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 (4/28/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–APRIL 2025 TOP 437 DYNASTY RANKS
–UPDATED TOP 300+ PROSPECTS RANKS COMING SOON
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS
–TOP 10 2026 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL MAILBAG! 

Hunter Barco – PIT, LHP, 24.4 – I gotta seriously consider using my psychic abilities for something other than baseball prospects. After listening to 10 hours of “Awaken Your Psychic Abilities” YouTube music and tones video this off-season, I predicted that Hunter Barco would be the 32nd overall ranked prospect in baseball by next off-season in my Predicting the 2026 Top 50 Prospects Ranks, and I think I even undersold him. He could be the top pitching prospect breakout in the minors this year, and his dominance continued yesterday, going 3 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER and a 8/0 K/BB at Double-A. He now has a 0.00 ERA with a 40.0/5.3 K%/BB% in 20.2 IP. The velocity has ticked up into the mid 90’s, he has two bat missing secondaries in his slider and splitter, the control is solid, he’s 6’4”, 235 pounds and he has that funky lefty delivery that I just love. I mean, that is checking all of the boxes. I already jumped him up to 195th overall on the Updated Top 437 Dynasty Baseball Rankings that just dropped on the Patreon last week. If he can truly keep this up at Triple-A, and we’ve seen more than a few top pitching prospects struggle with that jump (Brandon Sproat and Quinn Mathews), we could be looking at a truly elite pitching prospect.

Arjun Nimmala – TOR, SS, 19.6 – Sticking with guys on that Predicting the 2026 Top Prospects list, Nimmala checked in at #39, and he’s right on track to end up in that area after homering in his 3rd straight game at High-A. This one was out to dead center. With Single-A now becoming a sort of glorified rookie ball, High-A can be considered the first real test for these youngsters, and Nimmala is passing it with flying colors, slashing .289/.349/.539 with 5 homers, 1 steal, and a 21.7/8.4 K%/BB% in 18 games. Seeing the K rate all the way down in the low 20’s is huge. He’s blowing up.

Bryce Rainer – DET, SS, 19.9 – Rainer didn’t crack that Predicting the 2026 Prospects list, but he clearly should have as his pro debut has been damn impressive. He went the opposite way for his 2nd homer in 10 games at Single-A, and he’s now slashing .226/.381/.484 with 2 homers, 2 steals, and a 11.9/19.0 K%/BB%. He’s crushing the ball with a 93.7 MPH EV, the plate skills are elite, and he’s running. He also most certainly looks the part at a powerful 6’3” with a smooth and quick lefty swing. This looks like an elite prospect waiting to happen.

Jacob Misiorowski – MIL, RHP, 23.0 – 5 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 9/0 K/BB at Triple-A. Is Misiorowski finally starting to take that step forward with his control? He didn’t walk a single batter in this one, and in the start before, he only walked one guy. His 11.5% BB% in 29.2 IP is actually starting to resemble a semi-reasonable walk rate, and it comes with a 1.82 ERA and 33.6% K%. It also comes with some of the best stuff in the minors. The fastball sat 97.4 MPH in this one and notched a 29% whiff%. The slider, curve and change were all whiff machines too, leading to a 38% whiff% overall. This is the type of stuff that can thrive with a 10+ BB%, and it looks like we might be finally entering that range. We need to see it over a larger sample as the walk rate sat 14%+ last year, but another start or two with solid control and Mis will be among the very best pitching prospects in the game.

Jonah Tong – NYM, RHP, 21.9 – Speaking of 14%+ walk rates, Tong currently has a 14.9% BB% in 17.1 IP at Double-A, but when it comes with a 40.5% K%, I think we can partly overlook that. He had his best outing of the season yesterday, going 4 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 10/1 K/BB. Here are the highlights of the absolute filth. The curveball is just silly, the changeup was making lefties look foolish, the slider in the dirt induced terrible swings, and the mid 90’s fastball was blowing guys away. He’s obviously having some issues controlling his truly filthy stuff, but he was able to harness it in this one, and if he’s able to build on this, his stock is set to sour. I was a big fan this off-season, and that love continues to grow.

Dylan Crews – WAS, OF, 23.1 – I preached patience with Crews’ early season struggles, as we saw both Chourio and Langford struggle in 2024 before their epic breakouts, and now Crews looks to be headed on that same path. He crushed a 104.8 MPH homer with a 78.7 MPH swing off Tylor Megill, and he’s now slashing .364/.391/.705 with 4 homers and 3 steals in his last 12 games. The underlying numbers looked good even when he was slumping, and he’s now rocking a 14.9% Barrel%, a 90.2 MPH EV, a 29.4 ft/sec sprint, a 73.1 MPH swing, and a .344 xwOBA. He’s coming.

Agustin Ramirez – MIA, C, 23.7 – Ramirez has taken the major leagues by storm after drilling 2 homers at 108.7 MPH and 105.1 MPH last night. He’s been straight unstoppable since getting the call, slashing .474/.524/1.158 with 3 homers, 1 steal, and a 9.5/9.5 K%/BB% in 21 PA. The 17.5% Barrel%, 92.9 MPH EV and .504 xwOBA backs up the surface stats. He wasn’t even this good in at Triple-A before getting the call with a 113 wRC+ in 19 games, so obviously he’s not this good, but at the least, he’s quite clearly proving his big time power bat is no joke. He’s not a good defensive catcher, and Joe Mack is right behind him and crushing the minors, but his bat is clearly going to be good enough to even DH if it will have to. How can you not be buying after this debut?

Anthony Volpe – NYY, SS, 23.11 – 2 for 3 with a 105.3 MPH double and 103.6 MPH homer. Volpe is doing his best to marry his extreme lift and pull profile from his rookie year, with his more all around hitter approach of 2024, and so far, it’s working with 5 homers, 3 steals, and a 123 wRC+ in 28 games. Or maybe he’s just getting stronger and swinging harder with a career high 71.9 MPH swing and 90.7 MPH EV. The underlying numbers back up the surface stats with a 13% Barrel% and .337 xwOBA. I pushed Volpe up my Updated Top 437 Dynasty Rankings to #71 overall despite his low BA, because for fantasy, it’s all about that power/speed combo, and he’s back to gunning for homers.

Ceddanne Rafaela – BOS, SS/OF, 24.7 – 2 for 4 with a 108.4 MPH homer and 100.5 MPH double. Rafaela’s .644 OPS is almost exactly the same as last year’s 664 OPS, which is discouraging on the surface, but when you look under the hood, you are seeing improvements everywhere you wanted to see them. The Barrel% is up to 11.3%, the EV is up to 89.6 MPH, the whiffs are down to 25.7% and the BB% is up to 6.3%. The .332 xwOBA vs. the .273 xwOBA from 2024 tells the story much better than the surface stats. Rafaela is leveling up.

