I’m going to be running down all of the latest happenings in the dynasty baseball world every Monday morning (check out my Patreon for a ton more of this content all week). Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/22/21):

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Shohei Ohtani LAA, RHP/DH, 26.9 – Just another average day for Ohtani where he went 2 for 2 with a walk at the dish, and went 4 IP with 2 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/2 K/BB on the mound. Ho hum.

Julio Rodriguez SEA, OF, 20.3/Jarred Kelenic SEA, OF, 21.8 – Rodriguez and Kelenic both went deep (a sentence that is going to be music to Mariners fans ears for years to come), and both are ripping up spring pitching (1.035 OPS for Rodgiguez and 1.212 OPS for Kelenic).

Freddy Peralta MIL, Setup, 24.10 – Peralta sure looks ready for a rotation spot, going 4.2 IP with 5 hits, 1 ER, and a 5/1 K/BB on 85 pitches. There was a bidding war for him that skyrocketed his price in my auction league on Saturday, so the buy window may already be closed.

Trevor Rogers MIA, LHP, 23.5 – Another excellent outing (5 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 6/1 K/BB) as he averaged 94.6 MPH on the fastball and put up a 33% whiff% (50% whiff% on the slider). He’s been a strikeout machine this spring with a 19/4 K/BB in 13.1 IP. I mentioned it in my Patreon Rundown for his last outing, but I’ve been high on Rogers since he was drafted and continued to be this off-season by ranking him 84th overall on my top 100. The hype is in overdrive now, so hope you were able to get in early.

Jazz Chisholm MIA, SS, 23.2 – Chishom is another Marlins prospects I was high on this off-season, and he showed off his power yesterday with a 415 foot, 109.8 MPH homer off Enoli Paredes. He’s out hit Isan Diaz easily this spring (.871 OPS vs. .499 OPS), but it seems like the Marlins want Diaz to win the job, so Chisholm may be sent down regardless.

William Contreras ATL, C, 23.3 – Knocked his first homer of the Spring and is now 3 for 12 with a 4/5 K/BB. He’s not ready to concede the starting catcher job of the future to Shea Langeliers, and ultimately we could be looking at a timeshare for years to come if one isn’t traded.

Matt Manning DET, RHP, 23.3 – 2 IP with 3 hits, 2 earned and a 2/2/ K/BB. He couldn’t maintain the 95.6 MPH fastball velocity he showed in his last outing, sitting 92.7 MPH yesterday.

Akil Baddoo DET, OF, 22.7 – Make it #4 for Baddoo on a 104 MPH blast off Chase Anderson. He also stole his 2nd base of the spring. He might not even be next man up in Detroit’s OF with Victor Reyes ahead of him, but he’s put himself back on the map to say the least.

Jeremy Pena HOU, SS, 23.6 – Got ahold of his 2nd spring homer on a 104.5 MPH bomb off Trevor Rogers. The more he shows off that power the more his stock will rise.

Trevor Larnach MIN, OF, 24.1 – Launched his first dinger of the spring in 8 at-bats. He’s been the forgotten Twin with Kirilloff and Rooker getting all the attention recently.

Ryan Mountcastle BAL, OF/1B, 24.1 – Mountcastle is heating up with a homer in back to back games and now has 3 overall. He has still yet to walk with a higher BA than OBP (.250 vs. .243), and the 7.9% mark he put up in the majors was the highest of his career, so it will be interesting to see if that number regresses a bit in 2021.

Ke’Bryan Hayes PIT, 3B, 24.2 – He’s yet to cool off from 2020, as Hayes ripped his 2nd triple and is now slashing .441/.486/.824 with 1 homer, 2 steals, and a 4/3 K/BB.

Carlos Rodon CHW, LHP, 28.4 – Is running away with the 5th starter job as Rodon pitched well again, going 4 IP with 1 hit, 0 ER, and a 5/0 K/BB (Reynaldo Lopez got hit up for 4 ER with 1 K in 3 IP). He averaged 93.9 MPH on the fastball which is the hardest he has thrown since 2016. He’s put himself on the map as a late round flier.

David Bote CHC, 2B/3B, 28.0 – Bote is one of my favorite part time players in the league, and he went deep twice yesterday to continue his dominant spring (1.212 OPS).

Keibert Ruiz LAD, C, 22.8 – 2 for 2 with 0 K’s yesterday and is now 4 for 4 with 0 K’s on the spring. Ruiz has shown a special ability to hit since he stepped foot on a professional baseball field.

Tony Gonsolin LAD, RHP, 26.11 – Gave up a couple dingers to sully his pitching line (4.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER), but the 5/0 K/BB was on point. He’s looked great this spring with a pitching line of 2.61/0.39/12/0 in 10.1 IP. I’m high on him even without a rotation spot, but if he had one, I would be all over him.

Oscar Mercado CLE, OF, 26.4 – Sent down to the alt site in a surprising move (I wasn’t all that high on him to begin with at 341), which opens the door for a possible timeshare with Bradley Zimmer and Amed Rosario. Zimmer went 1 for 3 with a double, walk, and a strikeout yesterday. The batting average might tank you (.224 career BA), but he has a fantasy friendly speed/power combo. Rosario will have to improve his defense to get an extended shot.

