very easily end up in the pen. 2024 Projection: 2/4.32/1.36/39 in 35 IP Prime Projection: 9/3.94/1.32/170 in 150 IP

Just Missed

11) Marco Vargas NYM, SS, 18.10

12) Jeremy Rodriguez NYM, SS, 17.9

13) AJ Ewing NYM, 2B, 19.8 – Selected 134th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, Ewing got dinged because of questionable power potential, but he’s not a small guy at a relatively strong 6’0”, and he hits the ball hard with a vicious lefty swing, so I’m not sure why that got put on him. He had a strong pro debut with a 161 wRC+, 0 homers (14.3% GB%), 1 steal, and a 28.6%/23.8% K%/BB% in 7 games. He has a good feel to hit, mature approach, above average speed, and more power than he is given credit for. He has a chance to be quite good. He makes for a great underrated FYPD target. ETA: 2027 Prime Projection: 82/20/79/.265/.336/.438/16

14) Mike Vasil NYM, RHP, 24.0

15) Jacob Reimer NYM, 3B, 20.1

16) Jesus Baez NYM, SS, 19.1

17) Calvin Ziegler NYM, RHP, 21.6

18) Joander Suarez NYM, RHP, 24.1

19) Matt Rudick NYM, OF, 25.9

20) Brandon Sproat NYM, RHP, 23.7

21) Julio Zayas NYM, C, 18.2

Dynasty Baseball Thought/Strategy of the Day (which may or may not be related to the team I’m covering that day)

Opportunity is a major factor in success. I always think about how many players could have been successful major leaguers if they were given a legit opportunity and had the leash to make adjustments. As much as we want to fall in love with every poor defensive masher, or lightening fast utility type player, we have to account for the fact those types may very well never really get the opportunity to reach their full potential. There are only so many jobs available in major league baseball, and the vets who are on million dollar deals, or the high draft picks, or the high signing bonus players will get the priority over our favorite underrated prospects. Having said that, I’m going to ignore everything I just said and still go after the defensively limited Vientos this off-season. It’s easier to give advice than to take it 😉

Previous Dynasty Team Reports on Patreon

Chicago White Sox–Colorado Rockies–Kansas City Royals–Milwaukee Brewers–New York Yankees (free)–San Diego Padres–Washington Nationals

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

Posted on October 9, 2023October 14, 2023 by Michael Halpern

New York Yankees 2024 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk)

The 2024 off-season festivities have officially kicked off on the Brick Wall with the first Dynasty Team Report of the year. Like during the regular season, I will release a freebie here on Imaginary Brick Wall on some Mondays with the vast majority of the content over on the Patreon. Off-season content will include these Dynasty Team Reports, along with Deep Positional Rankings, strategy articles, target articles, podcasts, predicting future prospect lists, the Top 100 FYPD rankings, Top 500 Prospects Rankings, and Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings. Here is the New York Yankees 2024 Dynasty Baseball Team Report (Top 10 Prospects/Interesting MLB guys/Strategy Talk):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-SEPTEMBER TOP 476 DYNASTY RANKINGS
-SEPTEMBER TOP 393 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 54 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-TOP 10 EARLY OFF-SEASON DYNASTY TARGETS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: SEPTEMBER MAILBAG! (9/22/23)
-Off-Season content includes team dynasty reports, deep positional rankings, strategy articles, podcasts and very early releases of my Top 100 FYPD Ranks, Top 500 Prospects Ranks, and Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks

Hitters

Anthony Volpe NYY, SS, 22.11 – Volpe might be easier to acquire this off-season than he was last off-season, which is wild, but is also par for the course in dynasty leagues. If rookies don’t immediately Corbin Carroll the league, people get discouraged and throw the bust label around. In reality, Volpe’s value should be considerably higher after the year he just had. Not only did he go 20/20 (21/24), but all of the underlying numbers are screaming a future breakout is coming with a 9% barrel%, 88.7 MPH EV, 14.2 degree launch, and 28.4 ft/sec sprint speed. The 27.8%/8.7% K%/BB% wasn’t great, but it’s far from the danger zone, and it’s really not bad for a 21/22 year old who had 99 total PA at Triple-A coming into the year. If cold hard numbers aren’t your thing, Volpe even has Black Magic on his side. His OPS was the number of the beast, .666. I don’t know what is going to happen to Volpe’s soul, but the Devil keeps his promises. Max Kepler was the only player to have a .666 OPS in 2022, and this season he had the highest wRC+ of his career at 124 (.816 OPS). Literally all signs, both natural and supernatural, are pointing towards a big 2024 for Volpe. He’s an easy target. 2024 Projection: 81/25/79/.245/.316/.451/31

Oswald Peraza NYY, SS/2B, 23.10 – I guess the Devil only has room for one Yankees rookie on his ledger, because I see no promises made for Peraza in 2024. He swung and missed far too often for his type of profile with a 33.1% whiff% in 191 PA, which led to a .191 BA. He doesn’t hit the ball hard enough to make up for the swing and miss with a below average 87.2 MPH EV in the majors and 85.2 MPH EV at Triple-A. He also has never really been a big OBP guy with mostly mediocre walks rates throughout his career. The plus speed and defense are what carries his profile, and while both are good enough to make Peraza an attractive low cost option, his former prospect hype could push his value higher than I would be willing to go. 2024 Projection: 53/9/46/.238/.299/.388/17 Prime Projection: 77/17/68/.254/.319/.415/23

Pitchers

Michael King NYY, RHP, 28.10 – King pitched too damn well once being transitioned to a starter to leave a ton of value on the bone. He put up a 2.02 ERA with a 45/7 K/BB in his final 35.2 IP. There is nothing in the underlying data to say it was a fluke, and he’s been lights out for 2 years now in whatever role the Yanks put him in. The stuff is good, he misses bats, he induces weak contact, and he doesn’t have any major control issues. He was also a starter throughout his minor league career, so it’s not like starting is a new challenge for him. Everything is pointing towards him being for real, but there are a couple things to consider before you really sell the farm for him. His velocity was slowly declining to close out the season, and he also had a serious arm injury in 2022 (fractured elbow which required surgery). It adds at least some doubt if he can truly keep up this level of production under a full starter’s workload. I’m willing to go after him if the price doesn’t get too out of control, but I’m concerned with how he closed out the season, his price could get too out of control. 2024 Projection: 9/3.51/1.19/162 in 145 IP

Carlos Rodon NYY, LHP, 31.4 – An elbow and back injury delayed the start of Rodon’s season until July, and while there were glimpses of him regaining his old form, it was mostly a straight disaster with a 6.85 ERA and 22.4%/9.8% K%/BB% in 64.1 IP. His finish to the season was the most concerning as his velocity was way down, and he gave up 8 earned runs without recording a single out in his final outing. If you’re a glass half full person, you can look at this as a lost season due to the injuries and expect him to bounce back in a big way in 2024, but if you’re a glass half empty person, you are looking at him like a ticking time bomb, especially with his injury history. I’m the type of person who looks at that glass and sees the water in the middle (I live in the gray), which is how I would value Rodon for next year. 2024 Projection: 9/3.57/1.20/160 in 140 IP

Bullpen

Clay Holmes NYY, Closer, 30.4 – Holmes 27.1% K% isn’t high enough to put him in the truly elite closer tier when you have guys like Felix Bautista putting up a 46.4% K% (and plenty of others in the mid to high 30’s), but he’s in the tier right under that. He uses a 96 MPH sinker which he throws 69.2% of the time to keep the ball on the ground (negative 3.4 degree launch), and he uses a dominant slider (.176 xwOBA and 43.1% whiff%) and sweeper (.079 xwOBA and 44.2% whiff%) to miss bats. He’s locked in as the Yanks closer for 2024. 2024 Projection: 4/3.09/1.12/72/32 saves in 64 IP

New York Yankees Top 10 Fantasy Baseball Prospects

1) Jasson Dominguez NYY, OF, 21.2 – The backlash to Dominguez’ early career hype made it hard to hold the line, but I remained all in on Dominguez last off-season, ranking him 10th overall, and he more than delivered on that ranking this year. He hit 15 homers with 37 steals and a 25.6%/15.2% K%/BB% in 109 games at Double-A as a 20 year old. Then he quickly ran through Triple-A with a 180 wRC+ in 9 games, before finishing out his season with 4 homers and a 162 wRC+ in 8 games in the majors. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery put a halt to what was sure to be insane hype this off-season, but I wouldn’t let the Tommy John surgery scare you off. It isn’t as big of a deal for hitters as it is for pitchers, and he’s expected to return by the 2nd half of 2024. His extremely good MLB debut will likely make it hard to get good value for him this off-season even with the surgery, so my move would be to hope he needs to shake off some rust when he returns next season to bring his value into a more reasonable range again. 2024 Projection: 30/8/226/.242/.324/.438/10 Prime Projection: 92/26/86/.266/.361/.485/28

2) Spencer Jones NYY, OF, 22.11 – Strikeouts are the only thing we have to worry about with the uber talented 6’6”, 235 pound beast, which is why his 28.2% K% in 78 PA at Double-A is actually encouraging. That number could have easily skyrocketed against more advanced pitching after putting up a 29% K% in 100 games at High-A. Jones can live in the upper 20’s and still thrive due do his double plus power/speed combo. He hit 16 homers and stole 38 bags in 117 games. His groundball rates are on the high side, but with how hard he hits the ball, it might actually be a good thing to ensure his batting average doesn’t tank too low. It’s more or less the Elly De La Cruz package, and just like I’m buying Elly, I’m buying Jones too. 2024 Projection: 27/7/23/.217/.283/.411/8 Prime Projection: 76/23/82/.241/.318/.465/26

3) Roderick Arias NYY, SS, 19.7 – Arias has elite prospect written all over him, and with a good showing in full season ball in 2024, it won’t be long before he skyrockets into the Top 10 overall. He hits the ball hard (6 homers in 27 games in stateside rookie ball), he has speed (17 steals), he has an excellent plate approach (22.3%/20.8% K%/BB%), he’s a good defender, and he has pedigree ($4 million international signing). He most certainly looks the part too with a vicious lefty swing (he went 2 for 11 on the entire season hitting righty). He won’t come super cheap this off-season, but he’s easily worth targeting at his current price. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 86/22/80/.264/.348/.471/24

4) Austin Wells NYY, C, 24.9 – Wells’ MLB debut gave me a ton of confidence that the profile will transfer. He had a 14% barrel%, 89.5 MPH EV, 13.6 degree launch, 18.7% K%, and .367 xwOBA in 75 PA. Boone also praised his defense. He didn’t exactly blow the doors off the upper minors, but he still hit 17 homers in 96 games. The Yankee Stadium short porch is perfect for him, and the bar to clear to be an impact fantasy catcher isn’t very high right now. I don’t think he is going to be a fantasy beast, but I do foresee a top 10 fantasy catcher for years to come. 2024 Projection: 56/18/63/.235/.307/.410/3 Prime Projection: 71/23/77/.252/.331/.442/5