Nolan Jones – CLE, OF, 26.11 – Here’s what I wrote about Jones in the Updated Dynasty Rankings, “He’s been terrible, but he has a 95.2 MPH EV with a .329 xwOBA, 27.2% whiff%, 22.9% Chase% and an 11.8 degree launch. He’s also stolen 2 bags. I mean, this should really be working. I don’t want to give up yet” … and then he went out yesterday and jacked a 109 MPH dinger. He already has a big MLB season under his belt, and this man now has a 96.2 MPH EV on the season! Don’t give up on him yet.

Hunter Brown – HOU, RHP, 26.8 – 6 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 9/1 K/BB at KC. Brown shot up to 60th overall on the Updated Dynasty Rankings, and he just keeps on proving he’s a young ace with a 1.22 ERA and 29.9/5.2 K%/BB% in 37 IP. The fastball sat 96.7 MPH with a 27% whiff%, while the changeup notched a 42% whiff%. The only thing keeping him from ranking even higher is that the 26.9% whiff% on the season is more in above average range than truly plus, and even this outing with 9 K’s, it came with a 26% whiff%. It’s just nitpicking, but I think it’s worth mentioning. Either way, he induces weak contact, the control is taking a step forward into plus territory, and the stuff is huge. It’s just a continuation from what he did in the 2nd half of last off-season. He’s a beast.

Nick Lodolo – CIN, LHP, 27.3 – 7 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 9/1 K/BB vs. COL. The only thing missing from Lodolo’s excellent start to the season were the strikeouts, and they showed up in a big way in this one with a 29% whiff% led by the curve which put up a 50% whiff%. He now has a 2.25 ERA with a 18.9/3.5 K%/BB% in 36 IP, and those strikeout are on the way up. As long as he stays healthy, this could finally be the blow up year we’ve been waiting for.

Tylor Megill – NYM, RHP, 29.8 – 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 9/1 K/BB at WSH. We’ve all been waiting for this Megill breakout for years now, and while we’ve been faked out before, I so want to buy this. The fastball sat 95.8 MPH and put up a 26% whiff%, while the slider notched a 55% whiff%, leading the way for a 28% whiff% overall. He now has a 1.74 ERA with a 29.8/9.2 K%/BB% in 31 IP. I couldn’t help but fly him up my Updated Top 437 Dynasty Rankings last week to #251 overall, and while that maybe wasn’t even high enough, I did want to have some restraint due to the fact he has faked us out year after year in the past. Regardless, there is always so much to love about Megill, and he might be putting it together.

Kaelen Culpepper – MIN, SS, 22.3 – An injury has limited Culpepper to only 9 games at High-A, but he’s been sneakily really strong in those games, and it got less sneaky yesterday with him blasting a no doubt dinger with an athletic and powerful righty swing. He’s now slashing .344/.432/.563 with 1 homer, 0 steals, and a 13.5/13.5 K%/BB% in 9 games at High-A. The groundball rate is high and he’s not running yet, but I thought he was a sneaky good pick in last year’s First Year Player Draft, and he just keeps on hitting.

Jared Thomas – COL, OF/1B, 21.9 – Speaking of underrated college bats that I liked a lot in last year’s FYPD class, Thomas was another one of those guys, and he’s exploding on another level. He went the opposite way for his 4th homer of the season, and he’s now slashing .366/.480/.561 with 4 homers, 4 steals, and a 21.0/15.0 K%/BB% in 21 games at High-A. He’s done nothing but rake in pro ball with a 148 wRC+ in his pro debut last year. He looks the part at an athletic 6’2”, 190 pounds with a strong across the board profile. Will Colorado ever give him a real shot? Who knows. They are a total wild card, but Thomas looks legitimately exciting.

Wilfred Veras – CHW, OF, 22.4 – If you’re looking for a fun upside proximity play with almost no hype, Veras is your man. Just watch him jack out this homer yesterday. He’s 6’1”, 240 with that vicious righty swing and he loves to run. He now has 4 homers, 7 steals, a 125 wRC+ and a 31.5/13.5 K%/BB% in 20 games. Plate approach was a major issue for him coming into this year, so it’s great to see the high walk rate, although the 31.5% K% is obviously too high. The risk is most certainly high, but Chicago is eventually going to give a guy with this much talent a shot, and the fantasy upside is worth taking a chance on him.

Noelvi Marte – CIN, 3B, 23.6 – Marte must have taken my advice and gotten back on the juice ;), because he’s been a man possessed this season, and it continued yesterday with a 3 for 5 day. He hit a 103.8 MPH double, a 103.2 MPH single and a 99.6 MPH single. His sprint speed is back up to 29.3 ft/sec, which is a career high, and the bat speed is back up too with a 74.2 MPH swing. That is double plus range. He’s definitely been on the lucky side with a .353 xwOBA vs. .458 wOBA, and a 12.8% K% vs. a 25% whiff%, but it’s clear whatever mental and physical issues caused Marte’s horrific 2024 is behind him. He’s back on track to being an exciting all category young dynasty asset.

Andy Pages – LAD, OF, 24.5 – The Dodgers stayed patient with Pages through his slow start, and what a smart move that was, because he’s been on fire of late, culminating with a 4 for 5 day yesterday, punctuated by a 105.1 MPH homer. He now has 5 homers with a .861 OPS, and while the .303 xwOBA isn’t as impressive, the dude is a launch machine with a very respectable 22.4% whiff% and 8.3% Barrel%. The .277 BA might be coming down, but he’s going to rip dingers.

Geraldo Perdomo – ARI, SS, 25.4 – I had absolutely zero faith that Perdomo was going to be an impact major leaguer, even when Arizona showed all signs of loving him, and Arizona was clearly correct. They put their money where their mouth was this off-season, and he’s delivered. He went 1 for 4 with a 102.6 MPH homer yesterday, continuing to lock in the power gains with a career best 89.4 MPH. Combine that with a 15.4 degree launch, 9.4/16.5 K%/BB% and base stealing ability, and you get a really solid across the board fantasy contributor (4 homers, 6 steals, and a .361 xwOBA in 28 games).

Payton Tolle – BOS, LHP, 22.5 – 4 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 9/1 K/BB at High-A. The 50th overall pick in the draft got blown up in his first outing of the season, which is bringing his season line down, but this was his 2nd excellent outing in a row. This is a big boy at 6’6”, 250 pounds with a three quarter arm lefty delivery, the fastball has continued to tick up into the mid 90’s now, and he has multiple bat missing secondaries (change, slider, curve). He currently has a 6.52 ERA with a 37.8/11.1 K%/BB% in 9.2 IP at High-A, but like I said, it was really just one bad outing. He’s got high K mid-rotation starter upside.

