Sunday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/30/25)

I usually do these Rundowns on the Brick Wall on Monday, but sometimes I feel it on Sunday, and this is one of those times. The rest of the week you can find these Rundowns on the Patreon. I do them all season. Here is the Sunday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/30/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND MONTHLY DYNASTY & PROSPECTS RANKINGS UPDATES ALL SEASON
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS
-2025 FYPD Target & Strategy Guide
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
ALL IN ONE RANKINGS SPREADSHEET
TOP 10 2026 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST

Kristian Campbell – BOS, 2B/OF, 22.3 – And this is why I fought every urge in my body to not overreact to spring. I felt the pull too. The questions were coming left and right. And my answer remained the same. I’m not going to rejuggle my entire rankings based on who was having the best spring. The Sox weren’t fazed by the bad spring either, putting Campbell on the Opening Day roster. And it didn’t take long for our patience to pay off. Campbell had his coming out party yesterday. utterly obliterating his first MLB homer at 112.2 MPH with an 80.4 MPH swing. He tacked on a 106.3 MPH double too, finishing the day 2 for 3 with a walk. He currently has a 75.3 MPH bat speed on 16 swings, which would put him into the elite range. He’s the real deal.

Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B/2B/SS, 23.4/Gage Workman – CHC, SS/3B, 25.5 – Workman stole a start at 3B after Shaw’s slow start to the season hah, which was my concern, but he went 0 for 2 with 2 K’s, and then Shaw replaced him and leg kicked his way into his first big league homer with a 76.6 MPH swing. That leg kick though. My goodness. I mean, I love me the little men leg kick, but maybe a little too much man ha. Either way, what a fun weekend of baseball so far.

Jesus Luzardo – PHI, LHP, 27.6 – The first weekend of baseball has been nothing short of a Brick Wall Target Festival. Luzardo was my #1 bounce back target call, and boy did he bounce back in his first start, going 5 IP with 5 hits, 2 ER, and a 11/2 K/BB vs. WAS. The fastball velocity is all the way back up to a fully healthy 96.9 MPH, and the slider and sweeper were absolutely devastating with a 78% and 71% whiff% respectively. The changeup dominated too with a 33% whiff% and 85.7 MPH EV. Everything straight dominated. Also off to a damn good start on that long shot bet lead the league in strikeouts. We’re off and running baby …

 Jordan Westburg – BAL, 2B/3B, 26.1 – Even targets from Christmas Past are working double time. Westburg wasn’t done after the 2024 breakout, he’s coming for the next level 2025 breakout now, cranking two homers at 109.7 MPH off Max Scherzer and 105.7 MPH off Chad Green. That’s 3 homers in 3 games. Everything’s coming up Brick on Opening Weekend. What’s next, you’re going to tell me this is the year Zac Veen breaks out too?

Jose Soriano – LAA, RHP, 26.6 – Don’t kill the messenger! I don’t want to victory lap this much after 3 games either! hah … what am I supposed to do though? Target Soriano opened his season with a shutout, going 7 IP with 2 hits, 0 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB vs. CHW. Granted, I could probably shutout the White Sox, but still. The sinker sat 96.6 MPH and while he didn’t get a ton of whiffs with a 16% whiff% overall, he was a weak contact machine with a 83.7 MPH EV against. Again, was he really a weak contact machine, or were the White Sox hitters a weak contact machine? I’m not victory lapping this. This feels more like the White Sox than anything Soriano did. Montgomery and Teel (who homered for the 2nd straight game yesterday at Triple-A) can’t get here fast enough.

Bo Bichette – TOR, SS, 27.1 – We need a Target palate cleanser. Non Target Bichette is showing signs the big spring was legit after going 4 for 4 yesterday with a 110.5 MPH double 104.7 MPH double, 102.4 MPH single and 86.6 MPH single. But the most important thing is that the bat speed is up in the early going with an above average 72.1 MPH swing speed on 22 swings. It sat a 70.1 in 2023 and 70.4 in 2024. All signs point to a legit bounce for Bichette.