5) Everson Pereira NYY, OF, 23.0 – Pereira’s 43.1% whiff%, 38.8% K%, and 23 wRC+ in his 103 PA MLB debut is exactly what we didn’t want to see happen. That is the kind of disaster MLB debut that has to make you think twice about betting on a player, but I would be careful about giving up on Pereira too fast. He truly crushes the ball, he has well above average speed, and he decimated the upper minors with a 145 wRC+ at Double-A and 132 wRC+ at Triple-A. You only have to look at his teammate, Aaron Judge, to find hope, as Judge put up a 44.2% K% in his 95 PA MLB debut in 2016. When a guy hits the ball this hard, you don’t need to be Luis Arraez to do damage. The extreme swing and miss does have me less excited for him than I was before his debut, but I’m still betting on his talent long term. 2024 Projection: 44/17/51/.222/.291/.434/9 Prime Projection: 74/26/82/.244/.320/.482/12

6) Drew Thorpe NYY, RHP, 23.6 – Who needs a huge fastball anyway? Thorpe’s double plus changeup and above average slider was more than enough to obliterate minor leaguers. He put up a 2.81 ERA with a 32.4%/7.7% K%/BB% in 109 IP at High-A, and then he went to Double-A and was even better with a 1.48 ERA and 40%/4.5% K%/BB% in 30.1 IP. He’s a big boy at 6’4”, 225 pounds and his command is very good too. Plus changeup guys can sometimes get exposed against MLB hitters, and the aforementioned fastball only sits low to mid 90’s, which is why I’m hesitant to truly put top of the rotation upside on him, but this is a high floor starter with legit upside who should be up in the bigs very quickly into 2024. 2024 Projection: 5/4.13/1.28/92 in 90 IP Prime Projection: 13/3.64/1.18/190 in 175 IP

7) John Cruz NYY, OF, 18.7 – If Cruz were eligible for the 2023 MLB Draft, his hype would be through the roof. He has the scout’s dream build at a projectable 6’3”, 171 pounds, and it comes with a quick and powerful lefty swing. It resulted in him ripping up stateside rookie ball as a 17 year old, slashing .294/.376/.531 with 10 homers, 9 steals, and a 21.8%/10.9% K%/BB% in 48 games. Power, speed, build, production, age to level … this is everything you look for in a shooting star prospect. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 78/27/87/.251/.324/.473/12

8) George Lombard NYY, SS, 18.10 – Selected 26th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, Lombard has baseball bloodlines with his father playing 6 years in the big leagues, and like most plus bloodlines kids, his game is mature beyond his years. He stepped right into pro ball and put up a 202 wRC+ with a 2/5 K/BB in 4 games at rookie ball, and then he closed the year out at Single-A with a 114 wRC+ and 10/8 K/BB in 9 games. He combines the high baseball IQ with plus athleticism at 6’3”, 190 pounds, and has the potential for an at least above average power/speed combo at peak. This is a really nice blend of safety and upside. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 83/22/77/.268/.341/.450/16

9) Chase Hampton NYY, RHP, 22.8 – Hampton wasn’t quite able to keep up the breakout at Double-A with his ERA jumping from 2.68 at High-A to 4.37 at Double-A, and his K% dropping from 40.5% to 27.4%, but that shouldn’t put a damper on his excellent season, because he has the big stuff to get excited about. He’s 6’2, 200 pounds with mid 90’s heat and a diverse set of secondaries (slider, curve, cutter, change). The command is solid. With the production taking a step back against more advanced competition, I wouldn’t put top of the rotation upside on him, but I certainly think he can be an impact mid-rotation fantasy starter at peak. 2024 Projection: 4/4.28/1.33/86 in 90 IP Prime Projection: 12/3.78/1.23/177 in 170 IP

10) Keiner Delgado NYY, 2B/3B, 20.3 – Delgado backed up his 2022 breakout in the DSL with all of his skills transferring stateside in 2023, slashing .293/.414/.485 with 8 homers, 36 steals, and a 13%/15.1% K%/BB% in 49 games. Proving it stateside is one box checked off, but he was still one year older than optimal for the level, and he is still a small guy at only 5’7”. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if he ended up a utility infielder, but he’s a legitimately electric player who I think can overcome his small stature. If he can keep up the production at a more age appropriate level, he will be an easy Top 100 prospect. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 83/16/62/.273/.343/.428/26

Just Missed

11) Enmanuel Tejeda NYY, SS/2B/3B, 19.3

12) Brando Mayea NYY, OF, 18.7

13) Will Warren NYY, RHP, 24.10

14) Trey Sweeney NYY, SS, 23.11

15) Henry Lalane NYY, LHP, 19.10

16) Richard Fitts NYY, RHP, 24.5

Dynasty Baseball Thought/Strategy of the Day (which may or may not be related to the team I’m covering that day)

It can be a pain in the ass to own prospects from big market teams because of how easily those teams can go out and sign proven talent, which in turn blocks our favorite prospects, but the Yankees are too far deep into the youth movement to all of a sudden majorly change course this off-season. They also don’t have a ton of money coming off the books, making it even less likely that their top prospects get blocked. The combination of talent, proximity, opportunity and ballpark (Yankee Stadium has the perfect combo for fantasy of juicing up homers while being a fairly neutral park overall) provides so many juicy targets to go after this off-season for dynasty.

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

Posted on September 11, 2023September 11, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (9/11/23)

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 (9/11/23):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON & OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-SEPTEMBER TOP 476 DYNASTY RANKINGS
-AUGUST TOP 379 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-7 END OF SEASON STRATEGIES AND THOUGHTS
-TOP 50 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: AUGUST MAILBAG! (8/25/23)
-TOP 38 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (8/15/23)
-TOP 17 DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (8/3/23)
-Off-Season content includes team prospect lists, deep positional rankings, strategy articles, and very early releases of my Top 100 FYPD Ranks, Top 500 Prospects Ranks, and Top 1,000 Dynasty Ranks

Jasson Dominguez NYY, OF, 20.7 – It turns out even Martians have UCL’s, and they apparently aren’t that sturdy as the The Martian tore his UCL and will require Tommy John surgery that could keep him out through the first half of 2024 as well. Tommy John surgery isn’t as big a deal for hitters as it is for pitchers, but it feels like it came at the worst possible time with him in the midst of a historic MLB debut with 4 homers in his first 8 games. He checked in at #97 on the September Top 476 Dynasty Baseball Rankings that dropped on the Patreon last week, but with the injury, I might drop him more towards the 120 range.

Noelvi Marte CIN, SS, 21.10 – These rookies are dropping like flies. Marte broke his nose after getting hit in the face playing catch with Elly De La Cruz. I always hated getting paired up with the kid who threw a 90 MPH tailing fastball in warmups, but unlike Marte, I always managed to actually catch the ball. Score one for Halp. On the other hand, I did break my nose while playing basketball my freshman year of college, and the ER doctor just said, “yup, it’s broken,” and sent me back out there with nothing they could do for it. I sat out a few days of my volleyball class before getting bored and deciding to play through it. I’m assuming Marte will do the same. He was in the midst of shoving it in all the scouts faces who called him fat and slow this off-season with 6 steals and a 28.8 ft/sec sprint speed, which is in the top 14 percent of the league. I feel like speed grades are by far the least reliable from scouts. He was also crushing the ball with a 92.4 MPH EV. All signs point towards him being a fantasy beast.

Dylan Crews WAS, OF, 21.5/Wyatt Langford TEX, OF, 21.8 – In my 7 End of Season Strategies and Thoughts (Patreon) article, I wrote that your focus should be on 2023 draftees, because that is where the largest swings in value will occur this late in the season, and right now, the first swing in value could be happening at the very top of the FYPD rankings. Crews continues to surprisingly struggle hard at Double-A with a measly 39 wRC+ in 16 games, while Langford recently got the call to the level and keeps on rolling with a 142 wRC+ in 6 games. They were already 1A and 1B for me in the rankings, and their Double-A performance could be tipping the scales to Langford for that top spot. It’s still obviously a small sample, and I would be very happy with either, but if I were picking today, I’m going Langford.

Jackson Holliday BAL, SS, 19.9 – Holliday finally met a level he couldn’t just dominate right from the jump with a 64 wRC+, 0 homers and 0 steals in 6 games at Triple-A, but I’m sure the hot streak is coming as he went 2 for 3 with a double and 2 walks last night, and he has an elite 10%/16.7% K%/BB%. I mentioned in the August Top 379 Prospects Rankings that the one blemish (I wouldn’t even really call it a blemish, more of a smudge) on his profile is that the power/speed combo has slowed down in the upper minors with only 3 homers and 3 steals in his last 42 games. He has only 10 homers in 113 games on the season. He’s only 19, and the season he just had is ridiculous for his age, so it seems silly to even mention, but when there is another uber 19 year old in Jackson Chourio right behind him, it’s at least something to think about if you are choosing between the 2 in startup dynasty drafts this off-season.

Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 19.6 – Speaking of Chourio, he hits dingers in his sleep, and he smacked his 22nd of the season at Double-A going the opposite way. It also comes with 41 steals. We got a couple of really fun debates coming up this off-season at both the top of first year player drafts (Crews vs. Langford) and at the top of prospect drafts (Holliday vs. Chourio).

Paul Skenes PIT, RHP, 21.2/Yoshinobu Yamamoto FA, RHP, 25.1 – The fun debates don’t end with the hitters, because we have one brewing with who should be the first pitcher off the board in First Year Player Drafts as well. While everyone is slicing and dicing Skenes fastball shape, Yamamoto is out there pitching no hitters in Japan on Friday. He’s having a spotless season with a 1.20 ERA and 152/24 K/BB in 150 IP. He has the filthy stuff, plus control, plus durability, diverse pitch mix, plus strikeout rates, athletic delivery … there is nothing he doesn’t have, and I think he will make it very tough to pass him up in favor of Skenes. Right now, I have Yamamoto as the top dog.

Druw Jones ARI, OF, 19.8 – Look who finally decided to join us for the 2023 season. Jones is showing up fashionably late, or maybe at this point he’s just rudely late, but he finally showed up nonetheless. He went 3 for 5 with a stolen base yesterday and is now slashing .339/.438/.500 with 2 homers, 6 steals, and a 15/11 K/BB in his last 16 games at Single-A. It brings his season wRC+ at the level to an above average 104 in 29 games, which takes his season from a total disaster to just disappointing. Coming off the shoulder surgery and the myriad of injuries he suffered this year, it’s fair to write this season off as a lost year, and with him showing signs of life here, he might make for a good buy low this off-season.

Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC, OF, 21.5 – With every top prospect and their mother getting called up to the majors, Petey Crow must be feeling pretty lonely still at Triple-A, and he’s taking his frustration out on the baseball. He went 4 for 5 yesterday with a double and a grand salami. It’s his second grand slam in 6 games, and there is really nothing left for him to prove in the minors. His path to the majors isn’t exactly wide open, but he’s not really blocked either. I’m expecting a callup before the end of the season, but who knows really. Update: Literally minutes after publishing this article it was announced PCA will be called up to the bigs. Perfect timing ha

Jackson Jobe DET, RHP, 20.10 – Jobe got a late start to the season coming off a serious back injury, so you are forgiven if it slipped by you that he very well might have a legitimate case to be the best pitching prospect in baseball. He threw another gem yesterday, going 5 IP with 5 hits, 1 ER, and a 7/0 K/BB at High-A. Here is a highlight reel of the filth. He now has a 3.10 ERA with a 78/6 K/BB in 58 IP. He throws 3 at least plus pitches in his fastball, slider, and changeup. If his hype doesn’t explode this off-season like it should, he will be a major target.

Barrett Kent LAA, RHP, 18.11 – The 6’4”, 215 pound Kent was an 8th round pick in this year’s draft, but he signed for almost $1 million, so you know how much LA liked him. He’s now turning heads in pro ball after making his full season debut at Single-A yesterday, going 4 IP with 2 hit, 0 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB. The fastball sat low to mid 90’s and he broke off some nasty changeups. He’s shaping up to be a nice later round target if you stock up on hitters early.

Michael King NYY, RHP, 28.3 – The Yankees rotation is crumbling piece by piece, but one man has risen from the ashes, and we call that man King (because that’s his name). Michael King is becoming a very enticing target this off-season after being transitioned to the rotation, and he had another great outing on Saturday, going 5 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 9/1 K/BB vs. MIL. The sinker sat 94.8 MPH, the changeup notched a 71% whiff% and the sweeper notched a 43% whiff%. It’s his 3rd straight excellent start in a row, and as you can see, he most certainly has the stuff to back it up. He was a starter in the minors, and a damn good one at that with a 2.96 ERA in 392.2 career MiLB IP, so none of this is foreign to him. He could be legit.

Kevin Alcantara CHC, OF, 21.2 – Alcantara closed out his season with a bang, going 4 for 4 with a double, homer, and a play at the plate which showed off his flair for the dramatic. He got off to a slow start on the season, but he’s been a man possessed over his last 62 games, slashing .330/.401/.540 with 9 homers, 5 steals, and a 57/27 K/BB at High-A. He has an excellent 124 wRC+ in 95 games on the season. Don’t sleep on this 6”6”, 188 pound unicorn athlete, because the hype could explode when he takes on the upper minors in 2024.

Myles Naylor OAK, SS, 18.5 – Naylor 3.0 was drafted 39th overall in this year’s draft, and he’s off to an extreme start, both good and bad, in his pro debut. He went deep for his 6th homer in 34 games at mostly Single-A yesterday, but it comes with a brutal 39.6% K%. That is in Elijah Green cover your eyes territory. You have to love the bloodlines (Josh and Bo are his older brothers) and the power, but that K% has to scare you off at least a little.

Victor Scott STL, OF, 22.6 – Scott is an absolute machine on the bases as he once again nabbed 3 bags in a game. It’s the 8th time he’s done that this year. His contact/speed profile has had no issues at Double-A with a 14.3% K%, 43 steals, 6 homers and a .328 BA in 60 games at the level. Make no mistake, Scott is one of the top speed prospects in all of baseball. Easy Top 100 prospect.

AJ Vukovich ARI, 3B, 22.1 – Vukovich has very quietly put together a strong season at Double-A, and it got stronger yesterday with him cracking a dinger. It’s his 2nd homer in 3 games, 3rd homer in 6 games, 4th homer in 10 games, 5th homer in 19 games, 6th homer in 29 games, 7th homer in 37 games, 8th homer in 39 games, 9th homer in 40 games … you get the point, he has a lot of homers (24 homers in 110 games at Double-A to be exact) ;). He’s a big dude at 6’2”, 210 pounds, and he’s also an excellent athlete, evidenced by 17 steals. The plate approach is rough with a 28.3%/8.8% K%/BB%, so there is risk, but he’s a legitimately exciting prospect. He checked in at #234 on the August Top 379 Prospects Rankings (Patreon).

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

Posted on August 14, 2023August 15, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (8/14/23)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON & OFF-SEASON, INCLUDING:
-AUGUST TOP 477 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-MID-SEASON TOP 357 DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 17 DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (8/3/23)
-TOP 50 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JULY MAILBAG! (7/28/23)
-TOP 38 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (8/15/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Zack Gelof OAK, 2B/3B, 23.10 – Here’s what I wrote about Gelof about two weeks ago in my Top 17 Dynasty Baseball Targets article, “If you want safety, sign up for a defensive driving course. This here is the autobahn of dynasty baseball schools, and I don’t want speed limits. I want to take the restrictor plate off and let it fly. That brings us to the 6’3”, 205 pound Zack Gelof, whose upside was considerably underrated in the minors. The guy came up to the majors and has been a power/speed glutton with a 91.8 MPH EV, 20.3 degree launch, and 29.5 ft/sec sprint speed. It’s led to 4 homers and 5 steals in just 16 games. He flashed those same skills in the minors with 12 homers and 20 steals in 69 games at Triple-A. Sure it might feel like your car is coming apart at the seams with the steering wheel shaking and hearing a weird squeaking sound that you can’t quite place because your whiff% meter is well into the danger zone at 42.1%, but fuck it, you’re sick of playing it safe and falling just short of a championship. In fantasy baseball, if you crash and burn, you don’t actually die, you just feel shitty for a few weeks/months. If you can’t take risks in fantasy, where can you take risks? And for Gelof’s current very reasonable price, he’s worth the risk for that big time upside he’s showing off.” … he went 4 for 5 with 2 bombs last night and since that write-up is slashing .382/.432/.853 with 4 homers, 1 steal, and a 7/3 K/BB in 9 games. Buy windows can close fast during the season, and this buy window might have just slammed shut on your fingers if you didn’t act fast.

Wilyer Abreu BOS, OF, 24.1 – Abreu was also named in that target article, and he also went nuclear yesterday with a 3 dinger day. He has a sweet, sweet lefty swing that I just can’t quit, and it’s resulted in 20 bombs with a 21.4%/15.4% K%/BB% and 121 wRC+ in 80 games at Triple-A. He barely gets a whisper of hype and all he does is rake.

Noah Schultz CHW, LHP, 20.0 – I promise you I don’t want to turn this entire Rundown into one big pat myself on the back fest, but I can’t help that so many of my Targets went off yesterday. Schultz was my top pitcher target for first year player drafts, and now his hype is absolutely blowing up. He kept his immaculate season going yesterday (3.1 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 5/2 K/BB) and now has a 1.33 ERA with a 36.5%/5.8% K%/BB% in 27 IP at Single-A.

Bryan Ramos CHW, 3B, 21.3 – Okay, this is a cry for help now … just … can’t … stop … being … right 😉 … Ramos is the Rodney Dangerfield of prospects, the guy just don’t get no respect. He dug out a pitch that was down and in and somehow managed to go the other way with it with authority for his 11th homer in 49 games at Double-A. I’ve been banging his drum for two years and he’s now destroying Double-A, slashing .274/.392/.508 with 11 homers, 4 steals, and a 22.7%/12.4% K%/BB%. There actually might still be a buy window here, because I’ll tell ya, he got no respect the day he was born. He ranked 77th on my Mid-Season Top 357 Dynasty Prospects Rankings.

Coby Mayo BAL, 3B, 21.8 – I’m doing everything in my power to not mention that I predicted Coby Mayo would be a Top 10 Prospect in my Predicting the Top 50 2024 Dynasty Baseball Prospects back in February. I’m not sure he’s quite at Top 10 level yet, but he’s certainly blown up this year, and he’s starting to conquer Triple-A now too with a 457 foot bomb for his 3rd homer in 26 games. He only has a 69 wRC+ at the level (177 wRC+ at Double-A), but his strikeout rate has come down to a reasonable 25.2% and a lot of it is poor BABIP luck (.242 BABIP).

Moises Ballesteros CHC, C, 19.8 – Okay Mike, it’s not even funny anymore, don’t mention that you named Ballesteros your top catcher target this off-season in your Positional Targets Series … don’t do it … Ballesteros was my top catcher target this off-season in my Positional Targets Series, and he’s gone off this year. He got the call to High-A after conquering Single-A, and he’s now officially destroying the level after cracking his 3rd homer. He has a 131 wRC+ in 37 games after putting up a 143 wRC+ in 56 games at Single-A.

Anthony Solometo PIT, LHP, 20.7 – Let’s use Solometo as a palate cleanser. Finally one of my targets who didn’t play well yesterday. He went 1 IP with 4 hits, 3 ER and a 1/1 K/BB at Double-A. He hasn’t been bad at Double-A, but he hasn’t been dominant either with a 4.15 ERA and 25.2%/5.4% K%/BB% in 34.2 IP. Keep in mind he’s still only 20 years old, and it’s also nice to see the walk rate come all the way down to a near elite 5.4% BB%.

Homer Bush Jr. SDP, OF, 21.10 – Don’t worry, Homer Bush Jr. has never been a target of mine … yet. He didn’t crack my Top 50 2024 FYPD Rankings, but he’s proving he should have with an excellent pro debut. After across the board destruction in rookie ball, he got called up to Single-A and is still raking, slashing .294/.478/.529 with 1 homer, 2 steals, and a 8.7%/13% K%/BB% in 5 games. His 12 pro steals leads all 2023 draftees. As the 128th pick in the draft, he’s quickly becoming one of my favorite sleeper bats.

Enrique Bradfield Jr. BAL, OF, 21.8 – Speaking of guys racking up steals, Bradfield racked up 4 steals yesterday and is a perfect 9 for 9 in only 7 pro games (3 games in rookie and 4 in Single-A). As the 17th pick in the draft, you won’t get the discount you can get on Bush, but his category winning stolen base prowess is worth the price.

Dylan Crews WAS, OF, 21.4 – You heard it here first, Crews is my #1 sleeper target in first year player drafts 😉 … He’s unsurprisingly obliterating the lower minors after going 5 for 5 with 2 homers yesterday at High-A. He has a 193 wRC+ in 8 games at the level. It continues to lock in his status as a truly elite prospect, and he already ranked 51st overall on the Updated Top 477 Dynasty Baseball Rankings that dropped last week on my Patreon.