Gunnar Hoglund – OAK, RHP, 25.4 – After undergoing Tommy John surgery in May of 2021, Hoglund is just now starting to look like his old self. He was on track to be an easy Top 10 pick in the 2021 MLB Draft until he went down with the injury, and teams thought so highly of him that he was still selected 19th overall. But Tommy John recovery is not always super smooth, and while it’s been a bumpy road, he’s slowing starting to look like his prime self. He went 5 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB at Triple-A. The fastball is back up to 94 MPH, which is great to see, and the curve notched a 38% whiff%. He throws a legit 5 pitching mix (4-seamer, curve, change, sinker, slider) with plus control, and it’s resulted in a 2.43 ERA with a 26.1/6.1 K%/BB% in 29.2 IP. He’s not missing quite enough bats to really fly him up the rankings, the stuff is good but not great, and he has a terrible ballpark waiting for him, but Hoglund is definitely taking a big step forward this year and is firmly putting himself back on the fantasy radar.

Logan Evans – SEA, RHP, 23.10 – Evans made his MLB debut and it was pretty unimpressive, going 5 IP with 2 hits, 2 ER, and a 3/3 K/BB vs MIA. The sinker and 4-seamer only sat 92.9 MPH and he put up a lowly 10% whiff%. The stuff and whiffs weren’t that impressive at Triple-A either before getting the call. He has gotten some hype these past 2 off-seasons, but I’m not sure it’s warranted at the moment. He just doesn’t look that special right now.

Matt Shaw – CHC, 3B/2B/SS, 23.4 – Triple-A Matt Shaw homers just don’t hit the same after his struggles in the majors, but he got ahold of his first dinger at Triple-A with a frozen rope out to left field. The crazy batting stance and leg kick has been sorta toned down, but honestly, not really as he still has the pointed in batting stance with the extreme leg kick. Again, it’s not as crazy as it was earlier in the year, but it’s still a weird batting stance. Even though I’m not a fan of the stance, I’ll trust that he knows what he’s doing, and I don’t want to move off him because of it. Plenty of great players struggle in their first taste of the bigs, and I’m staying patient.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
–APRIL 2025 TOP 437 DYNASTY RANKS
–UPDATED TOP 300+ PROSPECTS RANKS COMING SOON
-TONS OF DYNASTY RUNDOWNS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
–SPREADSHEETS
–TOP 10 2026 FYPD RANKINGS
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST: APRIL MAILBAG! 

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

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 The Underachievers Dynasty Baseball Rundown (4/7/25)

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

Festival of Targets – It’s legitimately wild how many of my named Targets in my Position by Position Dynasty Targets articles (Patreon) are going off right now: Tyler Soderstrom, Jesus Luzardo, Heliot Ramos, Ben Rice, Ivan Herrera, Spencer Torkelson, Michael Conforto, Kris Bubic (who dominated again yesterday), Pavin Smith, Otto Lopez, Jose Soriano, CJ Abrams/Oneil Cruz/Hunter Greene (high end targets), Trey Sweeney, Drew Rasmussen, Jordan Walker and more. Honestly, so many of my guys are going off, it’s not even fun anymore 😉 I’ve been on a week and a half celebration bender, and I need to sober up and come up for some air. So let’s turn our attention to some of the underachievers, and see if there are signs of a breakout still coming, or if I missed the mark completely on them. I’ll also go into underachievers I didn’t name as targets. Let’s kick it off with Target Jo Adell …

 Jo Adell – LAA, OF, 26.0 – Adell went 0 for 4 yesterday and now has a 67 wRC+ in 7 games. With his history, it would be so easy to finally write him off and say this is the final nail in the coffin, but when you look under the hood, it’s actually encouraging. The whiff% is down to a career best 26.3%, which is almost in the average range. That is an absolutely wild transformation from his days putting up mid to upper 30’s whiff rates. And it continues a downward trend from 2024 where he put up a 29.8% whiff%, so there is hope there is real improvement here. He’s also doing it while still ripping the ball with a 91.5 MPH EV, and while being more selective with a career best, and above average 25.5% Chase%. Other than the surface stats, I’m damn pumped about this start. Stay the course, as all signs point towards the breakout season finally coming.

Tyler Fitzgerald – SFG, SS/2B, 27.7 – Fitz wasn’t a named Target, but I was definitely excited by the power/speed and also scared off by the plate approach, and after putting up his 3rd straight 0-fer yesterday to give him a 29 wRC+ in 7 games, it looks like the hit tool just might tank him. But his whiff% is actually down 3.1 percentage points to 28.1%, and his K% is down 5.8 percentage points to 25.9%. His exit velocity is also up almost 1 MPH to 88.5 MPH. He’s never going to be a high BA guy with a 20.4 degree launch hitting in Oracle Park, and his current xBA is .180, so I’m not saying it’s all roses, I’m just saying the surface stats aren’t nearly as bad as it really is. Stay the course with Fitz.

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.0 – The Crow went 0 for 4 yesterday and now has a 47 wRC+ in 12 games. If PCA doesn’t work out, that one will seriously hurt me as he’s been my guy since before he was drafted. But before I get too sad, let’s see what’s happening. Just like with Fitz and Adell, the whiff rates are actually down, and his is down to an above average 24%. That is down 5.9 percentage points from 2024. And amazingly enough, he’s done it while upping his bat speed 2 MPH to an above average 72.6 MPH. When you try to swing faster, you are supposed to miss the ball more, not less. He’s still chasing too much, but at least there is some improvement with it down 3.5 percentage points to 37.9%. And even with a .255 OBP, he still has 3 steals in 12 games. I wish the surface stats looked better too, but he has majorly improved whiffs, majorly improved bat speed, slight chase improvement, and he’s running. I’m encouraged.

Dylan Crews – WAS, OF, 23.1 – I thought it would never happen. Crews finally had a decent game, going 2 for 4 with stolen base. That gives him a whopping negative 35 wRC+ in 8 games. I’m not gonna lie, it doesn’t look good under the hood either with a 38% whiff% and 36.4% Chase% which are much worse than his 2024 debut. But you have to remember that Crews got off to a slow start last year as well. There was blood in the streets with him struggling at Double-A, but he eventually found his rhythm, and I’m betting on the same thing happening in 2025. He might just be a slow starter.

Luis Garcia – WAS, 2B, 24.11 – You know I couldn’t go an entire Dynasty Rundown without at least partially victory lapping hah. And that brings us to Luis Garcia, who wasn’t someone I was going after. He’s gone 0-fer in 5 of 7 games this season and now has a 40 wRC+ in 7 games. His plate approach is still terrible and showing no signs of maturing with a 40% Chase% which is worse than 2024. His contact rates remain in that good but not great area with a 19.2% K%, and I’m being generous because the whiff rates are actually all the way up to 28.9% right now (21.3% in 2024). And finally, he continues to not hit the ball that hard with a 87.9 MPH EV. The weird thing about his season is that he has an insane 15% Barrel%, which I’m not buying, but it’s something, and he also has a career high launch at 10 degrees, which is nice to see that continue to go in the right direction. Obviously it’s insanely early, but if I were to buy Garcia, which I wasn’t, these aren’t the signs I want to see for a next level breakout. It looks like more of the same, with some launch/barrell% silver lining.

