All posts under "Preseason Prep" - Page 6

Nate Pearson Hype Train Nate Pearson has been impressive in his limited Spring Training outings (3 IP, 6 K) which has only added to the hype train. The Blue Jays are not going to open the season with him in...

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Should you go with the young righty or the veteran lefty in the desert? ESPN's 2020 H2H categories rankings has Zac Gallen ranked 40th and Robbie Ray ranked one spot behind him at 41st in their preseason starting...

Hi folks, Welcome back to A Closer Look for the 2020 season! Today I'll be providing a glimpse at our top-10 closers in our Draft Advisory Program along with a tease of some of the player notes in the software...

Minnesota Twins Is this the Last Chance for Byron Buxton? It seems every year a major question mark around the Twins is will Buxton finally stay healthy with that answer being mostly a resounding "no" for the past 5 seasons....

ALL UPSIDE WITH KELLER Mitch Keller (SP-PIT) endured a rough MLB debut last season, tossing 48 innings (11 starts) in which he accumulated a 7.13 ERA and 1.83 WHIP. Oof. But... one doesn't have to look very deep to find...

Minnesota Twins Will Jose Berrios Become elite in 2020? While much attention is on the addition of Josh Donaldson, adding to an already impressive lineup if the Twins are to get past the first round of the playoffs they need...

Strand rate, or left on base percentage (LOB%), measures the percentage of baserunners a pitcher leaves on base over the course of an entire season. At its core, strand rate is simply a measure of the number of runners that...

Is Jean Segura still a sure thing? After two strong seasons with the Mariners, Segura's return to the Senior Circuit was a mild letdown, as he failed to bat .300 for the first time since 2015 while seeing his OPS...

Rockies - Sam Hilliard and the outfield Charlie Blackmon is locked into RF and David Dahl CF, but the latter should be good for his usual 60-80 games on the IL, and in left you have Ian Desmond, who has...

Houston Astros Jose Altuve Altuve managed to post a .298/.353/.550 slash line last season, but his 33 ADP is nearly 20 picks later than it was last season. While Altuve may not be as good as he was in 2017...

Padres: A 2019 Bust To a 2020 Value? After being drafted as a 2nd round player heading into 2019, Machado's first season with the Padres was largely viewed as a disappointment thanks to drops in every counting stat category. His...

Who's Taking the Mound in Charm City? Once you get past Alex Cobb and John Means the rotation is wide open in Baltimore. Three are at least 7 candidates for the last three spots. Here is some info about a...

Can Archer Bounce Back? The 2019 season was a forgettable one for Pirates SP Chris Archer, who finished the campaign with a 5.19 ERA, 10.75 K/9, and 4.14 BB/9 in just 119.2 IP. Thanks to right thumb and shoulder issues...

LOS ANGELES ANGELS: As promised, Dylan Bundy! - There are a few possible gems down in the SP100+ category so far this spring, and one of those is absolutely Dylan Bundy. Let's check off the positives: improved team from run...

BOSTON RED SOX The loss of 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts is obviously the most impactful off-season development for the Sox. Newcomer Alex Verdugo, who was acquired from the Dodgers as part of the Betts deal, is most likely to...

LOS ANGELES ANGELS: When does the anointed show up? - The question on everybody's minds regarding the Angels is: when will we see Jo Adell? The consensus "top handful" prospect would likely already have been up if not for an...

Syndergaard is only 27 years old and his arsenal is still elite, with many ways to get batters out. A return to a sub-4.00 ERA is likely with continued 200+ strikeouts and a moderate increase in wins.

Freddie Freeman, Atlanta Braves - Freeman has joked this spring about being in the best shape of his life, but in his case, he might mean it. Freeman underwent a cleanup procedure on his right elbow after the season and...

Taijuan Walker Walker lost nearly all of the past two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, but he has a real chance to produce solid fantasy value with the Mariners. Walker posted his best full season as a starter in...

A Next Step for Musgrove? After struggling with injury issues in 2018, Pirates SP Joe Musgrove put together a solid if unspectacular 2019 campaign. It was an up-and-down season to be sure, but when it was all said and done,...

Indians Notes Clevinger expected to miss 6-8 weeks with meniscus injury The Indians rotation had already taken a step since the start of 2019 with the trades of Trevor Bauer and Corey Kluber. It took a further hit this weekend...

2020 HR/FB Rate: More than just Batted Ball Speed New baseball data continues to emerge yearly, continually granting us insight into a player's core skill/ability.  Indicators such as HR/FB rates are thankfully no longer looked at as blanket averages. As we have...

Philadelphia Phillies Will Andrew McCutchen be healthy? McCutchen's first season with the Phillies was derailed by an ACL tear in early June that limited him to just 59 games last year - his fewest ever as a pro. The 33-year-old...

Blue Jays Blue Jays Outfield Situation The Blue Jays barring any injuries are going into the season with a starting outfield of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez, and Randal Grichuk. All three have potential but they also have not lived...

Oakland Athletics What to make of A.J. Puk? Dynasty League Fantasy Owners have most likely struggled to decide what to do with the hard throwing 6'7 Puk, who has about all the tools you could ask for but hasn't been...

SAN DIEGO PADRES: Tommy Pham (OF - SD) - Tommy Pham has gone 20/15+ for three straight seasons, yet this spring he will play for his third team in the last three years. Soon to be 32 years old,...

The Fantistics Draft Advisor has Jack Flaherty as the no. 11 pitcher, just outside the top tier of starters. Some analysts have him as the 20th best, some 10th best, some in the top-5. Right now he's being drafted as the seventh pitcher off the board in NFBC, an overall ADP of 24. That begs the question: should Flaherty be considered in the top-5? Is one half of utter dominance worth a 2nd-round pick? Well, when that half-season includes a 0.91 ERA, 5.36 K/BB and near-30% SOFT-contact rate, it's certainly worth exploring.

Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow for the Rangers. Pitching was where Texas made the most noise in the offseason, particularly in their rotation. Corey Kluber was their biggest acquisition in a trade with the Indians. He had a lost season...

Nick Castellanos and Hyun-Jin Ryu find new homes while Vlad Guerrero Jr. gets in shape.

ATLANTA BRAVES Mike Soroka is currently coming off the board as the 32nd pitcher off the board and around 98th overall after his outstanding season where he posted a 2.68 ERA while going 13-4. Soroka is an interesting case because...

Prized Prospect Eloy Jimenez will begin the season in the major leagues and make his big league debut on opening day at Kansas City on Thursday. Eloy is considered to be the #2 prospect in baseball. Last season Eloy slugged...

Ian Desmond (1B/OF - COL) - It looks like Desmond is going to play every day again for the Rockies, this time in CF as Charlie Blackmon moves to a corner to save some wear and tear on his legs....

Final preseason look at the Mets and Cardinals. Plus, the Cubs make a surprising roster move less than one week before Opening Day.

Gerrit Cole Cole is a popular pick to win the AL Cy Young Award this season, and it's easy to see why. Not only did Cole see his velocity rise last year for the second consecutive season (to 97 MPH...

Corey Seager looks ready to go Seager made his Cactus League debut Wednesday against the Cubs, hitting third and starting at shortstop. It went well, as Seager went 1-for-2 with a solo homer and sacrifice fly. Seager reported no issues...

Phillies: Don't sleep on Nick Pivetta By traditional metrics, Nick Pivetta's first two seasons have been terrible, yielding a 15-24 record with a 5.33 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. But despite the mediocre results, Pivetta has been making strides on the...