Ian Anderson ATL, RHP, 22.11 – He didn’t pitch yesterday, but he impressed in his start on Friday with 9 K’s in 4.1 IP. That gives him 18 K’s in 9.2 IP on the spring as he has consistently induced swinging strikes with his elite ability to tunnel his pitches.

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

I’m going to be running down all of the latest happenings in the dynasty baseball world every Monday morning (check out my Patreon for a ton more of this content all week). Here is the Monday Morning Dynasty Baseball Rundown (3/15/21):

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

Byron Buxton MIN, OF, 27.3 – Cracking his tooth on a steak wasn’t in vain, as eating all that protein is starting to pay off with Buxton jacking a 111.4 MPH homer yesterday, and is definitely looking a little more built up to my eye. The plate approach and how much he runs are still questions, but the power looks unquestioned as he gets deeper into his 20’s.

Alex Kirilloff MIN, 1B/OF, 23.5/Brent RookerMIN, OF, 26.5 – The competition is heating up for the LF job. Kirilloff launched a 420 foot lefty on lefty homer to dead center for his first spring homer on Thursday, and Rooker counter struck with a 3 for 3 day with a double and 0 K’s yesterday. Minnesota is a very smart team who understands the value of depth, so while great for real life, not so much for fantasy.

Tyler O’Neill STL, OF, 25.9 – Tyler O’Neill was one of the first players I ever wrote a sleeper post for in February 2016, and when I did, I did not expect for him to still be a sleeper in 2021! But here we are, and he is. O’Neill went 3 for 3 with a double and 0 K’s yesterday and is now hitting .476 with 2 homers and 5 K’s in 21 at-bats. He looks locked into a starting job. I told you he was a sleeper in 2016, and there is still time to buy! 😉

Lance McCullers Jr. HOU, RHP, 27.7 – Some of the best value in dynasty drafts/trades comes from targeting talented, established MLB pitchers who are out with Tommy John surgery. I was high on McCullers coming into last season, and it paid off in 2020 with a solid season. He could take it to another level in 2021, as McCullers looked excellent yesterday, going 4 IP with 3 hits and a 6/0 K/BB. Luis Severino is the player to target this season that fits that category, and he just got positive reviews in his 1st bullpen session post Tommy John (Sale and Thor are good targets too).

Carlos Martinez STL, RHP, 29.6 – Velocity was down early in spring, so it was great to see it back up at 93.9 MPH. The results weren’t great with 5 hits, 1 BB, 2 ER, and 3 K’s in 4 IP, but the stuff ticking up is the more important takeaway.

Alek Manoah TOR, RHP, 23.3 – Manoah couldn’t have been happy with his relative lack of prospect hype, so he went out and struck out 7 Yankees in a row en route to 3 perfect innings. The fastball averaged 95.3 MPH and he showed off some nasty secondary pitches (slider, change).

 Simeon Woods Richardson TOR, RHP – Richardson followed up Manoah’s performance with 3 excellent innings of his own, giving up 2 hits with a 3/0 K/BB. He doesn’t have the eye popping fastball (92.4 MPH), but the man knows how to pitch.

Odubel Herrera PHI, OF, 29.3 – Continues to make his claim for the CF job with a 444 foot blast at 105.8 MPH. Mickey Moniak did his best to keep pace with another double, while Scott Kingery continued to struggle with an 0 for 3 day.

Shea Langeliers ATL, C, 23.5 – Drafted 9th overall in 2019 for his plus defense, Langeliers showed off some offense with his first homer and 2nd hit of the spring in 11 at bats. Most of his fantasy value stems from the fact he is a lock to stick behind the plate and is the likely catcher of the future in Atlanta.

Dean Kremer BAL, RHP, 25.3 – I’ve been recommending to take a shot on Dean Kremer late in drafts (obviously “late in drafts” is relative to league size), and he is becoming more and more attractive with his fastball velocity averaging 94.1 MPH yesterday, which is a 1.3 MPH bump from last season. He went 3 IP with 1 ER, 3 hits and a 4/2 K/BB.

Tejay Antone CIN, RHP, 27.4 – Left the game with an injury, putting a screeching halt to the hype train for a few moments, but it turned out to be a mild groin strain and he is hoping to be able to make his next scheduled start.

Yusei Kikuchi SEA, LHP, 29.8 – Went 3.1 IP with 0 ER, 2 hits, 1 BB, and 6 K’s. Heater sat mid 90’s and the slider was on point. He’s an obvious breakout/sleeper pick with his 3.51 xERA in 2020 looking much better than his 5.17 ERA.

Bobby Witt Jr. KC, SS, 20.10 – The coming out party is in full force with Witt ripping a deep pull side homer off Julio Urias. He’s now 11 for 32 with 3 homers and an 8/4 K/BB on the spring. Any reasonable buy window that was available has been slammed shut.