JJ Bleday – OAK, OF, 27.5 – Bleday was another popular target that I wasn’t buying into. After going 0 for 4 yesterday he now has a 59 wRC+ in 10 games. And he continues to be a below average CF. Here is what I wrote in his Top 1,000 blurb, “Bleday is a low ceiling player with little speed, a below average BA, and above average homer power at best. I also think there is risk too, because he’s a below average outfielder, and Denzel Clark and Colby Thomas are charging hard to compete for those open OF jobs. Kurtz and Soderstrom could push Rooker into more OF duty too.”  … Bleday currently has 0 barrels on the season. The plate approach is really good, which matters, but that is about it. Even his launch is way down to 8.3 degrees, which is down so much I’m wondering if that was a choice. Not a good choice, considering the new hitter’s paradise they play in. Kurtz can’t stop hitting homers at Triple-A (he went deep for his 4th time last night), Soderstrom isn’t going anywhere (he homered for the 4th time in 10 games last night too), and Target Denzel Clarke’s double plus CF glove is sitting at Triple-A with a massively improved hit tool (22.6/16.1 K%/BB% with a .280 BA). I was fading Bleday this off-season, and I’m even more off him now.

Jackson Jobe – DET, RHP, 22.8 – I love Jackson Jobe. I was the first one hyping him as a true elite pitching prospect during his 2nd half 2023 explosion, and I ranked him very high this off-season (21st overall in the Top 500 Prospects Rankings). But because so many places had him Top 10 and in the same tier as Andrew Painter, I got a lot of questions on why I wasn’t higher. And my answer was his 25.6/12.0 K%/BB% last year. And now that mediocre K/BB is back in the majors. He pitched last night against the Quad-A White Sox and went 5 IP with 4 hits, 2 ER, and a 4/3 K/BB. His first start was more of the same at the pitcher’s paradise in Seattle, going 4 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 3/4 K/BB. The fastball was down to 95.8 MPH in this latest one and didn’t record a single whiff on 14 swings. He has a 20.8% whiff% between the two starts, which isn’t great, and we know he was working on new pitches this off-season because he wasn’t happy with how many bats he was missing. One of those new pitches, the curveball, has yet to get a single whiff this season. I still love Jobe, and how I closed out his Top 1,000 blurb is still how I feel about him: ” Jobe should break camp with the team in 2025, and while I wouldn’t expect an ace season right out of the gate, I’m betting on him getting there eventually.”

Chase Dollander – COL, RHP, 23.5 – Dollander was another elite pitching prospect I wasn’t quite as high on, but in his case, it had nothing to do with his K/BB rates, it had everything to do with him pitching in Coors. And his first MLB start at Coors went basically exactly how you would have thought. Great K/BB. Bad outing. He went 5 IP with 7 hits, 4 ER, and a 6/1 K/BB vs. OAK. The 97.8 MPH fastball put up a respectable 20% whiff%, but it got rocked with a 101 MPH against. The cutter, curve, and changeup all performed well by missing bats and inducing weak contact, leading to a solid 25% whiff% overall. It was a good outing … probably in any other ballpark but Coors. I like Dollander. I still ranked him 57th overall on the Prospects Rankings, but in Coors, I just can’t go higher than that.

Garrett Mitchell – MIL, OF, 26.7 – Mitchell was one of my favorite targets this off-season, and while his start hasn’t been bad with a 102 wRC+, it hasn’t exactly been exciting either with 0 homers and 1 steal. Are we still buying here? Hell yea. The whiff rates are all the way down to 25% (34.8% in 2024), and the launch is all the way up to 9.3 degrees (2.8 degrees in 2024). And not only has he done that while maintaining his elite bat speed, he’s actually taken the bat speed up into even more rarified air with a 76.8 MPH swing (75.7 MPH in 2024). Don’t budge off Mitchell.

Matt Wallner – MIN, OF, 27.3 – Wallner is another target who isn’t having a bad start with a .804 OPS, but the guy has 0 homers, and hitting homers is what he does. Honestly, his start is the wonkiest one to understand. I think I should be over the moon for the 22.9 K%, because that insane 36.4 K% from 2024 needed to come down, but his whiff rates are actually much worse with a 44.2% whiff% (38.4% in 2024). Hard to trust the K rate when the whiff rate is still so bad. But on the flip side, the homers are certainly going to come with a 92 MPH EV, 13.6% Barrel% and 18 degree launch. And it was his career ..252 BA that made me confident enough in the hit tool to call him a target. He again has a good BA with a .267 BA. There is some mixed bag in here, but I’m holding strong.

James Wood – WAS, OF, 22.7 – Wood went 0 for 3 yesterday and now has a 81 wRC+ with a 41.7% K% in 9 games. That K rate is damn scary, but thank goodness he has a 27.4% whiff%, which is actually 2 percentage points better than 2024, because the hit tool is the only thing that can tank him. That whiff% shows to not be scared off by the K rate right now. He’s still crushing the ball with a 16.7% Barrel%. The biggest negative is the negative 2.7 degree launch. He needs to bring that up to really get the true breakout we want to see, but don’t you dare panic on Wood.

Michael Toglia – COL, 1B/OF, 26.8/Triston Casas – BOS, 1B, 25.3 – Now these are two targets where there are reasons to worry. It’s too early to actually worry, but both are having starts you don’t want to see. Casas went 0 for 5 with 2 K yesterday and Toglia went 1 for 5 with a strikeout. The worrisome part is that their hit tools are going in the wrong direction. Toglia is hitting .143 with 44.7% K% and 45.2% whiff%. Casas is hitting .167 with a 34.2% K% and 36% whiff%. Toglia just got back into Coors, and he was a better 2nd half hitter than 1st half last year, so definitely give him some time, but that swing and miss is scary. Casas was supposed to be gradually improving that hit tool as his career went along, and so far, it’s gradually getting worse. Again, way too early to panic on each, but each have red flags that need to start seeing some improvement.

Ben Brown – CHC, RHP, 25.7 – I loved Ben Brown, and I thought if Chicago was smart, they would give him that 5th starter job. They did indeed give him that job, but he’s not making them (or me) look smart. He had his 2nd rough outing last night, going 4 IP with 7 hits, 5 ER, and a 5/4 K/BB vs. SDP. He still can’t find that 3rd pitch, throwing the changeup only 3.7% of the time, and it hasn’t recorded a single whiff. The good news is that the 4-semaer and curve are still whiff machines with a 25% and 40.8% whiff%, respectively, but both pitches are getting hit hard. I love K chasing in fantasy, so Brown’s 33% whiff% on the season is still so damn enticing to me, but so far he hasn’t made the improvements you would really want to see to feel comfortable. In general, I’m still holding.

