It’s that time of year again when Ralph and Halp enter the Grey area and talk about Major Leaguers on the Prospect Podcast. It somehow felt more subversive when Ralph wasn’t writing the Top 100 Pitcher Ranks and I wasn’t co-hosting the Baseball Podcast, but them’s the breaks of going mainstream I guess. We start by discussing the value of slow starters such as Alex Bregman and Byron Buxton, before moving on to the power hitting breakouts of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Eric Thames, and Yonder Alonso. On the pitching side, we debate just how good Michael Fulmer is, and also if Marcus Stroman can be anything more than a solid fantasy starter.
Click here for the Razzball Prospect Podcast: Valuing Young Major Leaguers for Dynasty Leagues
By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@ImaginaryBrickW)
Fair enough, I can wait a week…ya jerks! Haha, I kid I kid, thanks for the shout out. In the interim, what are your early season thoughts on Ramon Laureano’s struggles? He killed it last year at high A and at the same level he’s at this year (AA), wondering if he’s pressing too much after getting some hype in the off-season (41.2% IFFB (trying to hit bombs?)) or if it’s just a shitty start. I know you really pumped his tires in your top 200 and I was with you buying into him, but am finding it more difficult to hang on to him while a lot of other interesting spects are emerging (Kingery!)
Secondly, Lucas Erceg hasn’t looked all that great at A+ Carolina so far. His walk rate is down to 3.9% (even though that’s not exactly his game) but his BABIP is crazy low (.099) so maybe it’s too small a sample size to panic. I’ve been tuning in to some red hot Carolina Mudcats action over the last couple weeks (they are dripping in interesting hitting prospects) and noticed the play by play guy talking about Erceg getting off to a good start and then getting the flu in April. Essentially he was surmising that could be an attributable factor in the slump. Regardless, have your Erceg thoughts changed since the off-season?
Lastly, all things being equal in a Dynasty league, rank the following players in order that YOU would want on your fantasy farm:
Ramon Laureano
Lucas Erceg
Colton Welker
Taylor Trammell
Jake Gatewood
Scott Kingery
Enjoyed the pod as always, but Ralph needs to invest in a cough/blowing his nose mute button, haha, just allergies no worries. Peace!
haha … we got you next week! I’m still staying patient with him. He has been striking out less and has been getting a bit unlucky. I think he is bound to get hot at some point. Not ideal though. Kingery does look good too. He has made real improvement like you pointed out already. In leagues where you can pick up and drop prospects whenever you want, you can drive yourself insane, but in the long run, I think you would be fine with either of them.
Erceg you also have to stay patient with too, and great info on the flu stuff. No choice but to hold tight on him in that case.
If you want all upside, I would go Welker and Trammell. Proximity I’m going Laureano and Kingery. Trammell and Kingery is how I’m leaning right now all things being equal I think.
And thanks! Yea, allergies … hmmmm