Victor Scott – STL, OF, 24.2 – Non Target Victor Scott went 2 for 4 with 2 steals. Nice to see him get on the board after his hot spring too. He has potential to lead the majors in steals.

Ryan Bliss – SEA, 2B/SS, 25.4/Otto Lopez – MIA, 2B, 26.4 –But Scott isn’t the only contender off and running, Target (! ha) Bliss got on his horse again too for his 2nd steal of the season, finishing the day 1 for 4. And Target Otto might be gunning for a full blown breakout at this point. He nabbed his first bag of the season after homering on Friday. But more impressively, he clocked in with another big day at the dish, going 3 for 5, highlighted by a 109.9 MPH single. That’s a new career high.

New York Yankees Bats – Like, literally the bats. One of the most interesting stories of the early season is the MIT physicist who reshaped the Yankees bats to put more wood in the barrel. And after hitting 9 homers yesterday as a team, the story is blowing up. Seems wild that it took 150 years for somebody to figure this out. I mean, I just assumed this would have been tried before. Or that it was illegal. But I guess not. At least not yet. This is just fun to follow. Would have been nice if Dominguez got one too though. He had no homers. Did he not get the bat?

Nick Kurtz – OAK, 1B, 22.1 – Cam Smith damn near sucked the hype away from every other FYPD player after his insane spring. But Kurtz is now out to put some respect back on his name at Triple-A after decimating his first spring homer at 108.8 MPH. He’s now 4 for 9 with 0 K’s, 2 BB, 2 doubles, and a homer. I would say he’s ready.

Spencer Arrighetti – HOU, RHP, 25.2 – 6 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 5/2 K/BB vs. NYM. The fastball sat 94.3 MPH and put up a 21% whiff%. But it was the secondaries that really impressed with the curve, cutter, sweeper and changeup putting up a 50%, 44%, 60% and 33% whiff% respectively. It led to an elite 35% whiff%. This is exactly what we wanted to see out of Arrighetti. He’s about to go full breakout in 2025.

Zack Littell – TBR, RHP, 29.6 – The Rodney Dangerfield of pitchers, Littell just can’t get no respect no matter how well he pitches. Coming off a strong 2024, absolutely nobody cared about him again in 2025, but he made them notice yesterday, going 6 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 7/1 K/BB. Granted it came against road Rockies, but still. The splitter absolutely dominated with 6 of 12 whiffs, and the heavily used slider was awesome too with a 86.7 MPH EV against and 28% whiff%. He’s not flashy, but he gets the job done, and he’s not going anywhere. Just a really solid pitcher.

Walker Buehler – BOS, RHP, 30.8 – Buehler was one of my top pitcher fades this off-season, not buying into the name value, and his first outing doesn’t make me like him any more than I did, going 4.1 IP with 7 hits, 4 ER, and a 3/0 K/BB vs. TEX. The velocity is all the way down to 93 MPH on the fastball, and while the sweeper, changeup and curve missed bats, it still resulted in a below average 21% whiff% overall. I closed out his Top 1,000 blurb by writing, “His stuff really isn’t all that standout anymore, and is arguably below average. He’s an aging, banged up pitcher with decent stuff and continually declining whiff rates. I’m out at his current price.” It was just more of the same yesterday.

Matt McLain – CIN, 2B/SS, 25.8 – Little Matty McLain got himself a repaired shoulder, and it looked just fine yesterday, blasting off for his first homer off Justin Verlander at 99.8 MPH. Not exactly a statement shot, but it would have been a homer in 29 of 30 ballparks, so it’s not just a Cincy cheapie. He currently has a 98.5 MPH EV in 6 batted balls. I would say he’s healthy.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand – CIN, 1B, 25.4 – Speaking of healthy Reds, Strand is so back, getting ahold of his first homer of the season as well with a 103.5 MPH shot. He also tacked on a 102.7 MPH single. The bat speed is up to 74.4 MPH on the season, which is double plus range. I was lukewarm on him this off-season, and that was clearly a mistake. Thankfully I still have him on a rookie contract in my 12 team league back when I did believe in him. Dynasty is weird like that. So I’ll take it ha.