Kumar Rocker – TEX, RHP, 25.4 – I was buying Rocker’s en fuego finish to 2024, but so far, it hasn’t shown back up in 2025. He got roughed up in his first outing, and his 2nd outing last night was a weird one, going 5 IP with 6 hits, 1 ER, and a 1/0 K/BB vs. TBR. He induced a ton of weak contact with a 84.4 MPH EV against, but he didn’t miss many bats with a 10% whiff%. The famed slider only put up a 27% whiff% and the two 95+ MPH fastballs notched 1 whiff in 28 swings. After getting rocked with poor control in his first outing, it was nice to see him settle down in this one. Remember that he’s only had 64.2 IP in his minor league career due to injuries, so he’s learning on the fly here in the majors. There are going to be bumps, and he needs to find a pitch to get lefties out. I’m holding, but maybe I’m slightly less excited than I was this off-season.

Zac Veen – COL, OF, 23.4 – How can I do an underachieving Target write-up without mention Zac Veen! I couldn’t love Veen more a couple years ago at an uber athletic and projectable 6’3”, 190 pounds with Coors Field waiting for him, but as you know, it’s been a bumpy road to say the least since then. But he’s been drawing us all back in this year, and now he got the call to the bigs to take over for the struggling Jordan Beck. He opened some eyes this spring with 2 homers, 9 steals, and a 113 wRC+ in 28 PA, and then he went to Triple-A and slashed .387/.472/.677 with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 16.2/10.8 K%/BB% in 8 games. He still doesn’t crush the ball, but he’s been adding muscle and the power has definitely been ticking up. He’s a game changer on the bases with league leading stolen base ability, and while the K rates have been on the high side in the minors, they aren’t in the danger zone and Coors will only help with that. I can’t say I’m still gaga over Veen like I was back in the day, but it’s still so easy to see a monster fantasy player. I’m just excited to see what he can do.

Rafael Devers – BOS, 3B, 28.5 – 5 for 9 with 2 doubles and a homer in a double header. He’s now 10 for 19 in his last 5 games and has a 134 wRC+ on the season. We never doubted you big fella!!! ***I did start to doubt him. Shoulders scare me, but we can all stop holding our breath now …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL SEASON, INCLUDING:
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’m doing these Rundowns all Spring and all season over on the Patreon, with a few per month free here on the Brick Wall. I’m just psyched to have baseball back! Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/10/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
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-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
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-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST
-SPREADSHEETS

Grayson Rodriguez – BAL, RHP, 25.3/Gerrit Cole – NYY, RHP, 34.7/George Kirby – SEA, RHP, 27.2 – We’ve come to the part of spring training where pitchers start dropping like flies. Here is what I wrote about Grayson on Sad Dynasty Rundown Day (don’t ask) after his terrible outing, “And while he said he wasn’t trying, he also said he changed his delivery this off-season to take pressure off the twice injured lat and to put it on the scapular. I’m no scientist, but that seems like a recipe to just hurt a different part of your body.” … and right on cue, Grayson goes down with elbow inflammation which required a cortisone shot. Gerrit Cole looks like he’s headed for Tommy John surgery. And Kirby will open the season on the IL with shoulder inflammation that doesn’t seem overly serious. I bring these injuries up because I get a ton of trade questions that ask if should I trade “top hitting prospect X” for “established pitcher X” when I have the pitcher ranked a bit ahead of the hitter in my rankings. And my response is often the same. Which is that I absolutely hate doing trades like that, regardless of the rankings, for this very reason. There are scenarios where I would simply refuse to trade any of my truly top hitting prospects for any pitcher. It’s the type of trade I make only when I’m truly all in. I much prefer to build my staff by finding underrated pitchers (which there are always tons of) rather than paying up for the hyped to death aces. You of course still need good pitchers to win, so you are going to have to pick your spots eventually, but trading an elite or near elite hitting prospect for any pitcher should be a last case scenario. You should exhaust all other avenues first, regardless of what a general dynasty ranking says, even my own.

Anthony Volpe – NYY, SS, 23.11 – Volpe is looking for a bounce back year 3 after a disappointing sophomore year, but even his homers are unimpressive with him tapping a 90 MPH homer off Michael McGreevy. The swing looked super slow during the homer too, which is a major concern of mine with Volpe. He just doesn’t swing a quick bat with a 69.5 MPH swing last year and a 70.9 MPH swing in the 2nd half of 2023. He doesn’t make a ton of contact, he doesn’t have a great approach, and he doesn’t have a ton of raw power, which makes me a bit concerned about what Volpe’s actual ceiling. He runs, he’s young, and he’s excellent on defense, so it’s not like I hate him. I still have him #101 on the Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon), but I just don’t love that slow ass swing.

Zach Dezenzo – HOU, 1B, 24.11 – Now that is the type of swing I like to see. Dezenzo used his elite bat speed to drill a homer out to right center. He’s competing for a job this spring, and while he’s not off to the best start with a 89 wRC+, let’s see if this can kick off a hot streak. His glove is a problem, and it could be the thing that keeps in the minors or on the bench, but he’s 6’5”, 220 pounds with an elite 75.4 MPH swing and a well above average 28.3 ft/sec sprint. These are the elite athletes I love betting on, and there is definitely opportunity in Houston. He’s a target of mine long term.

Tomoyuki Sugano – BAL, RHP, 35.6 – 3 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 5/0 K/BB vs. like a 40%-ish Twins lineup. Sugano has yet to give up a run in 7 IP this spring. He’s missing bats too with a 26.9% K%. He’s coming off a season in Japan where he put up a 1.67 ERA. We might have to start putting some respect on this man’s name. There is a decent chance he’s actually damn good despite not having huge velocity and huge K rates in Japan. Don’t dismiss him so quickly.

Clay Holmes – NYM, RHP, 30.4 – 3.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 8/3 K/BB vs. 50/50 Washington lineup. Holmes continues to prove the velocity isn’t going to fall off a cliff in the rotation, holding steady at 95.4 MPH, and he’s also proving he has the pitch mix to start with a 6 pitch mix. Most notably, the changeup notched a 75% whiff% in this one. Holmes is obliterating the spring and any value on him is so far gone it’s not even funny. He was a great target this off-season, but now during draft season, you are going to have to pay up full price. I still like him, and I think he’ll be worth the price, but there are no deals to be found here anymore.

