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| Wednesday, April 6, 2022 |
| Happy Wednesday, everyone! We are rounding third if you'll allow me a terrible baseball pun and headed home with the start of the 2022 MLB season so close. By the time you hear from me next, it will be opening day and I will be right there alongside you ready to make a slew of overreactions to No. 1 starters struggling and random hitters delivering multi-homer days -- it wouldn't be an opening day without the classic overreactions! |
| WE HAD ANOTHER TRADE -- though this one probably didn't deserve all caps like the last one. Austin Meadows was sent to the Tigers. A perennial Scott White bust list candidate (made all three editions of his 2022 busts) sees an uptick in his value now in Detroit -- even Scott admitted that -- simply based on the at-bats being there. Still, don't expect batting average, OBP or Joey Gallo level power. Scott said it best -- Meadows is a perfect example of someone who looked like a stud in 2019 before the deadened ball and now his approach -- selling out for power -- has let him down. He's still a player to avoid on your rosters in 2022. |
| But in today's newsletter we're going to put the final bow on a few key concepts we keep seeing in the comments of the Youtube page and our emails -- final preparations if you're drafting tonight but also a slew of players you can put on your radar (ranking the injured list stashes, breaking down where you can find unexpected saves early on, and Chris Towers' breakdown of what round you should target each top prospect if you want to make sure you don't leave your drafts without them). We'll also touch on some spring training winners/losers coined by Scotty White. |
| Without further ado, let's jump right into it. |
| But of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Injured list stash rankings! |
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| Chances are if you drafted your Fantasy Baseball teams during the lockout, you've been stuck with at least one unexpected injury plaguing your roster. There will always be injuries that linger into the start of the regular season -- players still recovering from injuries from last season like Ronald Acuna or others who have suffered injuries during spring training like Jack Flaherty. Chris Towers went through every relevant player who has either been placed on the IL or is expected to be in the coming days to rank them in terms of roster priority, from the guys you're stashing even if you don't have an IL spot to the guys who are only relevant if you have unlimited spots. You can find his complete analysis here. |
| We'll list below some interesting names Chris listed as "worth an IL spot" in his rankings and I always tend to stick with one key concept when it comes to my bench stashes in general -- swing (no pun intended) for upside! These stashes will help you do it: |
| Shane Baz, SP, RaysLuis Urias, SS/3B, BrewersStephen Strasburg, SP, NationalsLance McCullers, SP, AstrosLucas Sims, RP, Reds |
| Deeper league IL stashes: |
| Ken Giles, RP, MarinersDylan Floro, RP, Marlins |
| Where to draft the top prospects |
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| If you're doing your final drafts today/tonight, or if you play in a shallower league that drafted a while ago and your first waivers run tonight, you'll want to get to know the top prospects who made the opening day roster. Chris Towers has you covered. He wrote an entire column focused on when to draft each of the top prospects. You can find his entire breakdown here. |
| Chris wrote the article prior to the Rays trading Austin Meadows, and that opens the door for OF prospect Josh Lowe to see serious playing time on a Rays team that clearly believes in him following the trade. Rays manager Erik Neander has already confirmed that Lowe will make the opening day roster and as a 24-year-old prospect who tore up Triple-A last season, there is very little reason to hold him back. Lowe racked up a .291/.381/.535 triple-slash line with 22 homers and 26 stolen bases across 470 plate appearances at Triple-A Durham. He's worth targeting in the final two or three rounds of your drafts no matter the format, but he's a priority of mine in Roto leagues. And if you need speed, make sure you pay up for him on the waiver wire during the FAAB period. |
| A few other notes that I have based on a series of three CBS drafts that I took part in during the last three days: If you want Royals SS prospect Bobby Witt no matter what, you'll have to use a late sixth-round pick or have one of the first few picks in the seventh round. He went off the board in all three of those drafts before the middle of Round 7. Tigers 1B prospect Spencer Torkelson, on the other hand, fell into the later rounds -- past Round 13 in each of the three. Part of this has to do with where the preset rankings and projections on CBS (and other websites) have each prospect. |
| Here's what Chris had to say about where to draft some of the top prospects in baseball: |
| "Witt is the guy we've been drafting with the expectation that he would be on the roster all along, which is why his ADP is in the seventh-round range in NFC drafts. He's got an extremely Fantasy-friendly skill set and has proven himself in Triple-A already. He had some swing-and-miss issues in the minors that could be exposed by big-league pitchers, but the power/speed combination should make him a must-start player in category-based leagues either way. He has legitimate first-round upside, and it doesn't hurt that Witt figures to get third base eligibility early on, a shallower position than shortstop these days." |
| Target round: Seventh |
| Julio Rodriguez, OF Mariners: "Rodriguez has comparable upside to Witt, but is less proven in the minors – he played just 74 games in 2021, including just 46 at Double-A. So, there's a considerable risk here that he'll just be overmatched given his lack of experience. On the other hand, Rodriguez hit .362/.461/.546 with just an 18.0% strikeout rate as a 20-year-old in Double-A last season, so we haven't seen him look overmatched – and it's worth mentioning that his minor-league playing time was limited last season because he played for the Dominican Republic in the Olympics. That includes this spring, as he has hit .419/.471/.839, albeit with a 26.5% strikeout rate. It wouldn't be a surprise to see him have some contact issues as a rookie given the leap he's attempting to make, but I'm not sure he should be going much later than Witt in remaining drafts." |
| Target round: Ninth |
| Torkelson: "The appeal with Torkelson is obvious: If you're going to be the No. 1 pick in the draft and a top-five prospect when basically everyone agrees you are a long-term first baseman, that means your bat is special. Torkelson probably could've handled himself in the majors last year as an advanced college bat. He didn't hit for average in Double-A or Triple-A, but it wasn't because he didn't hit for power or because he struck out too much – he had 25 homers in 90 games with a combined 22.1% strikeout rate. The issue was a low BABIP, and while it's possible a fly-ball heavy approach could lead to issues there, he didn't hit an alarming number of infield fly balls, or anything, so I'm not too concerned. Torkelson feels about as safe as a rookie hitter can be." |
| Target round: 10th |
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| Where to find saves |
| Scott is not a big-time believer in what the Giants are selling when it comes to Jake McGee serving as their primary closer. He went as far as to make one of his bold predictions that McGee won't even get to five saves on the season! Scott broke down every bullpen in baseball earlier this week and provided a pecking order showing how much confidence he has in the top guy and who is even rosterable from each time. You can find that entire analysis here . This guide also serves as the perfect reference page for when you (inevitably) get to that point of your drafts where you're scrounging for help with saves (the same can be said about the early waiver wire). |
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| Spring training risers |
| Scott broke down all of the key risers from spring training -- from players who won jobs to the players who won spots in the rotation. You can find all of his risers here. A few standouts include: |
| Matt Brash, SP, Mariners: "The same wipeout slider that made him one of the minors' biggest breakthroughs last year has been just as devastating against major-leaguers, earning him the fifth starter job." |
| Jeremy Pena, SS, Astros: "The heir apparent to Carlos Correa has a glove to match and has handled the bat well enough to claim the job, most recently delivering a two-homer game." |
| Bryson Stott, SS, Phillies: "Thought to be a long shot to overtake Didi Gregorious, Stott has instead pushed Alec Bohm at third base, piling up multi-hit games while demonstrating superlative plate discipline." |
| Robert Suarez, RP, Padres: "The ground-ball specialist has emerged as the front-runner to be the Padres closer, a role he filled capably in Japan with 42 saves, a 1.16 ERA, 0.77 WHIP and 8.4 K/9 last year." |
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