Ryan Pepiot LAD, RHP, 25.11 – 6.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 11/0 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball sat 94.3 MPH and the changeup dominated with a 50% whiff%. Here’s a highlight reel of his dominance. I feel like we’ve seen enough plus changeup Dodgers pitchers struggle in the majors (Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan) to scare us off, but at the same time, those struggles might open the door for Pepiot to get the next shot when/if a rotation spot opens.

Matt Shaw CHC, SS, 21.8/Tommy Troy ARI, 3B/2B, 21.6 – There seems to be a split between people who prefer Shaw and people who prefer Troy, and while I’m most certainly on Team Shaw, I like Troy too. They both homered yesterday, and now Shaw is utterly decimating High-A with 2 homers, 1 steal, a 15.4% K% and 205 wRC+ in 9 games. Troy isn’t playing as well with a 80 wRC+ in 10 games, but a lot of that is bad BABIP luck (.185 BABIP) because the 3 homers, 4 steals, and a 26.1% K% ain’t bad at all. Shaw checked in at 43rd overall on my Mid-Season Top 357 Prospects Rankings while Troy checked in at #126.

Termarr Johnson PIT, 2B/SS, 19.1 – It didn’t take long for Johnson to find his footing at High-A. After struggling in his first few games at the level, he’s homered in back to back games. His hit tool might not have been quite as good as advertised, but this is still an explosive player with a very mature plate approach. I would say he’s living up to about 95% of his draft hype.

Chase Silseth LAA, RHP, 23.1 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 5/2 K/BB vs. HOU. He probably got a bit lucky in this one with only a 16% whiff% and with his secondaries getting hit relatively hard, but you know what they say, it’s better to be lucky than good. And it’s also a good sign that he was still able to come through without his best stuff. He ranked 332nd on the Updated Top 477 Dynasty Rankings.

Jace Jung DET, 2B, 22.9 – Jung went lefty on lefty off Solometo on a pitch that was so bad I’m not even sure what it was. I’m assuming it was a hanging slider. They all count the same though, and Jung is more than handling his business since getting the call to Double-A with 4 homers and a 118 wRC+ in 19 games. The Jung’s are taking the baseball world by storm this year, and it won’t be long before baby bro Jace joins his big bro Josh in the majors.

James Wood WAS, OF, 20.10 – Wood unloaded for his 13th homer in 58 games at Double-A, and he did it with an impressively short and quick swing. That type of swing gives hope his hit tool will be good enough to let the huge power/speed combo shine, but there is undeniable hit tool risk with a 32.7% K% at the level. I’m buying the talent, just like I am with the similarly tall and thin Elly (who cracked his 10th MLB homer yesterday).

Carson Williams TBR, SS, 20.1 – Okay, 11 blurbs is long enough to go without mentioning my targets going off, right? My man Williams went 5 for 5 with 2 doubles at High-A, and most importantly, he didn’t strike out once. He’s been excellent all season, but he’s been especially great over his last 33 games with 9 homers and a .973 OPS. The 30.9% K% is too high, but he has the type of talent to overlook that one small snafu. He also has the defensive prowess to keep him on the field while he works through the hit tool issues.

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

Posted on July 31, 2023August 3, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (7/31/23)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 473 JULY DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-UPDATED TOP 357 JULY DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 17 DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (8/3/23)
-TOP 50 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JULY MAILBAG! (7/28/23)
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (7/14/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Nolan Schanuel LAA, 1B, 21.5 – I remember when I started writing back in 2015, the pro debuts for recently drafted players were always poo pooed. The default line that every prospect writer gave when asked about the pro performance of the most recent draft class was always some variation of “small sample size,” and they would never deviate from their pre draft evaluation of a player. That never made sense to me, as it seemed obvious that what a player did when they actually started facing pro pitching with a wood bat was very important, actionable information. Well, the prospect landscape has changed drastically over the last 8 years, and now almost every prospect writer puts the proper weight on pro debuts. Valuations can change in a hurry in both directions. Just look at Dalton Rushing and Jacob Berry, likely the two biggest movers in opposite directions in last year’s draft class based on their debuts. Keeping an eye on the recent draftees is one of the most fun/important things you can do at this point of the season. So on that note, let’s kick things off with keeping an eye on the 11th overall pick in the draft, Nolan Schanuel. In true Angels fashion, while everyone else is taking things slow with their draft picks, Schanuel has already skyrocketed to Double-A. This looks like a Zach Neto situation all over again. He’s now the favorite to be the first one to reach the majors from his draft class, and he has the type of extremely advanced plate approach to succeed quickly. He put up a 1.190 OPS with a 1/5 K/BB in 5 games split between rookie and Single-A, but his first game at Double-A was a bit of a “welcome to pro ball, kid” moment, going 0 for 4 with 3 K’s. He bounced back yesterday though with a 3 for 4 night, including a triple and 0/2 K/BB. We’ll quickly find out how good of a plate approach he really has after putting up elite strikeout to walk rates in Conference USA. He ranked 15th overall on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon) and is looking like one of top picks if you want a quick mover.

Max Clark DET, OF, 18.6 – Clark made his pro debut in rookie ball, and he showed off his pu pu platter of skills all in one hit. He ripped a ball the opposite way to deep left centerfield off a lefty, and then showed off the wheels by easily legging out a triple. He went 1 for 4 with 2 K’s on the day. After the consensus top 3 are off the board (Crews, Langford, Skenes), I would be all over Clark, and he already ranked 14th overall on the Mid-Season Top 357 Dynasty Prospects Rankings that dropped last week on the Patreon.

Matt Shaw CHC, SS, 21.8 – There is a consensus Top 5 in the draft (Crews, Langford, Skenes, Clark, Jenkins), but I think Shaw is knocking on the door of that top tier as my top target after that. He’s unsurprisingly crushing rookie ball, going 4 for 8 with 1 homer, 1 double, 2 steals, and a 1/2 K/BB in 3 games. I love his little man leg kick, which is the same swing that made me fall in love with Zach Neto and Spencer Steer. I’m all in on him, ranking him 43rd overall on the Mid-Season Top 357 Prospects Rankings.

Tommy Troy ARI, 3B/2B, 21.6 – Many people have Troy over Shaw, and he did also get taken one pick ahead of Shaw in the draft, but I don’t think Troy has quite the fantasy upside that Shaw has. To Troy’s credit, he’s also handling his business in rookie ball like he should, going 4 for 8 with 1 steal and a 1/2 K/BB in 3 games. Other than the Angels, teams are rightfully taking it slow by starting guys off in rookie ball. There is no reason to not allow them to get their footing slowly in pro ball before promoting them to higher levels.

Chase Davis STL, OF, 21.7 – St. Louis didn’t take the rookie ball first route with Davis, sending him straight to full season ball, and maybe they should have re thought that decision. The hit tool was really the one concern with Davis, and it’s rearing it’s ugly head in the early going with him putting up a 37.5% K% with a .231 BA in 8 games. He’s yet to do any damage either with 0 homers and a .644 OPS. It comes with a 18.8% BB%, which definitely eases some concerns that it’s just small sample noise and/or that he’s being too patient, but it’s still not what you want to see. It’s far too early for this to change anything, but it’s definitely something to keep an eye on.

Mitch Jebb PIT, SS, 21.2 – Selected 42nd overall, Jebb also debuted in full season ball, and unlike Davis, he’s thriving, going 8 for 14 with 2 doubles, 1 steal, and a 0/1 K/BB. He got drafted on the back of his at least plus hit/speed combo, and that profile is transferring completely in the early going. There is little to no power here, which is why he didn’t crack my Top 50, but I definitely have my eye on him with the strong early showing.

Aidan Miller PHI, SS, 19.1 – Miller is already 19 years old, and while 19 year old high school prospects aren’t my favorite to go after, he undeniably has a beastly righty swing geared for both average and power. He’s showed off that swing real quick by going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles in first first pro game in rookie ball and is 4 for 7 with 1 K over 2 games. A strong pro debut could get his hype cooking real quick, and he’s already highly touted.

Homer Bush Jr. SDP, OF, 21.9 – I’ll always have fond memories of Homer Bush as a Yankees fan. He put up a 139 wRC+ in 78 PA during that special 1998 season when I was in my sports fandom prime as a 12 year old. I don’t know why, but thinking back on those fun bench players and part time players almost brings back more nostalgia than remembering the stars. Time marches on though, and now Homer Bush is 50 years old, and it’s his sons turn to make some memories for the kids. He stepped right into rookie ball and has already popped 2 homers in 6 games, one of which was the inside the park variety. He’s also tacked on 5 steals with a 4/2 K/BB. He wasn’t highly drafted as a 4th round pick, and there is nothing he can do in rookie ball to really get the hype going as a college player, but he has the bloodlines and a fantasy friendly profile with plus speed and good feel to hit. If the power can take a jump, there is definitely potential for him to become an intriguing prospect.

Jace Jung DET, 2B, 22.9 – Jung might not have the shiny new toy excitement that the new draftees have, but he’s been quietly having a killer season that got a whole lot louder yesterday after smashing 2 homers at Double-A. He now has 3 homers with a 9/1 K/BB in 6 games at the level after handling his business at High-A with 14 homers and a 22.7%/15.3% K%/BB% in 81 games. He’ll be a no doubt Top 100 prospect in no time if he keeps this up in the upper minors, if he’s not there already.

John Cruz NYY, OF, 17.11 – I named Cruz a target in my latest Dynasty Baseball Targets article (Patreon), and he’s getting hot again after homering in 3 of his last 6 games in rookie ball as a 17 year old. He’s now slashing .264/.350/.512 with 8 homers, 6 steals, and a 23.8%/10.5% K%/BB% in 33 games. He has the elite upside to back up the numbers with a vicious lefty swing and plus athleticism at 6’3”, 171 pounds. I actually just scooped him up in my 30 team mid season prospect blind auction. I would grab him in all league sizes at this point.

Christopher Sanchez PHI, LHP, 26.7 – 5 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 3/2 K/BB vs. PIT. Sanchez threw a modern day no hitter right after I talked shit about him on Halp’s Dynasty Baseball Podcast: July Mailbag (Patreon) on Friday (I hit on a ton of topics in that podcast, including Jordan Walker, Riley Greene, CJ Abrams, softball batting stances, Everson Pereira, Ezequiel Duran, and many more). The fastball averaged 90.6 MPH and he put up an 11% whiff% overall. This just isn’t a profile I’m going after, and while he’s currently showing elite control with a 4.3% BB% in 47.1 IP, he’s never shown even close to this level of control in the past. If you can cash in on him for a solid prospect return before the trade deadline based on his 2.66 ERA, I would do so.