Aroon Escobar – PHI, 2B, 20.3 – I generally hate players who are “old” for their rookie ball leagues. These include 18 year olds repeating the DSL and 19 year olds in stateside rookie ball, but with the recent contraction of the minor leagues, I might have to loosen up my stance on that. With fewer teams, more deserving guys are going to repeat rookie ball levels, and on the flip side, Single-A is getting more rookie ball-ish itself. High-A might really be the true “full season ball” jump that Single-A used to be. It’s something to keep in mind, and something that I have to continue adjusting to myself. Enter Aroon, who destroying rookie ball as a 19 year old with a 172 wRC+, 3 homers, 9 steals, and a 9.6/20.2 K%/BB% in 24 games. I wasn’t in on him because of his age, but I’m feeling regret for that after he crushed him first homer this spring at a grown man’s 108.2 MPH. He now has a 505 wRC+ in 2 PA ;). He’s not necessarily a big tools guy, which is another reason I wasn’t in on him, but he can end up a very strong across the board contributor. He deserved more respect from me.

Gavin Williams – CLE, RHP, 25.8 – 3.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 7/1 K/BB vs. a very weak White Sox lineup. Granted, I think I could have racked up a few K’s against these guys (Bobby Dalbec and his 46.2% K% in the majors last year K’d 3 times in this one), but there is still no denying how fire Williams’ has looked this spring. The 95.3 MPH fastball put up a 50% whiff% and the curve and slider were whiff machines too, leading to a 55% whiff% overall. He now has a 1.33 ERA with a 50.0%/6.3 K%/BB% in 8 IP. It’s only spring, and the competition isn’t great, but this is exactly what we wanted to see coming off the down and injured 2024. His value is definitely back on the rise, even if I would be a little careful about just drafting your team based on who is having the best spring trainings. I remember when the default used to be that spring didn’t matter. Now, my goodness how it’s flipped. It’s like spring is all that matters ha. Can’t deny that I feel partly responsible for this, because when I started writing Spring Rundowns years ago, nobody else was writing them and there really wasn’t that much spring content. Now it’s a deluge hah.

Jac Caglianone – KCR, 1B, 22.2 – Speaking of overrating spring, Jac is a man possessed, utterly obliterating a 114.6 MPH, 444 foot bomb for his 3rd in 14 PA. Call me crazy, but I don’t think he sees that pitch in a real game. He’s not only showing off power though, the plate approach looks excellent as well with a 7.1/21.4 K%/BB%. Jac is an undeniable beast, and I have zero issue taking him extremely high in First Year Player Drafts, but personally, I’m not going to rearrange my entire FYPD Rankings just based on who is having the best spring. I always said there is a top tier of 11 guys, and if any of them ended up the best player in the class, I wouldn’t be surprised at all, but I’m going to stick with my off-season order.

Richard Fitts – BOS, RHP, 25.3 – 2.1 IP, 2 hits, 1 ER, 4/3 K/BB vs. a very weak Braves lineup. He now has a 1.42 ERA with a 32.1/14.3 K%/BB% in 6.1 IP. Fitts came into spring a new man with upper 90’s heat and filthy stuff, and that was on display yesterday as well. He was mostly a control over stuff guy coming into this year, but it sure looks like he’s changing that profile into a stuff over control guy now, and for fantasy, that is definitely what we want to see, but he still has to prove he can truly harness the stuff in a starting role. He’s so obviously a major riser this spring, and with Bello starting the year on the IL, there is a rotation spot to be won, so he makes for a great underrated target. I’m just worried with how much hype he’s getting, he’s not actually going to be all that underrated.

Jack Kochanowicz – LAA, RHP, 24.3 – The most boring pitcher alive keeps churning out good outings, going 4 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 2/0 K/BB vs a bad Reds lineup. He now has a 1.00 ERA with a 17.6/2.9 K%/BB% in 9 IP. The K% is at least much better than the 9.4% K% he put in the majors last year, but even that with that 9.4% K%, he still pitched well with a 3.99 ERA in 65.1 IP. It’s all sinker all the time, which is just quite boring, but it’s been undeniably effective for awhile now. He doesn’t seem to have a rotation spot, but I guess he’s not the worst guy to roster in deeper leagues.

Brady House – WAS, 3B, 21.10 – House is oh so quietly having an excellent spring and showing improvement in the main area he needed to show improvement in. He went 1 for 1 with a walk yesterday and now has a 153 wRC+ with a 4.8/14.3 K%/BB% in 21 PA. That 3B job is just waiting for him, and he’s already spent a good amount of time at Triple-A last year. He’s a sneaky candidate to make a big impact in 2025. He doesn’t get the respect he deserves both in the short term and the long term.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B, 26.6 – 0 for 4 with 2 K’s and now has a 39 wRC+ with a 32% K% in 25 PA … you are really going to have to start hitting soon if you want to lock in that vacant DH job

Evan Carter – TEX, OF, 22.7 – 0 for 2 with a K and now has a 9 wRC+ with a 33.3/4.8 K%/BB% in 21 PA … this is not giving much hope that the ominous back injury is okay

Jordan Hicks – SFG, RHP, 28.8 – 2.2 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 1/2 K/BB vs. a Quad-A San Diego lineup. He now has a 6.75 ERA with a 17.4/13.0 K%/BB% in 4 IP … I guess one year of not pitching well as a starter wasn’t enough for San Francisco. They want to run it back …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
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-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-PREDICTING THE TOP 50 2026 PROSPECTS RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 C–Top 83 1B–Top 98 2B–Top 109 3B–Top 154 SS–Top 260 OF-Top 305 SP-Top 76 RP
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

I’m doing these Rundowns all Spring and all season over on the Patreon, with a few per month free here on the Brick Wall. I’m just psyched to have baseball back! Here is the Sunday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/2/25):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
-POSITION BY POSITION TARGETS
-OBP TOP 400 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS
-2025 DEEP DYNASTY POSITIONAL RANKS: Top 78 C–Top 83 1B–Top 98 2B–Top 109 3B–Top 154 SS–Top 260 OF-Top 305 SP-Top 76 RP
-HALP’S DYNASTY BASEBALL PODCAST
-SPREADSHEETS

Hye-seong Kim – LAD, 2B, 26.2 – I’ve been dogging Hye-seong all week in the Rundowns for his awful start to spring, but he got his vengeance yesterday, tapping a 95.6 MPH homer the other way for his first big day stateside. He didn’t exactly crush it, but the swing changes are meant to get him more cheapies like that, because without the swing change, he was likely only a 5-10 homer guy. And just look at that beautiful swing! How can you not buy into that? I sure did this off-season naming him a low key target, and while the swing changes are taking some time, I still can’t help but be enamored by his talent. If the swing changes start to click, I don’t see why he couldn’t be like a .270/15/30 guy once he really gets his bearings in MLB, which would probably be more realistically in 2026 and beyond.

