Aaron Blair, Atlanta Braves - Aaron Blair tossed his first two innings of spring training over the weekend and saw some mixed results allowing three hits and a run over his two innings. After the game he said he had trouble locating his fastball in the outing, which is key for Blair to be effective without and overpowering arsenal of pitches. His fastball last season horrific according to Fangraphs pitch values at -17.2 runs below average. An interesting aspect to Blair though is he actually said he's incorporated a slider into his pitch mix after being a fastball/changeup/curveball pitcher last season. He's in competition for the #5 job in the rotation and one of the other candidates (and arguably the front runner) Mike Foltynewicz makes his spring debut on Tuesday.
Julio Teheran, Atlanta Braves - Julio Teheran threw two scoreless innings Sunday allowing no runs and recording both one strikeout and walk. Julio is coming off an underrated fantasy season as he posted a career low BB/9 and the second highest K/9 of his career with a 3.21 ERA. He may have been a bit lucky on the ERA as his FIP was up in the mid-threes, but the good ERA luck was offset by his horrible win luck notching only seven on the season. He posted a low BABIP against him, but he's had a relatively low BABIP for his entire career so it being SUCH an outlier doesn't worry me much. He's projected as SP 49 in our software.
Ozzie Albies, Atlanta Braves - Ozzie Albies is reportedly getting close to returning to game action after fracturing his elbow during a swing in the minor league playoffs last season. Albies comes into the spring behind newly acquired 2B Brandon Phillips, but once he is deemed ready by the Braves' front office he'll be up and inserted into the lineup for good. Albies profiles as a high average, top of the lineup kind of bat with the upside in steals to possibly swipe 30 in his best seasons. He's got little to no homerun power but could still be a nice fantasy option over a full season. I'd be we see him in Atlanta this season, but when is a question I don't think anyone can honestly answer.
Kevin Kiermiaer, Tampa Bay Rays - Kevin Kiermaier is off to a slow start this spring but he's a nice sleeper(?) candidate at the position after posting really solid numbers in a 105 games last season. While missing time due to injury, he still hit 12 homers and swiped 21 bags which gets overshadowed because (rightfully so) all the attention for him goes to his defense. His hard hit rate jumped by 7% and his pull rate jumped by 9% and the two combined can lead to more power. His year over last season projects to about a 20 HR 30 SB campaign and that's extremely useful for the price that you're going to pay for him.
Tim Beckham, Tampa Bay Rays - The man without a position Tim Beckham is off to a sizzling start to the springs going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a triple in two games thus far. We all know the story about the former #1 overall pick who hasn't developed into the five tool stud the Rays had hoped but he's carving his niche as a solid utility man. Unfortunately, with Matt Duffy penciled in at SS and Brad Miller going to play 2B he has not route to consistent at bats but with an injury he's still an interesting deep leagues guy because he still has that toolset showing both some pop and speed throughout the minors and the major leagues.
Manny Machado, Baltimore Orioles - Manny Machado's spring has started slow with one lone hit, a homer, in eight at bats. Even with Machado's incredible 2016 campaign, there's actually a large amount of room for growth going into 2017. We could see his RBI take a huge jump depending on where he hits in the lineup and it anyone can get on base in front of him. Also, if he goes back to stealing bases at all he could easily become a top three player in fantasy. He doesn't even have to get back to 20 steals like he had in 2015 but rather if he can just reach double digit steals along with potentially 40 homers, 100 RBI, and a .300 average.... There aren't many people who can approach that stat line.
Cody Bellinger, Los Angeles Dodgers - Dodgers top prospect Cody Bellinger has just one hit through his first eight at bats, but man oh man did the one turn heads. The lefty showed off his huge power potential with an absolutely moonshot far beyond the RF fence. We know Bellinger's pedigree, but where will he get at bats? He's been mostly a first baseman through the minors but the Dodgers have said they are going to play him at all three outfield spots this spring in addition to getting reps at first. It seems like they will find him a spot whenever he's ready with is good for fantasy purposes. For fantasy potential he's one of the best pure hitters in the minors and could make a serious impact when he gets called up.
Marcus Stroman, Toronto Blue Jays - Marcus Stroman had as good a debut as possible striking out three batters in his two innings on the mound. He's a pitcher I'm targeting in leagues because I love his pitching profile with his lack of walks, solid K/9 numbers, and fantastic groundball rate. The downside with his GB% being so high is that the BABIP gods are always going to have their hands in his numbers meddling around with things. One number that gives me excitement about him too is that he has a 69% career strand rate and he's too good a pitcher to have that not begin to regress in the positive direction. Right now he's being drafted in the 15th round with the likes of Kevin Gausman and Lance McCullers and I think he's a much surer bet than both of those too, with upside similar to the to boot.
