Fantasy Relevance for the Dodgers deeper rotation options?
Baseball fans know that the Dodgers loaded up on starting pitching in the offseason adding 2-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell, Phenom Roki Sasaki and re-signing the legendary Clayton Kershaw. With Shohei Ohtani expected to take the mound this year and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow returning it's an electric top 5. That being said injuries always happen and the Dodgers have enough depth where their backup starting pitching options could be called upon. Lets take a quick look at some of the options.
Bobby Miller didn't record an out while allowing 3 baserunners before being hit in the head with a line drive in Thursday's Spring Opener. Miller insists he will be fine and should be throwing soon.The 25-year-old pitched often last year but not effectively as he pitched to a 8.52 ERA over 13 starts. Despite having a 4-seamer that avengers 97.8 mph that is actually down a bit from his 2023 debut when it touched 99. Opposing hitter teed off on it last year, slugging .663 vs it. Miller has struggled with walks throughout his minor league career as well. He has 2 minor league options remaining as well so could be an option to shuttle up and down if Sasaki or Ohtani aren't available to open the season.
Tony Gonsolin struck out 2 in a scoreless spring debut last week. It was a nice start for the Veteran after missing all of 2024 due to Tommy John Surgery. Gonsolin was a fantasy baseball hero in 2022 going 16-1 with a 2.14 ERA and a miniscule .8 HR/9. His 2023 before his surgery was marred by injuries as he wasn't quite as sharp as he turned in a 4.98 ERA and allowed 8 more HR in 27 less innings. He probably doesn't have the most electric stuff to be a big bullpen arm but might have the inside track to the 5th spot in the rotation to open the season for LA.
Landon Knack is another option; he allowed 1 ER in 1 inning following Gonsolin in last week's Spring game. Knack was extremely effective last year for the World Champs as he appeared in 15 games, including 12 starts and pitched to a 3.65 ERA with a 1.10 whip and 9 K/9. Knack is a former second round pick who offers a solid 5 pitch mix. He is already 27 years old but has limited mileage on his arm and like Miller has 2 MiLB options and could be a top option for a callup.
Dustin May tossed a scoreless first inning in Sunday's spring game. It's been almost 2 years since May has made an appearance due to Tommy John Surgery as well as another freak medical emergency last year. May had been solid from 2019-2023 for the Dodgers pitching to a 3.10 ERA over 46 games including 34 starts while limiting home runs (0.9 HR/9) with a decent K rate (8.2 K/9). May hit 95 in this spring game and it's possible with some early injuries to the Dodgers bullpen he may be converted to a RP to help out there. It's a storyline worth watching this Spring as his stuff could play well in both the rotation and a pen role.
Quick Spring Start: Zac Veen (OF-Rockies)
Veen has gone 4-10 with 2 doubles, a home run, 4 RBIs and 3 stolen bases to open his Spring Training. The 23 year old advanced to AAA to end last season and despite a .221 average he popped 6 home runs and stole 6 bags in 21 games to end the season. There is probably a case to be made that Veen could push his way to a spot out of the spring, but the Rockies are currently projected to start Nolan Jones, Brenton Doyle and Jordan Beck in the OF and most likely want him playing every day. The Rockies have several other outfield prospects who actually rank a bit higher but if Jordan Beck struggles as he did last year Veen could make a push sooner or later. The power/speed combo could play well at Coors Field but it will be interesting to see if he continues to walk above 10% and can keep his K rate under 30% as he gets more looks against more advanced pitching.
Around the League:
Garrett Mitchell (OF- Brewers)
Mitchell has had some preseason fantasy hype centered around him as he is expected to be the Brewers opening day center fielder and turned in a .255/.342/.469 line with 8 HR and 11 SB in 69 games last year. While he has played sparingly over the past 3 seasons there are a few glowing positives that stand out. His sprint speed ranked in the top 5% of the league last year and has been good at drawing walks The most interesting thing about Mitchell is to see where he ends power-wise. Mitchell hit 17 home runs across 653 minor league PAs but had 13 HR across just 365 MLB PAs. Sometimes you need to take statistics with this few at bats with a grain of salt, but Mitchell had a lower FB rate (22%) yet a higher HR/FB rate (29.6%) when compared to most of his partial MLB/MILB seasons.vMitchell has the ability to get on base enough where he should swipe at least 20 bags but I would temper his Power expectations until we see a little more out of him this year.
Sean Burke (SP- White Sox)
Burke was fantastic in his cup of coffee with the White Sox last year going 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 19 innings. He mostly features a 4-seamer that hit 95, a slider and a curveball last year with his slider generating a 43.3% whiff rate and being his main putaway pitch. The 6'6 right hander did have his struggles at AAA in both 2023 (7.61 ERA / 6.63 BB/9) and 2024 (4.62 ERA / 5.02 BB/9) so it will be interesting to see which Burke appears to open the season as he should slot into the rotation. One thing to look for. Burke uses his changeup under 10% of the time and an uptick in that pitch usage could help him keep batters off balance even more.
Ronel Blanco (SP- Astros)
Blanco made his first start of the spring and allowed 3 ER on 5 hits over 1.1 innings. Blanco burst onto the scene in 2024 accumulating 13 wins and a 2.80 ERA over 167 innings which included a no-hitter during his first start of the season. He had been pitching in the Houston farm system since 2016 with varying degrees of success and was a key contributor all season. With a 4.15 fip it is possible was the beneficiary of a bit of luck last season; his league leading 83.6% left on base rate and a .220 babip ( the lowest among qualifying starting pitchers tells us some regression may be on the horizon. Either way should still chew innings this year - I am betting he will finish with an ERA close to 4 than 3 this year.