Jerar Encarnacion – SFG, OF, 27.5 – Encarnacion showed off his truly top of the scale power with a 113 MPH homer out to dead center. The ball landed right over the 410 ft marking in center, but Statcast says it was hit 387 feet. Huh? A bit odd. Somebody is lying right to our faces. Either way, Encarnacion was a bat speed standout in 2024 with a 77 MPH swing, and it resulted in an elite 95 MPH EV in 119 PA. It actually came with a pretty damn solid 28.7% whiff% too, and so far this spring his K% is sitting at a very nice 20% in 15 PA. If he keeps making that much contact, with his bat speed and power, a breakout is inevitable. He’s going to have to kick the door down for playing time, but Encarnacion is in really fun and cheap flier territory right now. He could be an “out of nowhere” bat who cracks 30+ dingers.

Konnor Griffin – PIT, OF, 18.11 – Welcome to pro ball, Konnor Griffin. It didn’t take long for him to make his presence felt, coolly and easily destroying his first homer the other way out to right center. At 6’4”, 225 pounds, that power comes so easy, and that isn’t even his best tool arguably, it’s his 70 grade speed. It’s all about the hit tool though, and so far, so good as he’s 2 for 5 with 0 K’s. I said it in my FYPD Target article (Patreon), but we may be looking back at this class and kicking ourselves that we didn’t take Griffin over the college bats. He’s the only one who truly has elite dynasty asset potential. I see him getting faded in a ton of FYPD drafts. Don’t make that mistake.

Pete Crow-Armstrong – CHC, OF, 23.0 – Pete Crow is going to absolutely explode in 2025. His power is no joke, and he continues to prove that, crushing a 104.4 MPH homer off Cole Ragans and tacking on a 104.6 MPH double off Lucas Erceg. He’s now 7 for 14 on the spring with 1 homer, 1 steal, and a 247 wRC+. His power/speed combo can legitimately rival the very best in the game, and I still feel like he’s getting underrated by the fantasy community. I’ve been all in on him for 4 years now, and I’m still all in this year, ranking him 66th overall on the Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon). I also placed a long shot bet on him leading the league in steals. This is your last chance to get in on him at anything resembling a reasonable price.

Ben Rice – NYY, 1B, 26.6 – Rice obliterated a 113.3 MPH line drive homer that left the park in like half a second. His barrel ability is special, putting up a 15.6% Barrel% in his very first taste of the majors, and while the hits weren’t falling for him, they are about to start falling in 2025. I closed out Rice’s blurb in my First Base Targets (Patreon) by writing, “I don’t know how. And I don’t know when. But I do know who. And that who is Ben Rice.” … and now that Giancarlo is set to miss the start of the season with double tennis elbow, we know how too. He’s coming for that DH job, and if he can establish himself, I’m sure the Yanks will want to get that bat in the lineup somehow.

Chase Dollander – COL, RHP, 23.5 – Dollander went up against a pretty legit Arizona lineup, and they weren’t scared of the 97.4 MPH fastball, whiffing only 15% of the time on it and hitting it up for a 92.9 MPH EV against. It resulted in a rough outing for Dollander, going 3 IP with 3 hits, 3 ER, and a 4/1 K/BB. He still missed plenty of bats with a cutter and change, leading to an excellent 29% whiff%, and the curve induced weak contact. Pitching prospects are just too volatile for me to bet on any Coors pitching prospect, which is why he ranked 58th overall on my Top 500 2025 Dynasty Prospects Rankings (Patreon), but on his own merits, he would likely land closer to 20th overall. I just can’t ignore the looming Coors monster.

Cade Povich – BAL, LHP, 24.11 – 3 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 6/1 K/BB vs. Pitt’s Quad-A+Cruz lineup. Not the best competition, but Povich has been absolutely lights out this spring in 5 IP with 0 ER and a 38.9/5.6 K%/BB%. I thought his path to improvement would be increased stuff, as the fastball only sits low 90’s, but it looks like it could come with improved control/command. He has his stuff on an absolute string this spring, and it’s still missing a ton of bats. I was out on Povich, but his spring performance definitely has me regretting that decision.

Michael Soroka – WSH, RHP, 27.8 – Soroka was another arm that I was out on, and he too might make me regret it, going 3 IP with 0 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/1 K/BB vs. a decently tough Cardinals lineup. The 4-seamer was up 1.4 MPH to 94.9 MPH, and it’s not like it was a 1 inning outing. The slider missed a ton of bats too going 4 for 8 on whiffs, leading to a 29% whiff% overall. He’s moving into acceptable deeper league flier territory for me.

Shane McClanahan – TBR, LHP, 27.1 – McClanahan made his debut coming off Tommy John and went 2 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 1/0 K/BB vs. a mediocre Mets lineup. The fastball was hitting the upper 90’s, so the stuff is back and he certainly looks healthy. Still remains to be seen how much rust he will have to shake off, but this was a positive first outing.

George Lombard – NYY, SS, 19.10 – If Lombard’s power ticks up, his prospect stock is set to soar, and it looks like that might happen with him obliterating a 108.4 MPH homer for his first of spring. That swing looked so legit, and the 76.4 MPH bat speed backs up the ocular evaluation. He’s still just 19 years old and is coming off a solid first full year of pro ball. He’s just a really good all around ball player.

Grant Taylor – CHW, RHP, 22.10 – 1 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 2/0 K/BB. Taylor showed off the electric stuff with a 99.9 MPH fastball that notched a 33% whiff% with a 66.7 MPH EV against. It was simply unhittable. He also mixed in a cutter, changeup, and slider with none of his pitches coming in under 88.2 MPH. The “changeup” sits 92.6 MPH, which is faster than some guys fastballs. There is injury risk and he still has a lot to prove, but his top level stuff is unquestionable.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand – CIN, 1B, 25.4 – CES wrist watch … 111.6 MPH bullet off Dylan Cease for his 2nd of the spring. He had a good AFL too. Wrist injuries scare me for hitters, but Strand looks like he’s back to 100%.