Keibert Ruiz – WAS, C, 26.8 – It sure feels like Ruiz is about the have his breakout season. He lifted off again for his 2nd homer of the season on a 101.6 MPH shot off Jesus Luzardo. The 67.4 MPH bat speed is still slow, giving me some pause on how real it is, but at the least, a bounce back season is in order after a down 2024. And he has an 18 homer season under his belt already in 2023.

Maikel Garcia – KCR, 3B/2B, 25.1 – Talk about Ghosts of Target past. I’m not going to fall for this one again. Garcia is off to another hot start after cracking his first homer of the year at 103.8 MPH. He also tacked on a 107.3 MPH single. Those were the two hardest hit balls of the day. I thought the breakout was coming last year after his hot start, but it wasn’t to be, so forgive me for waiting a bit longer on this one this year. I still like the profile a lot (speed, hard hit, contact), but he still has a negative 12.2 degree launch, and he needs to raise that launch for a true sustained homer breakout.

Spencer Schwellenbach – ATL, RHP, 24.10 – Last year in these here Dynasty Rundowns I was pumping Schwellenbach as a 5 alarm target when his ERA was over 5. This year, I’m not sure there is much left to say other than he is an ace, and he went out and kept proving it yesterday, going 6 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 4/1 K/BB vs. SDP. The fastball sat 96.5 MPH, and he went to his excellent splitter even more than last year, making it his most used pitch with a 30% whiff%. He used a 6 pitch mix to notch an above average 26% whiff% and 87.2 MPH EV against. Last year was the time to pounce. It’s too late now.

Gavin Williams – CLE, RHP, 25.8 – 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2/1 K/BB vs. KCR … solid outing. The fastball sat 97.5 MPH, which is good. But it only resulted in a 17% whiff% overall. We’re going to need to see much better than that before thinking a true explosion is coming.

Griffin Canning – NYM, RHP, 28.11 – 5.2 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 4/2 K/BB vs. HOU. The fastball sat 93.7 MPH and got zero whiffs. The heavily used slider got hit hard with a 91.5 MPH EV and didn’t miss a ton of bats (25% whiff%). The change also got hit hard with a 91.1 MPH EV. It resulted in a 91.1 MPH EV against with a 24% whiff%. All together, you have to say it was a solid outing, but I’m still treading carefully here.

 Jeremy Pena – HOU, SS, 27.6 – Pena is coming for those power gains after he jacked out his 1st homer of the year with a literal laser beam at 106.7 MPH off Griffin Canning. His launch is up to 20.8 degrees in the early going. Still early, but that is a big jump from 7.5 degrees. If he can even maintain some of that, it won’t be hard to take advantage of those Crawford boxes.

Kameron Misner – TBR, OF, 27.3 – Last off-season, I named Misner a deep league target as the next Luke Raley-like Rays late career breakout. He didn’t make my Top 1,000 this year because I just didn’t see the path to playing time, but with Lowe out, he has one now, and he’s taking advantage. He homered on Friday as a pinch hitter, and then he got the start yesterday and went 2 for 4 with a 103.7 MPH single and 99 MPH single. This a 6’4”, 218 pound uber athlete who jacked 17 homers with 30 steals at Triple-A in 2024. This is the exact type of late career breakout that the Rays love. Like Raley, it’s going to come with a lot of strikeouts and a likely platoon role, but he’s really interesting to me. You know I love my huge human beings who are also great athletes.

Junior Caminero – TBR, 3B, 21.9 – 84.8 MPH. 83.3 MPH. 81.5 MPH. 81.2 MPH. Those were the 4 fastest swings of the game. This guy just swings different. It resulted in a 3 for 5 day. He’s just impressive.