AJ Smith-Shawver ATL, RHP, 20.7 – Shawver got called back up the bigs and scuffled a bit vs. Milwaukee, going 5 IP with 4 hits, 3 ER, and a 3/4 K/BB. The fastball averaged 94.5 MPH and he put up a 21% whiff% with a traditional 4 pitch mix. He hasn’t blown the doors off the majors and he also hasn’t been that great at Triple-A (4.44 ERA in 24.1 IP), but you have to take into account that this kid should probably still be at High-A. I love the stuff, I love Atlanta’s faith in him promoting him so fast, and I love that he is even able to hold his own against advanced competition. I’m still all in on Shawver long term.

Matt Sauer NYY, RHP, 24.6 – Nobody wants to give my man Sauer any love at all, but I still stand by that this guy is going to surprise some people down the line. He threw a gem yesterday, going 5 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER, and a 7/0 K/BB at Double-A. Here he is consistently throwing mid 90’s heat with a filthy breaking ball and a solid changeup. This was his best outing of the season and he battled arm troubles which delayed the start of his year, but I can’t be the only one to see the legit talent he has in his arm. I still like him in deeper leagues.

Hayden Birdsong SFG, RHP, 21.9 – Birdsong rose to 237th overall in my latest rankings, and he had another strong outing yesterday, going 4 IP with 5 hits, 1 ER, and a 6/1 K/BB at High-A. He’s 6’4”, 215 pounds with a plus mid 90’s fastball and a 4 pitch mix with a plus slider as his best secondary. It’s led to a 3.09 ERA and 33.1%/6.6% K%/BB% in 32 IP at the level. I’m a big fan.

Heston Kjerstad BAL, OF, 24.5 – Kjerstad has quickly become a near elite prospect befitting of his 2nd overall pick draft pedigree now that he is finally healthy, and he kept it going yesterday after smoking his 7th homer in 39 games at Triple-A. He’s been utterly obliterating the upper minors all year with 18 homers and a 64/28 K/BB in 85 games. The only question is where he fits in on a loaded Orioles team and if he gets traded before the deadline.

Parker Meadows DET, OF, 23.7 – Meadows smushed his 16th homer in 97 games at Triple-A, and he’s been trying to kick that door down to the majors of late with a .960 OPS in his last 20 games. He has a fantasy friendly profile with a plus power/speed combo (15 steals) and is entering great stash territory is any league size. His time is coming.

Owen Caissie CHC, OF, 21.0 – Caissie hit his 18th homer in 84 games at Double-A, which isn’t notable because we already know about the monster power, but what is notable is that it came with 0 K’s. In fact, he’s only struck out once in his last 18 PA. It brings his K% with the regular, non tacked ball down to 27.9% in 13 games, and like I mentioned, it’s been even better over his last 4 games. He’ll always be a high K guy, but it’s looking like the over the top K% with the pre-tacked ball was not a true measure of his talent level. His stock continues to rise as one of the top power hitting prospects in the minors.

Orelvis Martinez TOR, SS, 21.6 – Speaking of one of the top power hitting prospects in the minors, Martinez demolished his 2nd homer in 10 games since getting called up to Triple-A, and he’s maintained his much improved plate approach with a 9/6 K/BB. Even with the improved plate approach I still wouldn’t expect a high BA because he’s a perpetual low BABIP guy, but the guy is going to mash at any level.

Charlie Pagliarini SEA, 3B, 22.7 – I couldn’t do this little draft class pro debut update without mentioning Pagliarini. The 19th round pick has already cracked 3 dingers in just 5 games in rookie ball, and the power is most certainly real with him cracking 24 homers in the MAAC. He was a 22 year old senior with hit tool issues, which is why he got drafted so late, and doing it in rookie ball doesn’t mean much, but it can’t hurt to at least keep him in the back of your mind.

Jared Sundstrom SEA, OF, 22.1 – Sundstrom is another one to at least keep in mind in deep leagues. The 6’3”, 225 pound 10th round pick is already making waves at Single-A after cracking a grand slam for his first pro homer and then following that up with a 2 run bomb for his 2nd. He’s also doing it with a strong 15.4% K% in 3 games. Like Pagliarini, he’s already 22 and will need to do a lot more to become someone to really go after, but his performance warrants a mention to close out this Rundown.

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

Posted on July 24, 2023July 28, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Patreon Post: Mid-Season 2023 Top 356 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings

We back for the Mid-Season Edition of the Top 356 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings over on Patreon. Top 20 free here on the Brick Wall. Only players currently in the minors were eligible for this list. The new draftees are included. Previous rankings are in parenthesis (from June through the off-season, in that order). Here is the Mid-Season 2023 Top 356 Dynasty Baseball Prospects Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 473 JULY DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-TOP 50 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (7/14/23)
-TOP DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (6/29/23)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JULY MAILBAG! (7/28/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

1) (1) (2) (6) (13) Jackson Holliday BAL, SS, 19.8 – Got the call to Double-A and just continues to cement his top dog status with 1 homer, a 15% K% and 146 wRC+ in 9 games. He better keep it up though, because he has someone nipping at his heels …

2) (3) (5) (4) (3) Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 19.4 – New ball, new Chourio … or should I say old ball, old Chourio. He’s back to tearing up the minors with a 1.367 OPS, 3 homers and 5 steals in 9 games at Double-A post break. I’m tempted to put him back over Holliday

3) (2) (6) (3) (7) Jordan Lawlar ARI, SS, 21.0 – Lawlar ranked 13th on my Top 26 Prospects to Stash for 2023 Only (Patreon). He’s been dominating Double-A for months now with a .979 OPS in his last 40 games, he’s already 21 years old, Perdomo is due for regression, and Arizona is fighting for a playoff spot.

4) (4) (7) (14) (8) James Wood WAS, OF, 20.10 – .208 BA with a 31.6% K% in 41 games at Double-A shows the hit tool risk is real, but I wouldn’t let it scare you off too much as the 6’6”, 240 pound Wood is the next head exploding, elite athlete that will make mainstream baseball fans go crazy when he does get the call

5) (5) (11) (47) (92) Junior Caminero TBR, 3B, 20.0 – The righty version of Rafael Devers

6) (6) (18) (23) (25) Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC, OF, 21.3 – The power is exploding with 12 homers in 68 games at Double-A, the speed is elite with 23 steals, and he’s never had any hit tool issues with a career .304 BA in the minors. He’s straight elite

7) Dylan Crews WAS, OF, 21.4 – Ranked 1st on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon): “Let’s cut right to the chase, if any pitcher would make me pass on the type of hitting talent Crews and Langford are, it would be Paul Skenes, so I have no issue going Skenes first, but with how an entire pitcher’s career trajectory can be changed on a single pitch, I just can’t take that risk. Selected 2nd overall, Crews is built like a solid rock at 6’0”, 203 pounds, and he swings the bat so fast and powerfully it almost looks like he’s using an illegally light bat (he’s not, at least I don’t think he is ha). The ball explodes off it on contact. The swing and hard hit ability are so impressive that I get shades of Bryce Harper when watching him (obviously not a direct comp). He obliterated the SEC from the second he stepped on campus as a freshman, and he kept on improving through his junior year, slashing .380/.498/.689 with 58 homers, 23 steals, and a 146/152 K/BB in 196 career games. His floor feels like a 30+ homer bat without the best BA or tons of steals, and the ceiling might look something like the aforementioned Bryce Harper. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 103/33/108/.278/.367/.531/14″

8) Wyatt Langford TEX, OF, 21.7 – Ranked 2nd on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon): “If you miss out on Crews, Langford not only isn’t a bad consolation prize, but he has a legit case to be taken over Crews. He might actually have half a tick more power and speed than Crews, and he’s even more built up at 6’1”, 225 pounds. He used that tremendously powerful and athletic frame to destroy the SEC over the past 2 seasons, slashing .363/.471/.746 with 47 homers, 16 steals, and a 89/92 K/BB in 134 career games. Crews strikes me as a bit looser and more of a natural athlete to my eye, and his bat speed and swing just look next level to me, so I would still pick him first, but I would be happy as a clam to sit at #2 and take whichever bat fell to me. He was selected 4th overall. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 95/34/105/.271/.355/.523/16″

9) Paul Skenes PIT, RHP, 21.1 – Ranked 3rd on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon): “Selected 1st overall, Skenes immediately becomes the top pitching prospect in baseball who has yet to debut in the majors. If your offense is already stacked, and you are struggling to build up your pitching, I wouldn’t blame you for going Skenes over Crews and Langford, because Skenes is a generational pitching talent. His season was nothing short of jaw dropping with a pitching line of 1.69/0.75/209/20 in 122.2 IP in the SEC. His fastball sits in the upper 90’s and routinely hits over 100 MPH. His slider is elite, and while he didn’t go to his changeup as much, that pitch is also nasty. He also displayed plus control of his entire arsenal. He’s 6’6”, 235 pounds with a relatively athletic delivery and he’s a good athlete in general as evidenced by the fact he is also an excellent hitter. He had a career 1.121 OPS in 119 games in the Mountain West before transferring into the SEC. He’s as can’t miss as a pitcher can get. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 16/3.12/1.02/250 in 200 IP”

10) (17) (15) (13) (34) Evan Carter TEX, OF, 20.10 – He’s been a homer machine since returning from a wrist injury with 6 homers in 26 games at Double-A. The homer uptick is the last thing we needed to see with his mature plate approach and plus speed

11) (13) (14) (41) (30) Noelvi Marte CIN, SS, 21.8 – Called up to Triple-A and isn’t having any issues with a 112 wRC+, 1 homer, 3 steals, and a 19.5% K% in 17 games. He’s shaping up to be an above average contributor in every category

12) (42) (48) (119) (80) Everson Pereira NYY, OF, 22.3 – Called up to Triple-A and is rolling with 4 homers and a 23.7% K% in 13 games. He has a 92.9 MPH EV at the level. He’s in position for a call up with the Yanks scuffling offense, and he can make a legit fantasy impact if he does get the call

13) (14) (16) (15) (10) Jasson Dominguez NYY, OF, 20.6 – I’m going to keep buying a 20 year old at Double-A who is showing off a nasty power (12 homers)/speed (25 steals)/OBP (.348 OBP) combo. Don’t expect a high BA though with a .219 BA and 27.1% K%

14) Max Clark DET, OF, 18.6 – Ranked 4th on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon): Clark is the 2023 draft version of Pete Crow Armstrong and Corbin Carroll, two guys who I was the high man on in their first year player draft class, although Clark actually got the respect he deserved by getting selected 3rd overall. Maybe the success of those aforementioned players paved the way for a guy like Clark to get valued correctly. As you can tell from the comps, double plus speed with a plus hit tool and developing power is what you are buying. He’s a pretty thick and muscular 6’1”, 190 pounds, so I don’t think you have to squint too hard to see legitimate power developing down the line, even if he’s more a line drive hitter currently. 5×5 BA leagues are going to be his bread and butter, but like Carroll, he can be a beast regardless of league type. He has elite dynasty asset upside. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 93/18/72/.288/.346/.435/39