Julio Rodriguez – SEA, OF, 24.3 – 0 for 2 and is now 1 for 11 on the spring … I love it, let’s get that slow start out of the way now, because I think he’s going to literally kill his owners if he doesn’t start hitting until mid summer again …

Noelvi Marte – CIN, 3B, 23.6 – 0 for 2 with 2 K’s and is now 1 for 12 with a 42.9% K% … I think it’s time to get back on the juice. It’s worth the risk, because this ain’t it …

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
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By Michael Halpern (@MichaelCHalpern)
Email: michaelhalpern@imaginarybrickwall.com
Twitter: Imaginary Brick Wall (@DynastyHalp)
Blue Sky: Dynasty Halp (@ImaginaryBrickWall)

Damn it feels good to be doing the Rundowns again! It’s only Spring and it’s only one game, but I’m buzzing that there is officially new games and data to analyze … and more accurately at this time of year … to overanalyze. As usual, I’m doing Dynasty Baseball Rundowns all Spring, with most of them coming on the Patreon, and a few coming on the Brick Wall like this one (usually on Monday’s, but I’ll make an exception for Spring Training Opening Day). There is sooooooooo much off-season content already up on the Patreon, and there is much more coming, in particular one of my favorite articles to write every year, Predicting the Top 50 2026 Prospects Rankings which doubles as a Bold Predictions article. But first, here is the Spring Training Opening Day Dynasty Baseball Rundown:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR TONS OF EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ALL OFF-SEASON & SEASON, INCLUDING:
-TOP 1,000 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL RANKS (analysis, projections, & prime projections for every player)
-TOP 500 2025 DYNASTY BASEBALL PROSPECT RANKS
-TOP 146 2025 FYPD RANKS (+FYPD Target & Strategy Guide)
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Gage Workman – CHC, SS/3B, 25.5 – Is it too early to victory lap? 😉 … Mere days after naming Workman a target in my Position by Position Target Series, he stole the show on Spring Opening Day, going the opposite way off lefty Justin Wrobelski at 101.5 MPH for his first dinger. He also tacked on a 99.9 MPH single off a 95.7 MPH Yamamoto fastball. Those are legit pitchers, but granted, they weren’t exactly game planning against him. I’ve never wanted to be more wrong about a target in my life, because if Workman breaks out, it very likely means the true love of my life, Matt Shaw, was a bust. This will be my saddest victory lap ever. It will be like one of those Tik Tok’s where the girl is both dancing and crying at the same time. I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t ignore that he’s 6’4”, 202 pounds with a plus power/speed combo and big time production at Double-A. Being a Rule 5 pick means he’s almost certainly going to make the team. Being right on Workman will be a disaster!

Kevin Alcantara – CHC, OF, 22.8 – The only thing that can be a bigger disaster than a Workman breakout is an Alcantara breakout. My love for Pete Crow Armstrong makes Matt Shaw look like a mere side piece. I’ve named Alcantara a target for a couple years now because he has straight Forgotten Unicorn status at 6’6”, 188 pounds with an at least plus raw power/speed combo. He just needs continued refinement, and he looked damn refined yesterday, going 2 for 3 with a 107.3 MPH single, a 79.7 MPH single off a 95.9 MPH Yamamoto fastball, a 97.3 MPH flyout, and 0 strikeouts. The bat control and hit tool didn’t look bad at all here. I will be on my knees weeping if I’m right about Alcantara, because that means PCA was a bust or hurt, but if you know me, I’ll still cry crawl that victory lap like one of those marathon runners who lost control of all of their bodily functions and just drags their ass over the finish line.

Bobby Miller – LAD, RHP, 26.0 – I hate to kick a guy when he’s down, because really the most important thing by far is that Miller’s okay after getting drilled with a 105.5 MPH comebacker to the head. I almost don’t want to do this blurb, because holy crap was that angle of it was so scary. Genuinely just hope there aren’t any lasting effects both physically and mentally. So I say this reluctantly, but he looked like the same guy from 2024 before that scary moment. He went 0.1 IP with 1 hit, 2 ER, and a 0/1 K/BB. He had a 0% whiff% on 11 pitches. His fastball sat 97.9 MPH which was in line with his decreased velocity from 2024. Basically everything looked like 2024. If you were hoping for him to come back this year looking like fire and going on a revenge tour, well, it certainly it didn’t happen in his first outing. He also needs to actually win a rotation spot back, so easing into things might not really work. But back to my original point, a moment like that makes you remember what is really important in life. Without your health, you have nothing. It’s also only February 21st, so he has plenty of time.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto – LAD, RHP, 26.8 – Yamamoto was everyone’s favorite shiny new toy at this time last off-season, and now that he went out and proved in 2024, I feel people just kinda quietly cooled on him. People are weird like that. The most important thing for him is to just look healthy though, and he certainly did yesterday, going 1.2 IP with 3 hits, 0 ER, and a 2/0 K/BB. The fastball sat 95.6 MPH and the curve and cutter notched a 33% whiff%. He’s not in mid season form, but this start is all systems go for Yamamoto.

Justin Wrobleski – LAD, LHP, 24.9 – 1 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 1/0 K/BB. The fastball was down 1+ ticks to 93.6 MPH, but it’s likely he’s just easing back into things, and it’s not like he’s realistically competing for a rotation spot or anything, so no need for him to come out throwing flames. Honestly, he seems miles away from a rotation spot. I like Wrobleski, but I’m not sure his upside is high enough to really voluntarily give yourself the headache that is the Dodgers rotation depth.

Ivan Brethowr CHC, OF, 22.1 – Brethowr didn’t have the type of pro debut (.527 OPS in 23 games at Single-A) to get on my radar as a 7th round college bat last year, but he surely got on radars yesterday as the 6’6”, 250 pound behemoth destroyed a batting practice 92.1 MPH fastball. It was a lefty pitcher (he’s a righty), and even with the terrible pro debut, he destroyed lefties with a .958 OPS in 9 PA. The swing doesn’t look particularly fast or short to me, which is likely why he dropped to the 7th round, and it seems a short side of a platoon bat is the best case scenario. But I mean, he’s a giant who clearly has real power. Feel free to keep an eye on him, but not sure there is much here.

Jonathon Long – CHI, 1B, 23.2 – I pulled a rabbit out of my hat with Long as a deep FYPD sleeper last year who went bonkos in 2024, and while he didn’t have a great game, he keeps on proving the bat is real. He went 0 for 2 with a walk, but those 2 outs were hit damn hard. One he crushed at 107.5 MPH for a lineout and the other was a 92.7 MPH flyout (not as impressive). But point being, the guy can hit the ball hard. I don’t see a path to playing time, and he’s the type that is going to have to absolutely kick the door down, probably in his mid 20’s, so he’s still only a deeper league guy.

Hye-seong Kim – LAD, 2B, 26.2 – Bet against the Dodgers development at your own risk. I already like Kim as a low key target, trusting the Dodgers to get the most out of his development, and then I read this article that is just gushing with praise about him out of Dodgers camp. He apparently loves to brag about his extremely low body fat percentage, but why do I have the feeling that 6 months in America is going to change that. hah … or maybe not if Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has anything to say about it 😉 Either way, maybe a smash burger or two won’t do him so bad to get those EV’s up. The article talks about changing his bat path to get to more power, adding EV, and how his glove his straight elite. He went 0 for 1 with a 49.4 MPH groundout, so I guess he can only go up from here. You know, it’s a process. He ranked 408th overall in my Top 1,000 2025 Dynasty Baseball Rankings (Patreon).

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