Oneil Cruz – PIT, OF/SS, 26.6 – 4 walks and another 2 for 2 day on the bases, giving him 1 homer and 4 steals in 3 games. Oh no, what is this man about to do this year

Roki Sasaki – LAD, RHP, 23.5 – Oh boy. Sasaki deserves to have the Bottom of the Rundown all to himself. He got blown up, going 1.2 IP with 3 hits, 2 ER, and a 2/4 K/BB vs. DET. The fastball was down 1 MPH from his first shaky outing in Japan at 96.1 MPH, and that’s way down from where he was sitting in his prime. The splitter and slider still missed a ton of bats, which is definitely good news (50% and 40%, respectively), but what the hell happened to his control? This man had a career 5.6% BB% in Japan. I don’t think I want to answer that question. It’s the answer I didn’t want to give when I predicted Sasaki would be back on the 2026 Top 50 Prospects Rankings. Let’s just hope it’s nerves/jitters/adjustment period. That’s all we can do.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-DYNASTY RUNDOWNS AND MONTHLY DYNASTY & PROSPECTS RANKINGS UPDATES ALL SEASON
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS
-2025 FYPD Target & Strategy Guide
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
ALL IN ONE RANKINGS SPREADSHEET
TOP 10 2026 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST

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

Monday Morning Spring Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/4/24)

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 Spring Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/4/24):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2024 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKINGS (these get released on IBW in very late March, right before the season starts)
-TOP 500 2024 PROSPECTS RANKINGS
-TOP 132 2024 FYPD RANKINGS (+Target & Strategy Guide)
-POSITION BY POSTION TARGET ARTICLES
-OBP TOP 450 DYNASTY RANKS
-6+CATS/PTS/OPS “UNIVERSAL TOP 450 DYNASTY RANKS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2025 PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 11+ 2025 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST
-ALL-IN-ONE RANKINGS SPREADSHEET

Zack Littell TBR, RHP, 28.6 – You have to be a damn fool to doubt Tampa in any way, and mama didn’t raise no fool. With Shane Baz announcing he is on a delayed schedule until “early to mid-season,” Littell looks locked into a rotation spot, and he’s now someone I’m going after everywhere. He went against essentially Minnesota’s real lineup yesterday and went 3 IP with 4 hits, 0 ER, and a 1/1 K/BB. He now has a 0.00 ERA with a 4/1 K/BB in 5 IP on the spring. The velocity was down a tick, but assuming he’s just easing into things, his 94+ MPH fastball in 2023 was actually already very good with with a strong .290 xwOBA and 21.8% whiff%. His control entered elite territory with a 3.2% BB%, and while his secondaries aren’t great, he added a sweeper to the arsenal in the 2nd half which was immediately his best secondary with a .247 xwOBA and 30% whiff%. He’s also been working on the now very popular splitter that he’s been incorporating into him arsenal more and more over the past couple years. If he really takes off with any of his secondaries, he’s going to be a major issue, and even if he doesn’t, double plus control of a good fastball will play. I mean, how many times does Tampa have to pull a rabbit of their hat for us to even stop questioning it even a little? Littell is currently going 344th overall in the NFBC and is going to be an afterthought in so many dynasty leagues. Easiest call ever is to grab this guy from the bargain bin in all league sizes.

Josue De Paula LAD, OF, 18.10 – I ranked Josue De Paula 6th overall in my Predicting the Top 50 2025 Prospects Rankings last week, writing, “Seeing Josue De Paula’s name is giving me visions of Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma, and all I can hear is “Say hello to my little friend.” That is what De Paula is going to be saying to minor league pitching as his power explodes in a major way. And combined with his elite approach, it’s going to be shades of Juan Soto all over again.” … And then right on cue he jacked out an opposite field homer off a sidearm lefty on a pitch that was in on his hands. One spring at bat, one homer. I wasn’t lying when I said we are about to see an explosion.

Erick Fedde CHW, RHP, 31.1 – We got our first look at Fedde and his reworked secondaries coming over from winning MVP in Korea, and if making Mike Trout look foolish on a slider is impressive to you, which it should be, I would say the secondaries looked impressive. He went 2 IP with 4 hits, 1 ER, and a 3/1 K/BB vs. LA’s real lineup, so he didn’t dominate, but seeing the swing and miss was the most important part after putting up a 16.4% K% in 2022. I’m not ready to reach for him, but I’ll still happily try to nab him slightly before the last couple rounds. If someone beats me to the punch, so be it.