15) (20) (19) (31) (31) Marcelo Mayer BOS, SS, 20.7 – .221 BABIP is the only issue at Double-A. He was the Walker Jenkins of his draft class …

16) Walker Jenkins MIN, OF, 18.4 – Ranked 5th on my Top 50 2024 First Year Player Draft Rankings (Patreon): Selected 5th overall, the 6’3”, 215 pounds Jenkins has that sweet lefty swing that just oozes offensive potential. It’s athletic, quick, under control, powerful, smooth … I can go on and on. It’s hard to watch this guy hit and not completely fall in love. It has the potential for plus hit and plus power at peak, and he’s also a good athlete with above average run times. It’s the type of profile that can be an elite dynasty asset a la Kyle Tucker. If your dynasty league leans more towards power than speed, I can see scooping Jenkins over Clark. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 89/30/97/.270/.340/.514/14

17) (16) (13) (12) (16) Ricky Tiedemann TOR, LHP, 20.11 – Returned from biceps inflammation and looked healthy in his first rehab outing in rookie ball, going 2 perfect innings with 3 K’s. Injury risk is just part of the equation when you deal in pitching prospects

18) (NA) (27) (128) (328) AJ Smith-Shawver ATL, RHP, 20.5 – Sent back down to Triple-A after a solid MLB debut. The fact he even made it to the majors is incredible considering how fast he flew through the minors at only 20 years old

19) (30) (29) (49) (36) Tink Hence STL, RHP, 20.11 – Got called up to Double-A and has a 1.80 ERA with a 18%/6.6% K%/BB% in 15 IP, going 5 IP in each outing. The stuff is fire, he is starting to go deeper into games, and now he’s performing in the upper minors

20) (26) (31) (77) (247) Heston Kjerstad BAL, OF, 24.5 – One of the premier hit/power prospects in the minors with a .344 BA and 5 homers in 33 games at Triple-A

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

Posted on July 19, 2023July 28, 2023 by Michael Halpern

The Wednesday Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (7/19/23)

I’ll be running down everything that caught my eye in the Dynasty Baseball world on most Mondays (and I guess Wednesdays sometimes when I get jammed up, ha) throughout the season here on the Brick Wall. The rest of the week you can catch my Rundowns on the Patreon. Here is the Wednesday Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (7/19/23):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 473 JULY DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-UPDATED TOP 331 JUNE DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 50 2024 FYPD RANKINGS
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (7/14/23)
-TOP DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (6/29/23)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JUNE MAILBAG! (6/27/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

*I was on an extended weekend family trip on Monday and Tuesday that I thought I was going to be able to write during but it turned out I couldn’t. My bad.

Francisco Alvarez NYM, C, 21.7 – When I ranked Alvarez 92nd overall on the Updated July Top 473 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), he was in the midst of slumping, but I didn’t let it scare me off him, and he’s been molten hot since. He went 2 for 3 with a 108.6 MPH homer off Lucas Gioltio and a 106.5 MPH homer of Tanner Banks. It was his 18th and 19th homers of the year in 69 games, and he now has a 7 homers with a 1.363 OPS in 11 July games. He leads all catchers in the homer category and he’s done it in far less at bats. This is just the beginning.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand CIN, 1B/3B, 23.6 – That unsurprisingly didn’t take long. Strand walloped his first MLB homer in his 2nd game with a 426 foot, 105.8 MPH bomb. How could anyone have guessed a guy who hit 20 homers with a .331 BA in 67 games at Triple-A would be good? Maybe it was that extra month or two at Triple-A that really put the finishing touches on him 😉

Bryce Elder ATL, RHP, 24.0 – In the easiest regression call of all time, Elder had his 2nd clunker in a row, going 6 IP with 12 ER and a 4/5 K/BB (5 ER in 2.2 IP last night). This is why I just never really bought into him, and while he can still be a decent fantasy starter, his 4.12 xERA has always been more indicative of his true talent level.

Lazaro Montes SEA, OF, 18.8 – Montes is officially going full breakout after cracking 2 homers yesterday and 3 homers in his last 2 games at stateside rookie ball. He’s improved on his danger zone K% of 33.2% in 2022, bringing it down to a not horrific 27.9% this year, and he’s still walking a ton with a 23.1% BB%. It’s all added up to a 145 wRC+ in 26 games. He’s right on track to become an elite power hitting prospect.

Sebastian Walcott TEX, SS, 17.3 – 3 for 4 with a double, and most importantly, he didn’t strike out once. The strikeouts are the only blemish on his profile with a 29%/4.3% K%/BB% in 15 games in stateside rookie ball, but considering he’s still only 17 years old, and his otherwise insane production (6 homers, 6 steals, and a 181 wRC+) it is very easy to overlook. He was my #1 international prospect target, hyping him hard (with a side of Joendry Vargas who is also killing it in the DSL right now) in my First Year Player Draft Target and Strategy Guide (Patreon) all the way back on January 5th, writing, “Sebastian Walcott TEX, SS, 17.1/ Joendry Vargas LAD, SS, 17.5 – I love searching for that relatively underrated international prospect. The guy who isn’t getting hyped up at the very top of the class but I think should be. It was Alexander Ramirez for me in 2020 (big hit), Maikol Hernandez in 2021 (oof), Lazaro Montes in 2022 (looking good), and in 2023, it’s Sabastian Walcott. This dude looks like a next level athlete in the sparse Youtube videos out there. It’s what made me fall in love so much with Ramirez and Montes, and that was worked out for me. Walcott even stands out relative to the other elite athletes in his class. Vargas is getting some more rankings love than Walcott, but still isn’t really talked about like the very top guys yet. He’s also a good international target.” Walcott started to get a lot more love later in the off-season, but you were already all over him early if you read my stuff.

Xavier Isaac TBR, 1B, 19.6 – Isaac has continued to quietly establish himself as a future elite hitting prospect. He demolished a 440 foot no doubter yesterday for his 3rd in 4 games and his 9th in 64 games. The GB% continues to come down to a reasonable 46.4%, and he has an excellent plate approach with a 19.9%/14.7% K%/BB%. It’s all led to a 141 wRC+. He rose to 68th overall on the June Top Top 331 Prospects Rankings (Patreon), and he’ll take another big jump in the Updated July Prospects Rankings coming next week.

Jackson Chourio MIL, OF, 19.4 – The Southern League is in the post pre-tacked ball era, and Chourio is loving every minute of it, smoking an opposite field homer yesterday and is now 10 for 18 with 2 doubles, 2 homers and a 1/1 K/BB in 4 games with the normal ball. He’s basically picked right up from the destruction he laid last year. I wouldn’t say we should completely throw out the first half stats of all players in the Southern League, but it’s going to be mighty interesting to see the difference from the 1st half to the 2nd half. I didn’t budge off Chourio with his good, but not explosive 1st half, and now he’s exploding all over again.

Jasson Dominguez NYY, OF, 20.6 – Dominguez is getting hot again. He went deep for the 2nd time in 3 games and now has a .934 OPS with 7 steals and a 14/8 K/BB in 13 July games. It think the backlash against Dominguez’ ridiuclous hype as a 17 year old has made him underrated over the past couple years. He’s a 20 year old at Double-A with a 108 wRC+ and a nasty power/speed combo (12 homers and 25 steals in 80 games).

Pete Crow-Armstrong CHC, OF, 21.3 – My #6 ranked prospect on the June Top 331 Rankings, Armstrong has been an extra base machine since returning from the break. He smushed his 11th homer in 64 games at Double-A yesterday and now has 3 doubles, 1 triple, and 1 homer in his last 14 AB. The power explosion is exciting considering his speed (23 steals) and defense, and while the 24%/7.7% K%/BB% isn’t great, it’s not bad either. I’m all in on Armstrong and have been since his draft year.

Evan Carter TEX, OF, 20.10 – What lack of power? Carter deposited his 10th homer of the season right in the lazy river. He’s been on fire since returning from injury, slashing .354/.426/.622 with 5 homers, 2 steals (in 6 attempts) and a 18/10 K/BB in 21 games. The only real blemish on his season is a terrible stolen base success rate (11 for 18), but I think we can overlook that with the power uptick and great plate approach.

Emmanuel Rodriguez MIN, OF, 20.4 – It’s been an up and down season for Baby Bonds, and we’re now back on the upswing with his first homer since June 23rd. He has a .914 OPS in his last 6 games after going 0 for 22 in the 8 games before that. That is a microcosm of his entire season, but a 131 wRC+ with 11 homers and 11 steals in 60 games at High-A ain’t too shabby at all. The 31.8% K% and .214 BA prevents a true explosion to elite prospect status, but his value has at least held steady this year.

Ceddanne Rafaela BOS, OF, 22.3 – All Rafaela has done at Triple-A is hit dingers, and I mean that in both a good and bad way. He smoked his 5th homer in 15 games at the level, but it comes with a 25%/1.5% K%/BB%. The extremely low walk rates are a bit concerning, but he makes up for it with plus speed and plus defense. The profile isn’t that far off from Pete Crow, and he’s now knocking on the door of the bigs.

Jett Williams NYM, SS, 19.8 – Jett may be only 5’6”, but he’s starting to look pretty thick (in a good way), and he’s proving he has enough juice in his bat to make a legit impact. He launched his 5th homer in 70 games at Single-A yesterday and it comes with 29 steals and a 20.6%/19.6% K%/BB%. He only has a .243 BA because the GB% is probably a little too low for his type of profile with a 35.2% GB%, but that is a much easier fix than trying to learn how to lift the ball more. It’s a damn exciting fantasy profile and he is very easily a top 100 fantasy prospect.

Spencer Jones NYY, OF, 22.1 – Jones crushed his 11th homer in 72 games off a pretty nice looking curve that caught too much of the plate. We already know about the power and speed, and his plate approach has looked much better of late with a 24.3%/14.8% K%/BB% in his last 31 games. I would say he’s conquered High-A at this point and is just waiting for his next challenge in the upper minors.

Tyler Black MIL, 2B, 22.11 – Black was one of my first buy calls of the season, and he’s went on to just continue crushing the upper minors all year. He went 4 for 6 with a frozen rope homer yesterday and is now slashing .282/.427/.524 with 13 homers, 42 steals, and a 20.3%/16.8% K%/BB% in 70 games at Double-A. Call me crazy, but I think he’s ready for Triple-A.

Coby Mayo BAL, 3B, 21.6/Orelvis Martinez TOR, SS, 21.6 – Another day, another dinger. Mayo and Orelvis both went deep again, and it was both of their 18th homers. It was also both of their first homers at Triple-A after recently getting called up to the level. I prefer Mayo, but they are both elite power hitting prospects.

