Sandy Alcantara (SP - MIA) - Alcantara returned to the mound for the first time since 9/23 on Sunday, touching 99 mph repeatedly during his 1 scoreless inning against the Mets. By all accounts, the Marlins ace looked like his typical self during the outing, and if that's the case, his current ADP of SP #50 in round 14 seems drastically lower than I would value him. I'd be happy with Alcantara as my SP3 in 12-team formats this season, and I think it's very possible that he performs even better than that. He is well above average in GB%, BB rate, and swinging strike%, and despite typically posting lower than average K rates pretty consistently, I still think that there's some upside there from what he showed us in his subpar 2023. I expect him to be one of my most highly-owned players this season if his current value holds.
Alex Bregman (3B - BOS) - Bregman went 3-3 with a double and a HR in his first action with the Red Sox, showcasing what many hope will be an affinity with the Green Monster in left by knocking one ball off of it and one over it during his debut. Bregman does have the flyball/pull tendencies to take advantage of the home park situation, and despite the short porch of the Crawford boxes in Houston, Fenway is expected to add a bit to Bregman's offensive production (think 4-5%, but focused more on XBH than HR). Bregman has often been overrated over the past 5 years due to the strength of his 2018-19 seasons, but I think that the pendulum may have swung back in the other direction a bit too much by now. He's currently being drafted 12th among 3B around the round 11/12 turn, but we feel that he's a solid choice 2-3 rounds earlier than that as a clear top-10 option at the position.
Jasson Dominguez (OF - NYY) - Dominguez had a couple of misplays in the "sun field" in left on Sunday, and with the Yanks hoping to commit to an everyday OF of Dominguez/Bellinger/Judge, that's a bit worrisome. Aaron Boone, as is his wont, is downplaying any early struggles from the 22 year old, and I do believe that he will end up out there to being the season. I expected Dominguez to be wildly overvalued this spring, but as a 13th-rounder on average so far (and OF36), I think his value is pretty close to where I have him thus far. The ceiling here is enormous: he has very good power and speed, and he isn't that much worse than average in terms of contact ability. The solid Yankee lineup gives him good counting stat potential, and the commitment from the team seems to be there. A 20/20 season is very possible, and for a player being drafted as a low-end OF3/high-end OF4, that seems like a solid return. I'm a bit more of a buyer than expected at this point.
Jung Hoo Lee (OF - SF) - Lee looked fully recovered from last year's torn labrum in his initial Cactus league action on Saturday, lining a single in 3 trips and making a nice defensive play on a similar ball to the one he was injured on last season. With only 37 MLB games to go on, the 26 year old is still a bit of an unknown commodity, but the contact ability looks to be excellent, while the power and speed are both at least average. A 12/12 season with a decent AVG would seem to be well within his capabilities, and the Giants appear to be committed to having Lee bat somewhere near the top of the lineup. Currently OF58 via ADP, I like him a half-dozen spots higher than that right now.
Kenta Maeda (SP - DET) - Who knows if there's actually going to be a spot available for him at this point, but after a dismal 2024, Kenta Maeda showed up to spring training this season throwing harder than he ever has before. He tossed 2 perfect innings with 4 K's in his Grapefruit League debut, averaging 92.4 with his fastball, higher than any seasonal average in his 8-year career. Maeda will turn 37 shortly after the season starts and the Tigers have a full stable of arms vying for rotation spots, but Maeda is only 2 seasons removed from a 1.17 WHIP and over 10 K/9....he looks like a reasonable deep-league flyer to me despite being, at best, 6th on the depth chart for the Tiger rotation right now.
Lars Nootbaar (OF - STL) - I have to echo what Jeremy said last week: Lars Nootbaar is one of my top targets to fill out my OF this spring. Currently the 65th OF drafted via ADP, we have him forecast as a top-40 player at the position. With well above average exit velocity and elite strike zone discipline, Nootbaar drastically underperformed his peripherals last season, making it look like he actually regressed a bit. The speed is merely average, but in terms of contact and power I expect significantly more than we've seen thus far from him. A 20/10 season with a solid AVG seems very doable, and he can be obtained past round 20 much of the time so far this spring.
Shane McClanahan (SP - TB) - McClanahan was 97-98 with his fastball in his first live BP, and he does indeed appear to be on track to start on Opening Day for the Rays. Much like fellow TJ survivor Sandy Alcantara, McClanahan appears to be a bit overlooked this spring. Both pitchers are expected to have a full season, and both were SP1's before their injuries. For them to be toward the bottom of the top-50 SPs in draft position right now seems like a drastic overreaction, and I'd be happy to gamble on both from what I've seen so far this spring.
Vinnie Pasquantino (1B - KC) - The Pasquatch is one of my favorite early-round players that's undervalued this spring. The higher up the board you go, the harder it is to find players that are substantially undervalued, but I feel that Pasquantino (1B11, rd 10) is going multiple rounds too late for a hitter of his caliber. Well above-average power potential combined with contact ability that is second probably to only Luis Arraez at the position. He was on a 23-24 HR pace in his first full season with KC before a thumb injury cost him the last 25-30 games of the season, and he is doing this with a swinging strike% that is under 6. Now entering his age-27 season, I think a 25-30 HR season with a solid AVG is very likely. He might end up as my most-owned player at the position.