Garrett Crochet CHW, LHP, 23.9 – Crochet might be the most exciting development out of Sox camp so far, and he pitched another crisp outing, going 2 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/0 K/BB. Here is he getting Trout looking for a called strike 3. Every Sox pitcher was eating off Trout yesterday. Crochet is rocking a windup that the Rockettes would be proud of, which shows off the athleticism, and he’s already hit 100 MPH this spring. He finally looks fully healthy coming off Tommy John surgery, and if Chicago was serious about using him the rotation, I don’t see how he’s not winning one of those jobs right now. He might be entering major target territory.

Juan Soto NYY, OF, 25.6 – 2 for 3 with a homer that showed off both his elite bat control and elite power. He now has a 2.616 OPS with 3 homers in 11 PA. The career year he was supposed to have in the shortened 2020 season, the one where he had the highest xwOBA in Statcast history (.475 xwOBA), is the one the baseball gods owe him over a full season in his contract year. He ranks 7th overall on my Top 1,000 Dynasty Rankings (patreon), and 3rd overall on my Top 450 OBP Dynasty Rankings (patreon).

DL Hall MIL, LHP, 25.6 – 2 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 1/1 K/BB vs. some of Arizona’s real lineup. The fastball sat 95.4 MPH with a 29% whiff%, and he threw all 3 secondaries for called strikes. He then did a post game interview with a massive ball of chew in his mouth, which is exactly what a ballplayer should look like. He talked about pounding the zone and being economical with his pitches, which is exactly what he needs to do, because his nasty stuff will do the rest. He’s one of my favorite pitcher targets headed into 2024, and has been from before he even got traded.

Matt Manning DET, RHP, 26.2/Casey Mize DET, RHP, 26.11 – Manning went 3 IP, with 1 hit, 1 ER, and 4/0 K/BB, and Mize went 2 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 2/2 K/BB vs. half of the Yanks real lineup (including Judge and Soto). Manning and Mize both got a much needed infusion of velocity this spring with their fastballs up 2 MPH to 95.4 MPH. It’s actually eerie how identical that is. There must be something in the water out there in Detroit. It makes me more likely to take a flier on them, but they still aren’t in target territory, because beyond the fastball, their biggest issue is lack of a standout secondary, and I’m not sure you can claim either has found that yet even with the added velocity. Mize didn’t record a single whiff on a secondary and Manning put up a 33% on the slider which is solid, but nothing to write home about. Their values are on the way up, but I would still have some caution.

Jung Hoo Lee SFG, OF, 25.7 – It’s becoming quite clear that all of the skills are transferring over stateside. Lee went 1 for 2 with a steal and 0/1 K/BB, and is now slashing .455/.500/.818 with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 8.3%/8.3% K%/BB% in 12 PA. The high GB% is also transferring with a 60% GB%. He’s exactly who we thought he was. A .300/15/15 season is definitely within reach, and if he runs more than we think, that is where his fantasy upside will come from.

Colton Cowser BAL, OF, 24.0 – Cowser showed off some of that lift and pull with a 32 degree launch, 98 MPH homer off a Martin Perez 88.6 MPH fastball. Granted, I probably could turn around an 88 MPH fastball too (by probably, I mean 100% not), but especially with Camden Yard’s dimensions, he’s going to have to pull and lift the ball a lot more than he’s done in the minors if he wants to get to all of his power. This was his 3rd homer in 16 PA, and the first one that was pulled. Cowser continues to seem to be the odd man out, but he’s going to make it as tough as possible on Baltimore to make a decision, which is all you can ask of him.

Chris Sale ATL, LHP, 35.0 – 2.2 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 5/2 K/BB vs. the Phillies scrubs+Bohm. I mean just look at this utter filth from that arm angle. Is he kidding me? Safe to say the stuff is as good as ever. He had some velocity fluctuations last year, so I don’t think his freshness in spring means he can keep it up all season, but better to see him healthy and throwing filth than to be sitting low 90’s. Your guess is as good as mine as to if he can stay 100% healthy, but if he does, he’s going to rack up strikeouts no problem.

