Preseason Prep March 17th

Andrelton Simmons - Simmons turned in a huge day at the plate Saturday launching his first homer of the spring while going 3-for-3 on the day. Simmons was terrible last year (worse than the player formerly known as BJ Upton by advanced metrics) but he is just two years out from a 17 homerun season. Simmons' calling card is his ability to make contact, and if he can cut down on his pop-ups and level more swings out there's no reason he shouldn't be able to reach double digit homers again this year.

Wandy Rodriguez - It's just spring training but it appears lighting may have struck twice for the Braves after the Aaron Harang experiment last season. He owns a 1.13 ERA over 8 innings but has walked and struck out five batters each. He's pitched extremely well since his first inning of his first start, and with the less than stellar performances from the other fifth spot candidates Rodriguez has to be thought of as the front runner for the fourth spot (While Minor is out) in the Braves rotation.

Carlos Correa - Correa, the Astros top farmhand, turned in a 2-for-4 performance against the Nationals Monday and has held his own considering his age with a .250 AVG and .583 OPS. Correa has no chance to make the roster out of spring training, but he could see his debut as a September callup this year. Arguably the top shortstop prospect in the game (I say he is) has only Jed Lowrie blocking his at the position, and only Luis Valbuena currently at 3B if he grows off the position. He's a career .308 hitter through the minors and has a nice blend of power and speed in a Manny Machado type skill set.

Mark Appel - Appel returned to the mound Monday after missing his last scheduled start with forearm tightness. He threw two innings and all reports came back that he felt great, excellent news considering the outbreak of UCL tears that seem to be going from camp-to-camp in the Grapefruit League. Last season in AA Appel posted a near 9 K/9 while seeing his HR/9 plummet to 0.46 after being near 2.00 in his time in High-A. Outside of his 5.0 innings pitched in his debut season, Appel's 2.99 FIP was the lowest total of his career, down from the 5.32 in has in High-A. Appel is a concensus top 50 prospect in baseball and like Correa will probably see his debut at some point in late 2015.

Corey Kluber - In news we all saw coming Kluber has been announced as the starting pitcher for the Indians against the Twins on opening day. Kluber, coming of his Cy Young winning campaign, has thrown just three innings this spring after throwing 235.3 innings last year. Those 200+ innings were more than he has thrown in any of his first three MLB season combined. However, Kluber was so dominant (Hence the Cy Young Season) that even with such an extreme jump in innings, drafted him among the top ten starters of the game should be the gameplan. Every peripheral, and I mean every, jumped for Kluber from 2013-to-14 and while he an excellent candidate for some regression, he likely will still be an ace for fantasy staffs in 2015.

Fransisco Lindor - Lindor hit his first homerun in Cactus League play Monday with an inside-the-park homer. The Indians top prospect his hitting .292 in 11 games, but is destined to begin the year in AAA with Jose Ramirez being the starter on opening day. Lindor likely will be a midseason call-up, as he would likely be competing for the starting job if Ramirez wasn't a competent shortstop option in his own part. Lindor has a solid overall skillset, but most of his "real" value comes from his defense which doesn't necessarily matter to fantasy owners. When he gets the call, at best he'll hit for a fairly empty average with some stolen base and run upside depending on where he hits in the lineup.

Zack Wheeler - It strikes again... Wheeler learned Monday that he will miss all of the 2015 season with Tommy John Surgery after MRIs revealed a torn UCL in his right elbow. Wheeler has excellent strikeout potential but his combination of: throwing hard+bad command+few innings ultimately was too much for his elbow to handle. Dillon Gee, who was possibly a trade candidate for the Mets now will likely be one of their five starters in their initial rotation when they break camp.

Matt Harvey, New York Mets - In positive Mets' news Matt Harvey looked great once again on Monday. He threw 35 of his 53 pitches for strikes but saw a slight decrease in his fastball velocity to 98 after hitting 99 MPH in his first action of the spring (sarcasm font). Leagues that drafted very early in the spring have Harvey owners extremely happy as he likely went at a deep discount compared to his value in leagues drafting now. An innings limit is still to be expected for Harvey, but the Mets Front Office already said that they won't Strasburg him if they are in the playoff hunt since he is 18 months out from having the surgery completed.

