Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Roundup (2/27)

Spring training is a wild time for fantasy players, as we see considerable overreactions to tiny sample sizes, changes in player value due to velocity jumps or drops, and other big swings. We aim to cover notable news, value changes, or other important nuggets. We’ve got you covered.

Fantasy Baseball Spring Training Roundup (2/27)

AL East

Toronto Blue Jays: Addison Barger (3B, ADP 676)

Barger came out of the game after getting hit in the hand by a Garrett Crochet pitch, and while it doesn’t appear to be anything serious, we’ll want to make sure he comes back to the lineup quickly and is able to display some pop in order to confirm.

Boston Red Sox: Jarren Duran (OF, 21)

Jarren Duran was scratched from Sunday’s game with calf soreness, which has been described as minor and not a concern. Still, when your main tool is speed, and your hit tool also sort of relies on your speed, lower body injuries are of chief concern, as not being 100% saps a lot of fantasy value.

For what it’s worth, he was back in the lineup Wednesday and went 2-for-3 (no SB attempts). 

AL Central

Kansas City Royas: Jac Caglianone (1B, undrafted) 

Another massive Italian 1B prospect is waiting in the wings for the Royals and wasted no time hitting his first dinger of the spring. While Caglianone has not really been in consideration for early drafters, if he continues to hit tanks throughout the spring, he may force the issue at some point this summer, well ahead of schedule. He’s one to watch.

Detroit Tigers: Justyn-Henry Malloy (OF/1B[?], 697)

The Tigers have asked Malloy to spend some time focused on a new position (1B) this spring. Whether this is because of their collective lack of faith in Spencer Torkelson (it is at least partially this), their belief in Malloy himself (they do seem to like him and want to find PAs for him), or the desire to relive the Ron Washington/Scott Hatteberg scene from Moneyball (“It’s incredibly hard”), the arrow is pointing at least minimally up for Malley, and he is awfully cheap.

Chicago White Sox: Miguel Vargas (3B/OF, 423)

Positive news out of the south side is rare these days, and so when we get some, we should celebrate it. As it turns out, Miguel Vargas has not only been anointed the everyday 3B but is also apparently in “the best shape of his life.” It’s been an arduous and disappointing path for Vargas so far, but he’s still just 25 and for the first time is entering a season without the distractions of injury or playing time uncertainty. While the lineup context is of course still atrocious, how many bats are available in the 28th round that will give you 500ish PAs and offer upside with regard to both power and speed? There aren’t that many.

Minnesota Twins: Matt Wallner (OF, 273)

This is a long article about Matt Wallner’s body composition but basically the takeaway is that he views his relative struggles last season as a result of too much bulking and feels this spring he is able to move much more freely and that will lend itself to more success hitting. Since he’s potentially the leadoff hitter in the strong side of a platoon, there may be quite a few more PAs available to him than in previous years, and some increased efficiency due to his slimmer physique and flexibility could return a good amount of value at his post 250 ADP.

AL West

Texas Rangers: Jon Gray (SP, 424)

Sometimes, boring is best. No one will get overly excited about Jon Gray looking good in the spring, and it’s not as though he has developed a new pitch or added life to his four-seamer. Sometimes, just performing to expectations in an otherwise depth-challenged rotation is enough. Bruce Bochy opined as follows: “I thought it was really good,” Bochy said. “He looked sharp, didn’t he? Slider was good, fastball, good two innings from him.”

A’s: Tyler Soderstrom (1B/UT/C[?])

While Soderstrom rose through the ranks and was initially drafted as a catcher, his bat has been way ahead of his glove, and the A’s are pretty set with Shea Langeliers as their primary backstop. Nevertheless, a handful of appearances behind the dish giving Langeliers the night off, and getting C eligibility in the process would be a boon for Soderstrom’s fantasy value. 

Houston Astros: Jose Altuve (2B/OF[?], 61)

There are rumblings that Altuve may be transitioning to the OF from 2B, which is interesting not only because he will become a rare top 100 MPE player (albeit gaining OF eligibility is not that exciting when you’d likely be using him at 2B or MI instead), but it potentially opens up a lineup spot. If Altuve isn’t manning the keystone sack, that would open up the door for regular playing time for either Mauricio Dubón (494) or Brendan Rodgers (568). 

This is a development that we’ll want to watch closely, including all of its second-order effects.