Kutter Crawford BOS, RHP, 28.0 – 3 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 4/0 K/BB vs. Toronto’s Quad-A+Kirk lineup. Here he is blowing the fastball by Davis Schneider. And I don’t say “blowing by” lightly. That is the textbook definition. Crawford was one of my favorite sleepers since I wrote the Boston Red Sox Team Report back in early December, but he’s had too much shine on his name recently, and you can’t really call him a sleeper anymore. I hope you were able to trade for him when I was hyping him early. He’s damn good, and everyone realizes it now.

Davis Schneider TOR, 2B, 25.2 – Kutter isn’t the only one blowing pitches by Schneider, as he went 1 for 3 with 2 K’s and now has a 50% K% in 14 PA. The 37.3% whiff% and 30.5% K% were the two majors reasons I preached caution on Schneider this off-season, and at the very least, this spring showing is not assuaging my concerns. I’m not against taking him if the price is right, I actually took him in the 3rd round of my 18 team off-season prospect draft because I need the 2B depth, but make sure the price is right.

Grayson Rodriguez BAL, RHP, 24.5 – 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 2/2 K/BB vs. about half of Pitt’s real lineup. Grayson wasn’t that great in his first outing either. It’s clear he’s far from mid-season form with the fastball down 1.5 MPH to 95.9 MPH and the slider down 2.6 MPH to 79.7 MPH. He’s also working on a new 2-seamer/sinker that he is trying to mix in. You obviously shouldn’t put much stock in this early spring performance, but it’s worth noting he wasn’t good in the first half of 2023 and didn’t find his rhythm until the 2nd half. If he does get off to a slow start this season, remember not to panic. He’ll find his stride eventually.

Rhett Lowder CIN, RHP, 22.1 – 2 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 0/1 K/BB vs. most of KC’s real lineup. We know Lowder is a safe college arm, but how much upside he’s going to have against MLB hitters is the question, and this outing definitely didn’t highlight that upside. He’s obviously just getting his feet wet, so it doesn’t mean much, but at the same time this is the first time we’re seeing him against that advanced competition, so I think it’s worth mentioning.

Nestor Cortes NYY, LHP, 29.4 – 4 IP, 1 hit, 1 ER, 3/1 K/BB vs. Detroit’s mostly backups lineup. Cortes’ 2023 season ended because of a shoulder injury, so the most important thing is to see him healthy, and he looks healthy. The fastball sat 92.4 MPH, up 0.8 MPH from last year, and he notched a 31% whiff% overall. The injury still adds future injury risk, but he looks ready to go for 2024.

Alejandro Kirk TOR, C, 24.9 – Kirk badly needs to find his power again after his EV tanked to 87.6 MPH in 2023, and his homer yesterday sure seems to indicate he may have found it. He crushed a bomb over the replica monster for his 2nd in 11 PA. Toronto’s lackluster off-season is good news for Kirk and Jansen, because they should each be able to find enough at bats to be in the startable catcher range for most leagues.

Gabriel Moreno ARI, C, 24.1 – Moreno’s playoff homer fest has continued into spring with him launching a 38 degree, 400 foot homer off Freddy Peralta for his first of spring. He still has a 66.7% GB% in 12 PA, and his 51.2% GB% was high in the playoffs too, so I don’t think the homer explosion is showing a change in approach. He’s going to be a really really good hitter, but I don’t think he’s going to hit for enough homer power to be an elite fantasy catcher.

Jeferson Quero MIL, C, 21.6 – Quero smashed his first spring homer on a 100.2 MPH shot he had to go down to get, showing off the bat control and power. I would be much higher on Quero if he wasn’t completely blocked, but he’s completely blocked with William Contreras in town, and I don’t think Milwaukee has any intention to trade him.

Gavin Stone LAD, RHP, 25.6 – 3 IP, 2 hit, 0 ER, 1/0 K/BB vs. a depleted Rockies lineup. My money is on Sheehan to take that final starter spot, and my money is on Sheehan long term as well to be the better pitcher, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think Stone will bounce back from a rough 2023. The changeup is legit, he fired off a few crisp breaking balls in this outing, and I trust the Dodgers to improve his fastball command. It’s a jampacked rotation with more talent on the way, so Stone isn’t guaranteed anything, but I do think he can be a good MLB starter. Just not one I’m targeting quite yet.