Cliff Lee - You probably shouldn't have been drafting Lee anyways, and now you definitely aren't drafting Lee in any format. Lee was placed on the 60-day DL and is going to try to rehab his elbow instead of opting for the surgery that could possibly end his career. A hodge-podge of players including Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Kevin Slowey, Paul Clemens, and a recovering from elbow surgery Chad Billingsly are candidates to replace Lee in the rotation but it's now official you aren't drafting any Phillies pitchers besides Hamels, Paplebon, and Giles.

Joe Kelly - The 2015 Cy Young Award winner Joe Kelly left Monday's start with bicep tightness that left him unable to through anything other than a fastball. It's unsure how long Kelly will have to get shutdown for, but the Sox's training staff doesn't believe that it will last very long. Kelly has been roughed up this spring allowing nine runs in 7.1 innings but does have an excellent eight to one stirkout to walk ratio. The injuries have to make the team a little weary as he last missed three months last year with a hamstring injury, so we will have to monitor the situation as spring comes to a close.

Tony Cingrani - Cingrani will pitch from the bullpen to start 2015, zapping essentially any fantasy value from the lefty in one fell swoop. Even with three empty spots in the rotation, the Reds still elected to move Cingrani to the pen for this season. He does have a very high strikeout potential which was part of why he was such an intriguing sleeper coming into this season. But alas, without the potential to rack up innings or the potential to notch some saves, Cingrani can be left undrafted or dropped in leagues that have already drafted.

Miguel Sano - Sano was optioned to AA Monday after hitting a pair of homeruns in his action in spring training. All reports were good on Sano health-wise this spring as he is recovering from Tommy John Surgery that ended his season in spring training last season. In 2013, Sano launched 35 homers in 123 games across two levels, proving himself as one of the top power prospects in the game. The Twins have not ruled out a possible debut for Sano this year, so owners can keep tabs one him over the first have of the season to potentially add him if a debut if coming up.

Kris Bryant- Time for your daily Kris Bryant update: Bryant doubled off the right field wall Monday, playing DH to give his fatigued shoulder a rest. Despite his six homeruns and .435 average we are still all expecting Bryant to begin the year in the minors for at least the first few weeks to remove the Super Two tag from him. Mike Olt will more than likely break North with the team for the beginning of the season and will do his best to keep the seat warm for the most anticipated debut of 2015.

Matt Kemp - I was watching this game yesterday and saw Matt Kemp hit a baseball where baseballs shouldn't be able to fly to... Kemp is looking to build off his MVP-like second half of 2014 where he hit 17 homers with a .304 average. He is likely to hit right in the middle of the revamped Padres and should have some RBI potential. His power numbers may see a slight dip from the second half of 2014 pace as Petco is not exactly hitter friendly and he no longer steals bases like he did early in his career, but he appears healthy and with that he can crack the top 20 outfield rankings for 2015.

Joe Nathan - The over under on Nathan losing his job is now set at May 7th, place you bets. There's no way that Nathan holds on to this job for long, and there are some talented relievers in that same pen ready to step in and handle the ninth. Joakim Soria is one of the top options to replace him with some looming sleepers being Al Alburquerue and the long but not forgotten Bruce Rondon. Presonally I'd love to see what Rondon could do when given the reigns, as we never got to see what he could do before due to injury and his in-ability to throw strikes but Soria is obviously the number two option in this bullpen and probably the guy you need to be drafting anyways.

Anthony Gose - Gose has had a great spring training and looks like he has the centerfield job in Detroit all but secured. Acquired from the Blue Jays for Devon Travis this offseason, Gose is hitting .464 with 6 RBI and four steals in just ten games. If he does finish strong and crack the opening day lineup, he could have some real value as he will likely see a huge jump in runs at the top of the lineup in front of Miguel Cabrera and company. Towards the bottom of the lineup though he would be less valueable, but definitely still worth a flier late in drafts for his upside in three of five standard categories.

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