Los Angeles Angels: José Soriano (SP, 335)

There aren’t a lot of bright spots for the Angels, but the continued development and progress of Soriano is one of them. While he upped his sinker usage to a whopping 45% last season, if he’s able to continue that and parlay it into a continued massive GB% (approaching 60% in 2024) while maintaining 98 MPH, that’s a heck of a skill set. Of course, he’ll be doing it without much run support and so opportunities for wins are few and far between, but if he can be a three-category helper in the 22nd round, that’s certainly something to be cognizant of.

NL East

New York Mets: Sean Manaea (SP, 185) Frankie Montas (SP, 340)

Spring will show you just how quickly you can go from having too many arms to having too few, and the Mets seem to be off to quite the exemplary start of that. While severity and duration of injury is an unknown as of yet for both pitchers, but neither will start the season healthy. That opens the door for Tylor Megill (440), who could return a lot of value if he pitches well to start the season and solidifies a spot in the rotation. Griffin Canning (552) may also get an extended look in this rotation spot. 

It may also end up being the case that whoever eventually takes this rotation spot to start the season is just holding the chair warm for Brandon Sproat (563), who Lucas Biery also mentioned last week and is awesome.

Philadelphia Phillies: Bryce Harper (1B, 22)

We don’t want to overreact to things of course, but Harper got drilled by a pitch and came out of the game, so we can’t just not mention these things either. He is probably fine, and it got him in the bicep, which is one of the meatier spots, but given he is a second-round pick in most drafts, you’ll want to make sure there are no side effects or lingering concerns before clicking his name.

NL Central

Chicago Cubs: Owen Caissie (OF, 676)

A prospect lover’s favorite, Owen Caissie has been flirting with the idea of starting the season at the friendly confines, but that dream was crushed this week as he was sent down to AAA to start the season. 

Pittsburgh Pirates: Matt Gorski (1B/OF, Undrafted)

We don’t want to get carried away with the early spring results of a 27-year-old NRI who has never seen big league time, but if there were an example of someone who might make us push the envelope a bit, it is Gorski. The 3 HRs and 9 RBIs in 6 plate appearances are obviously insane, and either an extremely well-timed hot streak or indicative of some sort of change in his approach or mechanics. I’m a sucker for the out of nowhere guy that makes a roster spot and contributes, and that guy being a Pittsburgh Pirate and his name being Gorski make things that much more fun. One to watch.

Cincinnati Reds: Elly De La Cruz (SS, 4)

Elly is doing Elly things (HRs! Steals!) but also has an apparently shorter bat path and still is able to unlock the raw power. If he can cut down on K’s while maintaining (or even increasing) his power, look out!

NL West

San Diego Padres: Dylan Cease (SP, 47)

Right up there with “best shape of his life” for annual spring traditions is “pitcher who is already amazing has added new pitch,” and in the case of Dylan Cease, he’s potentially adding not one but two new offerings. Dennis Lin goes into plenty of detail in the linked article, but the summary is that Cease has added a two-seamer and a changeup to his arsenal, at least insomuch as he’ll be experimenting with them in the spring. If he finds success with either (or both) we could see them being added permanently, which might vault him into being a top-five overall SP.

San Francisco Giants: Jordan Hicks (SP, 437)

We’ve known that Jordan Hicks can light up a radar gun when he wants to, but with his role as a converted starter last year and not being fully built up to handle a 200-inning workload the way many starters are, it came as no surprise that we saw the velocity fall off as the days got longer. However, he came out in his first spring start with (radar) guns blazing at triple digits and sitting 97. This is extremely encouraging as pitchers tend to sit a little lower in their first couple of starts, and if Hicks can routinely sit 98-99 while bringing triple digits for emphasis to end at-bats, he could be an excellent value at his near 30^th-round ADP.

Arizona Diamondbacks: Corbin Carroll (OF, 9)

It appears we are getting the good version of Carroll to start the spring, and that seems to be credited at least in part to some mechanical tweaks made in the second half of last year that have carried over into this spring. An easy load and shorter bat path have simplified Carroll’s approach without sacrificing power, and with his overall growth as a hitter combined with having comfortable mechanics, he is in a great spot to propel into a top-five hitter despite being available closer to the middle of the first round in most drafts. With any first rounder, there is only so much they can do to beat expectations, but Carroll is primed to do that and off to a blistering start this spring with 2 HRs and 2 SBs in just 7 ABs thus far.