Cristopher Sanchez (SP - PHI) - Sanchez appeared undervalued for most of 2024, and that condition has persisted into this spring, as a guy that for me is a clear SP3/4 is being drafted 55th among SPs thus far in 2025. Sanchez was 3rd in GB% last season, he averaged nearly 6 innings per start, doesn't walk people, and pitches in front of a very solid offense. The only two negatives here are the K rate and the back-to-back sizable innings jumps of the past two seasons. Sanchez is an average bat-misser with a below average K rate, which is a combo that makes sense when you consider the huge GB rate. There's some upside here, but really, at his price, I'd be happy with a repeat performance of 2024.
Zebby Matthews/David Festa (SP - MIN) - I'll be watching the back-end of the Twins rotation with interest this spring, as the players that are projected to open the season in the rotation behind Lopez/Ryan/Ober (Paddack and Woods Richardson) are, in my mind, inferior to the next two guys in line (Matthews and Festa). The latter two have looked great in their first spring appearances, each throwing 2 shutout innings with 2 K's. Matthews showed a higher fastball velocity than he did at any point last year, touching 97.4, and Festa has added a 2-seamer to his 4-seamer, change, and slider. I likely won't touch Paddack or Woods Richardson with the proverbial 10-foot pole, but I would have interest in either Matthews or Festa if they break camp in the rotation.
Coby Mayo (3B - BAL) - Continuing with the theme of "if these guys get playing time, look out", Orioles GM Mike Elias has already stated that Mayo will get every chance to earn a spot with the O's this spring. There are a lot of mouths to feed here, which keeps him off the obvious sleeper list, but Mayo has excellent power for a 23 year old, and the LF fence coming in a bit again can only help any RH pull hitter like Mayo. With 25 HR in just 93 minor league games last season, Mayo clearly has well above average power, and it isn't just driven by a pull/flyball approach: he hit the hardest ball of spring training so far over the weekend. Showing off big-time pop while getting a vote of confidence from the GM is a good start to spring training for sure....keep an eye on him this spring, and if it looks like he's going to get a shot at the DH spot he is a very solid add in just about all formats as a cheap power source.
Logan Gilbert (SP - SEA) - The less dependent your league's format is on wins, the more you should consider Logan Gilbert to be your #1 SP. Gilbert has been as durable as any pitcher since breaking into the bigs 4 years ago, and he's continued to improve his control, his GB%, his ability to miss bats, and his exit velocity allowed in each of the past two seasons. The sad state of the Mariner infield caps his ceiling for traditional roto-style value, but in points leagues Gilbert is as good a bet as anyone to be the most valuable pitcher. The safety that he and Zack Wheeler provide at the top of a rotation is very appealing to me, as opposed to the undeniable talent but greater volatility of Skenes, Skubal, and the like.
Trea Turner (SS - PHI) - Turner is the one player that we feel people are reaching a bit too much for so far this spring. I get it: a clear 20/20 threat that typically hits for a high average, and he's in a likely top-5 offense. Add in that he's saying all of the right things about needing to be more patient at the plate (he had his lowest walk rate in 8 years last season, and his contact has dropped significantly from his years in WAS and LA), and that it appears that he may move back to the leadoff spot this year (he still ranked 23rd in MLB in sprint speed last year), and you have all of the ingredients for a huge bounceback season. There are some major red flags here that should give us pause though, starting with the swinging strike%. It averaged 9% during his 6 years in Washington. It's averaged 14% during his two years in Philly. A lot of that is his strike zone discipline, which is up about 10% since leaving Washington. His exit velocity is down, not a ton, but back down to around league average. The leg injuries (and his lineup position) have stopped him from running quite as much. All of these little things for a player that turns 32 this season, so we're leaving the peak years any minute now. I do think that there is plenty of upside with Turner, but I'm not sure that taking him at the 2/3 turn, which is where he is by ADP, is the safest strategy. It's pretty rare that you can win a fantasy league with your first few picks, but you can absolutely lose one. I prefer to be a little safer early on, and that's one thing Turner is definitely not.
Jonathan India (2B - KC) - I think that India could be a nice sleeper this year. He only has 2B eligibility for now, but he hit leadoff as the Royals LF in their spring opener, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him play a little 3B as well if they need, so he could have quite a bit of positional flexibility. His contact skills and strike-zone judgment are exemplary, and he has average speed and raw power as well as graded by his sprint speed and max EV. The Royal offense is roughly league average, so if India is hitting at the top of the lineup it is very possible that he's a 15/15 player with a solid average that could score 80 runs. That's probably a top-12 player at the position, and he's being taken outside of round 20 right now as 2B23. Lots of value there, I believe.
Joey Ortiz (3B/SS - MIL) - Ortiz is a guy that I don't mind waiting on to fill my MI in certain situations this spring. A 3B last season for Milwaukee, he'll be sliding over to SS with the departure of Willy Adames, and while the 26 year old doesn't possess better than average power, he has some speed to go along with very good plate discipline and contact skills. His ADP is in round 26 right now, and if he can hit for the better AVG that I expect in year 2 given his contact ability, a 15/15 season with a helping AVG could certainly be in the cards for a player currently viewed as a bit of an afterthought.