Christian Scott NYM, RHP, 24.1 – 7 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 8/0 K/BB at Double-A. Scott transitioned into a full time starter role after being mostly used out of the pen in his career, and he’s taken to it well with a 3.22 ERA and 28.8%/5% K%/BB% in 36.1 IP at Double-A. He’s a big dude at 6’4”, 215 pounds and the stuff is very good with a mid 90’s fastball and plus slider. He might still end up in the pen when it’s all said and done, but there is definitely mid rotation upside and he’s definitely an exciting pop up pitching prospect.

Ty Madden DET, RHP, 23.4 – 4.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 8/2 K/BB at Double-A. Madden has always felt a bit underrated to me. He has the size (6’3”, 215), velocity (mid 90’s heat), diverse pitch mix (fastball, slider, curve, change), and production (3.68 ERA with a 27.1%/9.5% K%/BB%) to make a legit fantasy impact. He’s not a bad low key target if you are struggling to acquire pitching as he’s also close to the bigs.

Logan Allen CLE, LHP, 24.11 – Allen is back in the majors and it didn’t take long for him to re-establish himself, going 5 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 8/1 K/BB vs. Pitt. The changeup was a whiff machine with a 50% whiff% and it led to a 29% whiff% on the day. The stuff isn’t huge with a 90.4 MPH fastball in this one, and he’s not an elite control guy, which limits his upside, but the guy knows how to pitch and can miss bats. It’s a #4-ish starter profile.

Jordan Beck COL, OF, 22.2 – Beck got the call to Double-A post break and he had his first big day at the level, going 2 for 4 with a triple and a homer. He has a 115 wRC+ in 4 games but it comes with a 46.2%/0.0% K%/BB%. It’s still obviously too small of a sample to say anything in either direction, but the one thing to watch is that K%, because we know about the big talent at 6’3”, 225 pounds with a plus power/speed combo. He was one of my targets in my Top 9 Dynasty Baseball Targets (Patreon) from a few weeks ago.

Victor Scott STL, OF, 22.3 – Double-A hasn’t slowed Scott down at all. He lined his 2nd homer in 13 games and is now slashing .333/.377/.491 with 2 homers, 6 steals, and a 12.9%/4.8% K%/BB% in 13 games at the level. He rose to 233rd overall on the latest prospect rankings, and that is set to take another big jump next week. He’s legitimately exciting with a plus contact/speed profile.

Jud Fabian BAL, OF, 22.7 – Fabian smacked his 5th homer at 20 games since getting called up to Double-A, but unfortunately his hit tool has basically been a worst case scenario with a .171 BA and 37.6% K%. That is exactly what we didn’t want to see, but he’s made adjustments in the past, and we have to give him some time to make adjustments again against upper minors pitchers.

Ivan Melendez ARI, 1B, 23.7 – Melendez got the call to Double-A, and literally all he’s done is rip dingers. He cracked 2 homers yesterday and he now has 4 homers in 3 games at the level. He wasn’t too bad at High-A either with 18 homers in 58 games. He’s certainly made up for his lackluster debut in 2022, but he still isn’t without his warts with a 33.6%/8.2% K%/BB% (30.8%/7.7% K%/BB% at Double-A). It is a bit of a Quad-A type slugger profile, and he’s also hit lefties much better than righties. A low BA, part time power bat might be the most likely outcome, but he’s left little doubt that he will be able to mash homers at any level.

Alek Manoah TOR, RHP, 25.6 – 3 IP, 3 hits, 4 ER. 0/5 K/BB vs. SDP … oof, still brutal

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

Posted on July 11, 2023July 14, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Patreon Post: Top 50 2024 Dynasty Baseball First Year Player Draft Rankings

It’s First Year Player Draft Rankings Half Week over on the Patreon! I went 50 deep with blurbs and projections for every player. Top 7 free on the Brick Wall below. Here is the Top 50 2024 Dynasty Baseball First Year Player Draft Rankings:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THESE RANKINGS & TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 473 JULY DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-UPDATED TOP 331 JUNE DYNASTY PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (6/29/23)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: JUNE MAILBAG! (6/27/23)
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (7/14/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS

Tier 1

1) Dylan Crews WAS, OF, 21.4 – Let’s cut right to the chase, if any pitcher would make me pass on the type of hitting talent Crews and Langford are, it would be Paul Skenes, so I have no issue going Skenes first, but with how an entire pitcher’s career trajectory can be changed on a single pitch, I just can’t take that risk. Selected 2nd overall, Crews is built like a solid rock at 6’0”, 203 pounds, and he swings the bat so fast and powerfully it almost looks like he’s using an illegally light bat (he’s not, at least I don’t think he is ha). The ball explodes off it on contact. The swing and hard hit ability are so impressive that I get shades of Bryce Harper when watching him (obviously not a direct comp). He obliterated the SEC from the second he stepped on campus as a freshman, and he kept on improving through his junior year, slashing .380/.498/.689 with 58 homers, 23 steals, and a 146/152 K/BB in 196 career games. His floor feels like a 30+ homer bat without the best BA or tons of steals, and the ceiling might look something like the aforementioned Bryce Harper. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 103/33/108/.278/.367/.531/14 Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #5 – valued around Jordan Lawlar, Jackson Chourio, and James Wood

2) Wyatt Langford TEX, OF, 21.7 – If you miss out on Crews, Langford not only isn’t a bad consolation prize, but he has a legit case to be taken over Crews. He might actually have half a tick more power and speed than Crews, and he’s even more built up at 6’1”, 225 pounds. He used that tremendously powerful and athletic frame to destroy the SEC over the past 2 seasons, slashing .363/.471/.746 with 47 homers, 16 steals, and a 89/92 K/BB in 134 career games. Crews strikes me as a bit looser and more of a natural athlete to my eye, and his bat speed and swing just look next level to me, so I would still pick him first, but I would be happy as a clam to sit at #2 and take whichever bat fell to me. He was selected 4th overall. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 95/34/105/.271/.355/.523/16 Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #6 – see above

3) Paul Skenes PIT, RHP, 21.1 – Selected 1st overall, Skenes immediately becomes the top pitching prospect in baseball who has yet to debut in the majors. If your offense is already stacked, and you are struggling to build up your pitching, I wouldn’t blame you for going Skenes over Crews and Langford, because Skenes is a generational pitching talent. His season was nothing short of jaw dropping with a pitching line of 1.69/0.75/209/20 in 122.2 IP in the SEC. His fastball sits in the upper 90’s and routinely hits over 100 MPH. His slider is elite, and while he didn’t go to his changeup as much, that pitch is also nasty. He also displayed plus control of his entire arsenal. He’s 6’6”, 235 pounds with a relatively athletic delivery and he’s a good athlete in general as evidenced by the fact he is also an excellent hitter. He had a career 1.121 OPS in 119 games in the Mountain West before transferring into the SEC. He’s as can’t miss as a pitcher can get. ETA: 2024 Prime Projection: 16/3.12/1.02/250 in 200 IP Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospect Rankings: #7 – see above

Tier 2

4) Max Clark DET, OF, 18.6 – Clark is the 2023 draft version of Pete Crow Armstrong and Corbin Carroll, two guys who I was the high man on in their first year player draft class, although Clark actually got the respect he deserved by getting selected 3rd overall. Maybe the success of those aforementioned players paved the way for a guy like Clark to get valued correctly. As you can tell from the comps, double plus speed with a plus hit tool and developing power is what you are buying. He’s a pretty thick and muscular 6’1”, 190 pounds, so I don’t think you have to squint too hard to see legitimate power developing down the line, even if he’s more a line drive hitter currently. 5×5 BA leagues are going to be his bread and butter, but like Carroll, he can be a beast regardless of league type. He has elite dynasty asset upside. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 93/18/72/.288/.346/.435/39 Where he would rank of the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #20 – valued around Marcelo Mayer, Carson Williams, Harry Ford and Luisangel Acuna

5) Walker Jenkins MIN, OF, 18.4 – Selected 5th overall, the 6’3”, 215 pounds Jenkins has that sweet lefty swing that just oozes offensive potential. It’s athletic, quick, under control, powerful, smooth … I can go on and on. It’s hard to watch this guy hit and not completely fall in love. It has the potential for plus hit and plus power at peak, and he’s also a good athlete with above average run times. It’s the type of profile that can be an elite dynasty asset a la Kyle Tucker. If your dynasty league leans more towards power than speed, I can see scooping Jenkins over Clark. ETA: 2026 Prime Projection: 89/30/97/.270/.340/.514/14 Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #21 – see above, along with similar value to Emmanuel Rodriguez

6) Yoshinobu Yamamoto JPN, RHP, 24.11 – Yamamoto is the top player expected to come over from Japan, and like Kodai Senga and Masataka Yoshida, all signs point towards him being an immediate impact fantasy player. He’s been a true ace in Japan for years now, and that’s continued this year with a pitching line of 1.66/0.82/101/12 in 92 IP. He pitched 193 innings in both 2021 and 2022, so there also isn’t any concern of how many innings he can pitch. The fastball sits mid 90’s and regularly hits the upper 90’s. A nasty splitter is his most used secondary, and he also throws a very good cutter and curve. He has elite command over all of his pitches, and he has an unique, oddly athletic delivery which he varies constantly to mess with hitters timing. He’s a straight up nightmare to face, and if you want the win now pitcher, I can see taking him as high as 4th overall. 2024 Projection: 13/3.73/1.18/190 in 180 IP Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: If you want to lean win now, I would have him ranked 10th overall around Grayson Rodriguez and Andrew Painter. If win later, I would have him ranked around Tink Hence and Shane Baz at around 25 overall

Tier 3

7) Matt Shaw CHC, SS, 21.8 – Selected 13th overall, Shaw is my top target after the consensus Top 6 are off the board. He’s only 5’11”, but he’s a thick dude who has real power, and he combines that with above average speed and excellent base stealing skills. He smashed 24 homers with 18 steals and a 1.142 OPS in 62 Big Ten games. He also impressed in the wood bat Cape Cod League with 5 homers, 21 steals, and a 1.006 OPS in 36 games. He has that little man leg kick that I absolutely love in the mold of a Alex Bregman, Spencer Steer, and Zach Neto. It definitely seems to be working for these slightly undersized guys. Shaw is going to be a fantasy stud, and while he isn’t really underhyped, there is a chance he falls into a mighty juicy area in your first year player draft. ETA: 2025 Prime Projection: 82/25/88/.268/.341/.463/18 Where he would rank on the Top 300 Prospects Rankings: #40 – valued around Spencer Jones, Jonatan Clase, Jackson Merrill, and Yanquiel Fernandez

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

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

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 May 15, 2023May 19, 2023 by Michael Halpern

Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (5/15/23)

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-UPDATED TOP 433 MAY DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS
-UPDATED TOP 324 APRIL PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP DYNASTY BASEBALL TARGETS (4/28/23)
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: MAILBAG! (5/16/23)
-TOP 25 PROSPECTS TO STASH FOR 2023 IMPACT ONLY (5/19/23)
–TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE 2024 TOP 50 PROSPECTS RANKS

Christopher Morel CHC, 2B/OF, 23.10 – They say good things come to those who wait, and the Morel owners who waited are now enjoying good things as he jacked his 3rd homer in 21 PA. He has a 1.238 OPS with a 92.4 MPH EV, 1 steal, and most importantly, the whiff% is all the way down to a reasonable 28.9%. He was one of my favorite targets this off-season, and I sure as hell waited while bad vets got the nod over him even while he was destroying spring pitching and destroying Triple-A. Come to think of it, the people who say “good things come to those who wait” are usually the ones screwing you over, but Morel refused to be held down for long, and his fantasy owners are now reaping the benefits. He checked in at #227 on the Updated May Top 433 Dynasty Baseball Rankings that just dropped on the Patreon last week, and that number will keep rising if he keeps performing and locks in playing time.