Tyrell Jenkins, San Diego Padres - Tyrell Jenkins tossed two shutout innings for the Padres in his spring debut while walking and striking out one. Jenkins was a member of multiple organizations this summer after being dealt from the Braves to the Rangers before being DFA'd by the Rangers. Ultimately he ended up in San Diego and it may work out the best for him as the starting rotation is an absolute mess. He had been relegated to the bullpen in Atlanta but doesn't have quite the stuff to play up to high leverage situations. The main issue for Jenkins in the majors has been the fact that he's walked more batters than he's struck out. If he can get that under control we may have a NL only option, but until then he's best left on waivers everywhere.
Jason Heyward, Chicago Cubs - Joe Maddon is apparently "impressed" with Jason Heyward's offseason work despite it not translating into any success thus far for the right fielder. Heyward's struggles are well known last season and it's honestly pushing him into the area where I'll draft him and hope for a bounce back. He was plagued by a horrible BABIP of .266 which is 40 points below his career average which can be attributed to him getting fly ball happy again after turning into more of a ground ball/line drive hitter in his year with the Cardinals. While getting FB happy with the Cubs and making contact at similar rates in his previous seasons, his HR/FB% was only 5% and HAS to jump up this season. Right now he's going in the 28th round according to Fantistic's ADP. He'd have to be borderline DFA material to not provide a return on your investment.
Bryce Harper, Washington Nationals - Bryce Harper has a pair of hits this spring including a homer he crushed off lefty Sean Gilmartin in his first at bat of the spring. Harper's 2016 was disappointing considering where we were drafting him last spring but seeing the stolen bases creep back into Harper's game was nice for owners to see. Harper saw his BABIP plummet by .100 points while his soft contact rate jumped by 8% so the two can possibly be attributed to each other. While his FB% went up by a modest 3%, his HR/FB% dropped by 13%. I like Harper to rebound nicely this season and I hope he can keep the steals because that's just icing on the cake for him.
Makiel Franco, Philadelphia Phillies - Makiel Franco is the Grapefruit League MVP so far this year with three homers and four RBI in his first five at bats. Franco launched 25 homers last season and drove in 88 in his semi breakout last year but it looks like he may just be getting started. He's currently the 17th third baseman off the board in the 14th round and I'd jump all over that if I don't get someone of the Kris Bryant, Manny Machado type tier.
Javier Baez, Chicago Cubs - Javy Baez is looking to get himself on the field full time somewhere with some excellent defensive plays at 2B and starting his spring going .500 at the plate. Baez could go from very valuable to very little value really quickly depending on how the playing time breaks down with him. With Addison Russell entrenched at SS and Joe Maddon says he thinks Kyle Schwarber can play 140 games that leaves Ben Zobrist and Baez to share 2B. I suppose that Jason Heyward repeating last year could let Zobrist gets some reps in RF but I think Heyward hits well enough that you can keep him in the lineup for his excellent defense. When he's currently going in the same round as Makiel Franco and Miguel Sano, he's third in that trio for me just because of the playing time questions.
Dylan Cozens, Philadelphia Phillies - Dylan Cozens' power has been talked about a ton as he swatted 40 homers last year to lead all of the minor leagues, but his ability to steal bases I don't think has been discussed enough. Fangraphs' prospect rankings only has him as a 45 runner on the 20-80 scale, so he may just be a really good baserunner. He's swiped 21 bases in the minors last year on 22 attempts and already has stolen two bases this spring. So what's the downside to Cozens then? Strikeouts. Lots and lots of strikeouts. Chris Carter level strikeouts to be exact. It'll be up t him to cut down on those if he wants to be truly an everyday player at the big league level.
Gregory Polanco, Pittsbugh Pirates - I've been on board the Gregory Polanco Hype train ever since he was first called up and we are moving full steam ahead for this season. He's notched three hits in five at bats so far and has three stolen bases. Polanco saw his homers jump from 9 to 22 in 2015-16 but saw his SB numbers take a step back for 27-17. His triple slash was eerily similar from 15-16 except for a natural jump in slugging that came with the homerun increase. Polanco is currently coming off the board in the 7th round and he has absolute superstar potential once everything completely clicks.
Byron Buxton, Minnesota Twins - Byron Buxton might be hitting atop the Twins lineup in 2017 and that could be huge for his fantasy value, at the expense of his RBI total. If his last month of the season was true, he could easily be a four category stud this season and Fantistic's ADP has him in the 18th round but I'd be extremely surprised to see him last that long in any drafts based on the hype he's getting at the moment. He's 2-for-5 this spring with a pair of doubles and a steal so far.