Jordan Hicks SFG, RHP, 27.7 – The Jordan Hicks experiment is not going smoothly in the early going. He had his 2nd rough outing, going 2.2 IP with 5 hits, 2 ER, and a 2/2 K/BB in 2.2 IP. He already talked about how he isn’t going to sit anywhere close to 100 MPH like he did out of the bullpen, which he obviously doesn’t need to to still have nasty stuff, but quite frankly, he wasn’t even all that dominant out of the bullpen with that level of stuff. He had a 1.36 WHIP last year. As a starter with less stuff, what kind of numbers do you think we will be looking at? I have a sneaking suspicion this might be a short lived experiment with Carson Whisenhunt and Mason Black knocking on the door, along with the Blake Snell rumors intensifying and Ray and Cobb coming off the IL at some point. As a high upside flier of course I get it, but I wouldn’t reach for him.

Caden Dana LAA, RHP, 20.4 – The 20 year old Dana is already in major league camp, which tells you how much LA loves this kid, or it tells you how barren their farm system is, but either way, he’s exciting. He handled his business against a rough (not in a good way) Chicago lineup, going 2 IP with 1 hit, 1 ER, and a 2/1 K/BB. He has a legit plus fastball/slider combo that is already doing damage against MLB vets. He’s set to fly up rankings in 2024.

Kevin Alcantara CHC, OF, 21.8 – The forgotten Unicorn smoothly and easily demolished a ball out of the deep center for his first spring homer. Alcantara gets some criticism for his swing getting out of sync, but that looked pretty damn synced up to me there. He’s also struck out 3 times in 8 PA and had a 33.3% K% in 5 games in his first taste of Double-A, so watching that K% will be super important.

Jonny Farmelo SEA, OF, 19.7 – Farmelo didn’t debut in 2023, so he wasn’t able to get the hype going like some of his other high school brethren, but he’s trying to make up for lost time. He showed off the legs yesterday ripping a ball down the line that he turned into a stand up triple. He’s now 2 for 4 with 2 K’s. That kind of speed from a 6’2”, 205 pound frame is so easy to dream on.

Cade Marlowe SEA, OF, 26.9 – I named Marlowe an “if he had playing time” target, and he showed why going deep off Yu Darvish for his first spring homer. But he still doesn’t have a playing time, which can make it hard to roster a guy like this. At the very least put him on your watch list and jump on him when he does get his shot, because he showed encouraging skills in his MLB debut in 2023. He was a plus defensive player, with plus speed (28.9 ft/sec sprint), an above average barrel% (7.3%), a 112 wRC+, a 12% BB%, and a not horrible 29.4% whiff% (despite a 33% K%). If he does work his way into playing time, he has a very intriguing fantasy profile, especially in OBP leagues.

Kyle Stowers BAL, OF, 26.3 – If Cowser can’t find a job, I don’t know how Stowers is going to be able to do it. I’m doing my darndest to not get sucked back into Stowers, but it’s hard not to when I still firmly believe he can be an MLB masher if given the chance. He cracked a 101.8 MPH single today and now has a 1.308 OPS with 3 homers in 16 PA on the spring. He crushed 17 homers with a 93.8 MPH EV in just 68 games at Triple-A in 2023. I just can’t trust Baltimore to ever give him a chance if history is any indication, and they have more highly touted guys than him blocked.

Estiven Florial CLE, OF, 26.5 – I like Florial as a late round dart throw as much as the next guy, but there is a reason the Yanks gave him away for peanuts. He went 0 for 3 with 3 K’s yesterday and is now hitting .077 with a 50% K% in 16 PA. The Yanks seemed certain the hit tool wasn’t going to play, and so far, it’s not playing.

Nolan Schanuel LAA, 1B, 22.1 – This is your regularly scheduled Nolan Schanuel power check … 1 for 3 with a single. He’s now 6 for 19 with 6 singles, which is good for a .316 BA and .316 SLG. New year, same guy …

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