Jordan Walker STL, 3B/OF, 21.0 – Jordan Walker owners were given immediate gratification with him making the team out of camp and look how that worked out for them. He had mediocre results and then very quickly got sent back to down to Triple-A to work on his launch angle. Let’s check in to see how that launch is looking after a 3 for 5 day yesterday: 28.6% FB%. Not great, and it’s led to a 60 wRC+ in 15 games at Triple-A. He’s still crushing the ball and the plate approach is good, so I wouldn’t be worried, but the Cardinals very publicly announced what they wanted to see from him, and they quite clearly haven’t seen it yet. I’m guessing they will call him back up eventually regardless of his launch, but it would have been easier if he was able to successfully make that adjustment.

Alex Kirilloff MIN, 1B/OF, 25.7 – Kirilloff owners have been waiting for damn near 4 years, and quite frankly, you have the patience of a saint if you kept him on your roster all this time, but now that saintly patience is paying off. He went 2 for 6 yesterday and now has a 1.309 OPS with 2 homers, a 93.1 MPH EV and a 17.9%/21.4% K%/BB% in 28 PA in the majors. He looks healthy and as long as he stays that way, he’ll likely keep raking. I’m buying.

Brandon Pfaadt ARI, RHP, 24.7 – Tom Petty said the waiting is the hardest part, but he obviously never owned Pfaadt in dynasty, because watching him get shelled once he did get the call has surely been the hardest part. The waiting was the easy part in hindsight. But he had his best MLB outing yesterday, going 5 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 5/3 K/BB vs. SFG. The fastball sat 93.4 MPH and he induced weak contact with an 83.5 MPH EV against. It’s still been super rough overall with an 8.59 ERA in 14.2 IP, and all of his pitches are getting destroyed. I can’t lie, it’s a little concerning as he doesn’t necessarily have stuff, but really nothing you can do but keep waiting.

Zach Neto LAA, SS, 22.2 – Fuck waiting. Sometimes you have to take what you want, and that is why Neto was my 3rd ranked FYPD prospect, because I knew he would be fast tracked to the bigs. But even I didn’t expect it to happen so fast, and considering the rush job LA put on him, he’s been pretty damn good. He went 1 for 3 with a 100.6 MPH double off none other than a 98.9 MPH Emmanuel Clase fastball. He now has a 15.7% K%, 89.3 MPH EV, 7.9% Barrel%, and a .326 xwOBA. He’s setting a very strong foundation, and the best is almost certainly yet to come.

Matt McLain CIN, 2B/SS, 23.8 – Strand and Elly owners will have to keep waiting, because Yippee-ki-yay, it’s McLain time. He’s been out of his mind at Triple-A, slashing .348/.474/.710 with 12 homers, 10 steals, and a 19.7%/16.8% K%/BB% in 38 games, earning every bit of this callup. And I don’t see him going anywhere as long he performs decently well. He’s shown some hit tool issues in the past and he’s not a huge raw power guy, but he’s a pick up in all league sizes if he happens to still be out there on your wire.

Tanner Bibee CLE, RHP, 24.2 – Can I shoehorn this waiting theme into one more player … hmmmmmm … I got nothing. Bibee owners waited the appropriate amount of time and he’s been impressive from the get go. He went 7.2 IP with 2 hits, 1 ER, and 7/2 K/BB vs. LAA. The fastball sat 95.2 MPH and he put up a 29% whiff% overall. Bibee is well on his way to becoming a Top 100 dynasty asset with a 3.22 ERA and 25%/4.5% K%/BB% in 22.1 IP. He currently sits at #165 on the Updated Dynasty Rankings.

Louie Varland MIN, RHP, 25.4 – 6.1 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 7/1 K/BB vs. CHC. Varland was my first “full breakout alert” in the Dynasty Rundowns back in early April, and there wasn’t much waiting after that as he quickly got called up to the majors. He hasn’t necessarily exploded with a 4.30 ERA in 23 IP, but the stuff looks great led by a 95.1 MPH fastball, and so does the 28.4%/6.3% K%/BB%. I still think he’s a bit underrated.

James Wood WAS, OF, 20.7 – Wood went 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, a dinger, and a 0/2 K/BB at High-A as he’s now officially destroying the level with 5 homers, 5 steals, and a 137 wRC+ in 31 games. The one quibble is that the K% is all the way up to 29%. Strikeouts were always going to be a part of his game at 6’6”, and he can thrive even with a high K rate, but it does add risk, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it in check when he gets to Double-A.

Spencer Jones NYY, OF, 22.0 – Jones is the older version of Wood. He went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, 1 steal, and most importantly, 0 K’s. He’s crushing High-A with 6 homers, 9 steals, and a 143 wRC+, but that 32.2%/5.8% K%/BB% is pretty rough. He just turned 22 yesterday (Happy Birthday, Spence), so he’s a young 22, but he’ll likely need to make legitimate hit tool and plate approach improvements if he wants his power/speed combo to shine in the majors. He was my 5th ranked FYPD prospect, and I still love him, but we can’t completely ignore those K/BB numbers as much as I want to.

Jacob Melton HOU, OF, 22.9 – Melton cracked his 5th homer at High-A and is doing what an advanced college bat is supposed to do in the lower minors. Along with the 5 homers, he has 12 steals with a 26%/19% K%/BB% and a 136 wRC+ in 22 games. We just gotta watch that K%, but the power/speed combo is very legit. He’s exciting.

Gavin Cross KC, OF, 22.2 – Cross is doing whatever the opposite of “doing what an advanced college bat is supposed to do in the lower minors,” as he’s looked terrible at High-A even after going 2 for 4 yesterday. He has a 62 wRC+ with a 32.8%/7.3% K%/BB% in 31 games. The hit tool was the one iffy part of his game coming out of the draft, and that’s playing out right now. We saw him molten hot last year to start his pro career, so I wouldn’t completely overreact to the still small sample, but it’s simply not what you want to see.

Marco Luciano SFG, SS, 21.7 – Lucky Luciano launched his 2nd bomb in 10 games at Double-A, but it came on a 1 for 5 with 3 K day. He now has a 50 wRC+ with a 40% K% at the level, and it just feels like the shine continues to come off that formerly pristine prospect hype. He’s still a good prospect, but I’m not sure he really stands out anymore, although maybe we have to give him some more time to shake the rust off as he’s coming off a stress fracture in his back this off-season.

Kyren Paris LAA, 2B/SS, 21.5 – Paris was a named target for me this off-season, and he’s been a beast all season at Double-A. He went 2 for 3 with his 9th homer on a beautiful swing yesterday. He’s now slashing .239/.390/.487 with 9 homers, 10 steals, and a 31.9%/17.7% K%/BB% in 31 games. The power has taken a major step forward, which is huge to see considering his double plus speed. The hit tool is still a major concern which prevents his hype from truly exploding, but this is an extremely high upside fantasy player who still gets almost no love. I’m still buying despite the risk.

Justyn-Henry Malloy DET, 3B/OF, 23.4 – 1 for 2 with a homer and 3 walks. The hard hitting Malloy is now slashing .323/.455/.526 with 7 homers and a 24.2%/17.6% K%/BB% in 38 games at Triple-A and I can’t imagine it is much longer before he gets the call. I think he’s likely to be a better real life hitter than fantasy, but that doesn’t mean he can’t make a fantasy impact too. He’s a great stash in any league.

Luis Matos SFG, OF, 21.3 – Matos drilled his 3rd homer and he did it with a swing that looks ready made for the majors. Quick and powerful. He’s bouncing back in a big way from a down 2022, slashing .304/.398/.443 with 3 homers, 9 steals, and a 9%/12.8% K%/BB% in 31 games at Double-A. A few more bombs like that and his formerly elite prospect hype could sneak back up on us. He’s a major riser this year regardless.

Ryan Bliss ARI, 2B/SS, 24.5 – Bliss has lived up to his name and then some with his performance at Double-A. He went 3 for 6 with a double, homer, and 2 steals yesterday, and is now slashing a blissful .406/.433/.672 with 6 homers, 11 steals, and a 20.1%/4.5% K%/BB% in 29 games. He’s a particularly small guy at only 5’6”, but check out this swing on yesterday’s dinger, he definitely has some pop in there. The plate approach is mediocre and so is the power, which makes it hard to buy in too hard, but how can you argue with that performance.

Spencer Arrighetti HOU, RHP, 23.5 – 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 9/2 K/BB at Double-A. Arrighetti was a target of mine this off-season, and while he struggled to start the year, he now has a 0.53 ERA with a 19/6 K/BB in his last 17 IP. He sure looks like he’s finding his rhythm, and like most Astros pitching prospects for some weird reason, he flies way under the radar.

Jackson Rutledge WAS, RHP, 24.2 – 6 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 5/0 K/BB at Double-A. Rutledge has been performing rock solidly all year with a 2.72 ERA in 39.2 IP, and he has the big stuff to back it up. I still don’t love the 23.7%/9% K%/BB%, he’s been injury prone in his career, and that ERA probably has some good luck involved, but there is a clear path to a rotation spot with Washington’s depleted roster. Not the worst stash if you missed out on the more hyped recently called up pitching prospects.

Cory Lewis MIN, RHP, 22.7 – Lewis was drafted in the 9th round last year, but he’s performing like anything but a 9th rounder after throwing 5.2 perfect innings with 7 K’s. He has a 2.43 ERA with a 33.3%/6.8% K%/BB% in 29.2 IP at Single-A. He throws a low 90’s fastball, but it has plus spin, and at 6’5”, 220 pounds, it gets great extension too. He rounds out of the repertoire with a power breaker he throws in the dirt, a slower one he can throw for strikes, and a lesser used changeup. Definitely an intriguing pop up pitching prospect to at least keep an eye on.

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