Brady Singer KC, RHP, 24.9 – The buy window for another Royal might still be open, as Singer went 4 IP with 1 ER, 4 hits, and a 6/1 K/BB. He had a solid MLB debut on the back of his plus sinker/slider combo, and a continually improving changeup could take his game to the next level.

Gavin Lux LAD, 2B, 23.4 – Lux’s push for the starting 2B job is going quite well with a 2 for 2 day. He is now hitting .381, although it comes with 0 walks and only one extra base hit. Maybe it is better that he is not going absolutely ham, as he could still be had at a reasonable cost.

Luis Campusano SD, C, 22.6 – Could work his way into an expanded role to start the year after Austin Nola fractured the ring finger on his left hand. He’s been rock solid this spring going 5 for 16 with a 4/2 K/BB.

CJ Abrams SD, SS, 20.6 – Sliced an impressive homer to left centerfield that didn’t happen yesterday, but was just too good not to mention. He hasn’t gone all Bobby Witt on us this spring (7 for 27), but has had some really eye opening moments.

Kohei Arihara TEX, RHP, 28.8 – After getting blown up in his first start, Arihara settled down in his last 2, going 4 IP with 2 hits, 0 ER, and a 3/0 K/BB yesterday. The strikeouts won’t be there (5 K’s in 9 IP), so it puts a ton of pressure on the ratios to help your fantasy team.

Tyler Soderstrom OAK, C, 19.4 – Picked up another hit and is now 3 for 6 with 2 doubles. The reports about his mature bat at the alt site do not seem to be overstated as he is off to a strong start this spring as well.

Bubba Thompson TEX, OF, 22.10 – Knocked a dinger for his first hit of the spring in 6 at-bats. He was a former favorite of mine who hasn’t been able to turn his elite athleticism into refined baseball skills. He’s moved into the watchlist category, because the talent is too good to ignore if he starts to figure it out in his mid 20’s.

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

Baseball is back, and I’m going to be running down all the latest happenings in the prospect and dynasty baseball world all season long. Here is the Dynasty Baseball Rundown: 3/5/21:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

Jarren Duran BOS, OF – Duran is not messing around, crushing another homer and double, bringing his Spring line up to 5 for 10 with 2 homers and a 2/1 K/BB. Love to see all the 2020 alt camp hype materializing into a great start to 2021.

Bobby Dalbec BOS, 1B – 0 for 2 with 2 K’s and a walk. That batting average has the potential to tank your team BA, so either plan accordingly, or lean into it and punt the category completely (I rarely go to the extreme of completely punting categories, except maybe occasionally in head to head leagues).

Tanner Houck BOS, RHP – Lit up for 3 earned with 5 walks, 2 hits and 0 K’s in 0.2 IP. He was working on incorporating his relatively new splitter, and the fastball reached 95 MPH. Only real negative takeaway is that his control continues to be an issue, as he has relatively high walk rates throughout his pro career and he walked 9 in 17 IP in his MLB debut.

Dean Kremer BAL, RHP – Kremer was another lightly hyped pitching prospect who had a solid MLB debut in 2020, and like Houck, he also got lit up yesterday (3 ER, 3 hits, 2 walks, 1 K in 1.2 IP). Struggling with his control was his main issue as well.

Cedric Mullins BAL, OF – I’m absolutely loving the Mullins vs. Hayes CF battle. They are going blow for blow, and yesterday it was Mullins turn as he went 1 for 3 with a double.

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

Baseball is back, and I’m going to be running down all the latest happenings in the prospect and dynasty baseball world all season long. Here is the Dynasty Baseball Rundown: 3/4/21:

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

Wander Franco TB, SS – Hit the shot heard round the world, blasting a pull side homer that seemed like it never landed. That kind of raw power is what makes me confident that the power surge is coming. He tacked on another single later in the day, finishing 2 for 3 with 0 K’s.

Jarred Kelenic SEA, OF – Not to be outdone by Franco, soon after Kelenic rocked a homer of his own to deep center field that just barely cleared the wall.

Alek Manoah TOR, RHP – Manoah hasn’t gotten as much hype as other pitchers from his draft class, but that might start to change if he keeps doing what he did yesterday. He went 2 IP with 4 K’s and 1 hit. The fastball reached 97.8 MPH and was sitting between 95-98 MPH. Considering his stuff, he is still coming at a reasonable value.

 Simeon Woods Richardson TOR, RHP – 2 IP with 1 BB and 1 K. The strikeout was a 3 pitch K of Giancarlo Stanton. He looked as advertised, showing off the potential for 4 quality pitches and a fastball that sat about 92 MPH.

Tejay Antone CIN, RHP – Backed up his 2020 breakout in the early going by pitching 2 innings with 1 hit and a 5/0 K/BB. He uncorked some knee buckling curves. His ultimate role is still unknown, but it doesn’t matter, just draft this guy and let the rest work itself out.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN MY PATREON FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AND UP TO DAILY WEEKDAY CONTENT THROUGHOUT THE SEASON, INCLUDING ARTICLES, PODCASTS, RANKINGS, AND OTHER COOL STUFF I THINK UP ALONG THE WAY

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