Ben Rice (1B-Yankees)
Rice led off and went 2-3 with a run and RBI. Even with Austin Wells locked in behind the plate the Yankees are making an effort to get Rice at bats behind the dish and he appears to be the primary backup catcher. The other interesting note here is with the Giancarlo Stanton injury Rice's chances to both make the roster and get playing seem to have increased as he could easily slot into the DH role. His .171/.264/.369 line last year in his debut is unsightly but his babip was a very low .186. Rice drew walks at an 11% clip and his career .399 minor league OBP is of note. I like Rice to contribute this year for the Yankees; from a fantasy perspective he will start the season with 1B eligibility only. If he is able to get eligible at catcher he could provide a bit of pop from a position lacking it.
Joey Bart (C-Pirates)
Bart put together a nice 80 game stretch for the Pirates last year slashing .265/.337/.462 with 13 HR and 45 RBIs. This marked his best effort at the major league level since being taken second overall by the Giants in 2018. As nice as this line I really want to see if he can sustain that success over a full season. He should be given every opportunity to catch and possibly DH so if he can replicate last years success he could be a high end fantasy catcher. It will be interesting to see how former top prospects Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez factor into this equation as well.
Deyvison De Los Santos (1B-Marlins)
The slugging Marlins prospect got the start at 1B and went 0 for 2 Tuesday. De Los Santos slugged 40 home runs across AA and AAA for MIA/ARI last year while also hitting .294. It is worth noting that his batting average severely tailed off between AA and AAA as he hit .372 to open with ARI in AA, followed by a .289 and .240 averages with ARI and MIA, respectively at AAA. His raw power is among the best in the minor leagues and I think as long as his K rate doesn't climb higher then the high 20%s he is going to be a great source of fantasy home runs - mostly likely in the second half of 2025 going forward.
Ceddanne Rafaela (OF/SS - Red Sox)
It is reported that the Red Sox Center Fielder retooled his swing in the offseason. An excellent defender, Rafaela split his time at SS and the OF last year but is expected to be the primary CF this season. Take spring stats with a grain of salt, but Rafaela has looked good through the first few games of the spring so perhaps there is something there. Last year he put up good counting stats (15 HR, 19 steals, 75 RBIs) but he was caught stealing 10 times and drew just 15 walks against 151 strikeouts. In my opinion there is a lot of potential here if he can get that OBP of .274 up. He is projected to hit near the bottom of the lineup and may need to get off to a quick start with Top Prospect Roman Anthony knocking on the door. Since he opens the season with both SS and OF eligibility I love him as a late round flyer in redraft leagues as your top "days off" bench piece.
Zack Gelof (2B - Athletics)
If you look at surface stats alone Gelof's 17 HR/25 SB season in 2024 looks pretty nice. Unfortunately that's about the only positives from last season as he led all qualified hitters with a 34.6% K rate. He had some hype entering last season as he was able to hit .267 with a .337 OBP and 14 HR and 14 SB in just 67 games in 2023. His K rate rose and his walk rate plummeted and his expected triple slash line was actually below his actual one - meaning he was quite lucky to finish with a .211/.267/.362 line. Gelof frequently struck out 25% of the time or more in the minors but paired that with a strong walk rate - something he has not done at the MLB level yet. He has got to get his strikeouts under control in what could be a make it or break it season. If you can stomach a lower slash line on your fantasy team there is 20/20 or more appeal here from a HR/SB perspective - but he has gone 0-6 with 5 Ks over his first few spring games.
Victor Scott (OF - Cardinals)
Scott tripled and homered in Tuesday's spring contest. You will hear me say it a lot this spring - take the spring stats with a grain of salt but a strong spring could be a major confidence boost for the young outfielder. Scott garnered Top-100 Prospect status a year ago after he hit .323 with 44 steals at AA. Last year was by all accounts a step backwards as he hit .210 in AAA and hit .179 in 53 games with a 27.1% K rate for the Cardinals. The K rate was nearly double any rate he put up in the minors prior to 2024. Scott really struggled against breaking pitches last year with a .100 batting average against and 47.8% whiff rate. Most of his underlying batted ball stats are middle of the pack or a bit worse so it's possible an adjustment period was what the 24 year old needed. If he ends up winning the job as the starting center fielder there is value here especially in dynasty leagues.
Dylan Crews (OF-Nationals)
Crews led off Tuesday and went 1-2 with a walk, 2 runs and a stolen base. Crews has had a good start to the spring and is looking to build up on his 31 game stint in September last year that saw him hit .219 with 12 stolen bases. Crews has plus grades across the board and even if his bat takes a little time to live up to his lofty hit tool he is already making an impact on the bases. He got on base at a .342 clip across AA and AAA last year and should occupy a top spot in the Nationals lineup as they start to advance their higher end bats to the show. His ADP is varied across platforms between 130-180 overall and at a minimum should be a excellent source of stolen bases and runs scored in 2025.
Quinn Matthews (SP - Cardinals)
Matthews struck out 3 over 2 scoreless innings in his spring debut Tuesday. The lefty checked in at 45th on MLBs top 100 Prospects for 2025 and got off to a great start this year. Matthews dominated the lower minors last year breezing his way to AAA by the end of the season. It was here where he was challenged for the first time as his ERA ballooned to 6.48 over 4 starts and he issued 14 walks in 16 innings compared to 15 in 52 innings at AA; it's possible he ran out of gas after throwing 125 innings in his first year if pro ball. With a 5 pitch arsenal Matthews isn't too far off from the majors. The Cardinals have a veteran heavy pitching staff and Matthew is one of several exciting prospects that could be fantasy relevant in the second half if they make some trades, which they have been rumored to do.
