Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Paul Skenes, the first overall pick in last year's draft, hit 102 mph twice with his fastball in a scoreless first inning in his Grapefruit League debut on Thursday against the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore catcher Adley Rutschman, a fellow first overall pick, took a 99 mph Skenes fastball to the warning track in right field. In his one inning of work, four of Skenes' 10 pitches were clocked at triple digits on the stadium radar gun. The 21-year-old can bring the gas for sure, and he has a realistic shot at breaking camp in the Pirates' Opening Day starting rotation in 2024. Skenes is the consensus top pitching prospect in all of baseball and is ranked at RotoBaller as the No. 99 fantasy starter heading into the season.

Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez picked up his first hit of the spring on Wednesday in an 8-6 Cactus League loss to the Diamondbacks. The hit was a single in the bottom of the sixth inning and he later came around to score. The 2022 All-Star is now 1-for-8 in the spring with one strikeout. The left-handed hitter had a bit of a disappointing season in 2023 after a sixth-place MVP finish in 2022 had raised expectations, but he was top-12 or better in runs scored, RBI, and stolen bases among second basemen last season. He'll contribute in all these categories again in 2024, and look for him to hit better than last season's .251 average and .309 WOBA. Right now RotoBaller has him ranked at 109 overall, slightly ahead of his NFBC ADP of 113.

When asked if catcher Yasmani Grandal was the team's starting catcher, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton suggested that Grandal would be the starter, but that he would have his workload limited over the course of the season. "Yaz is going to catch. Yas is also 35 years old, so whoever our C2 is is going to get some time. We have to be very mindful of when he catches and how much he catches, mindful of making sure we get the second guy in there in a situation that we like all the time." Shelton said. Henry Davis, a former first-rounder, figures to be the favorite for the No. 2 job after playing exclusively right field in his MLB debut in 2023. Davis is younger and clearly has more offensive upside than the aging Grandal, but his uncertain playing time is going to hurt his fantasy value in deeper leagues as he enters his first full major-league season.

Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Brennen Davis (concussion) was hit by a pitch in Tuesday's Cactus League game and is in the concussion protocol. He will be sidelined until he's able to clear the league's protocols for head injuries. The 24-year-old's concussion is considered mild, so hopefully he'll be able to get back to work sooner than later in camp. The former second-round pick by the Cubs in 2018 out of high school has an extensive injury history in the minors and has only played in 100-plus games once in five minor-league seasons. Davis slashed .187/.296/.279 with four home runs, 26 RBI and nine stolen bases in 62 games with Triple-A Iowa in 2023 and is ticketed for Iowa again to start the 2024 campaign.

Chicago Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga will make his Cactus League debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Cubs signed the Japanese southpaw to a four-year, $53 million deal in the offseason, and the 30-year-old will be locked into a starting rotation spot in Chicago in his first year in the States. Imanaga isn't a hard thrower by any means, but he's crafty and has excellent command of his pitches. In 148 innings in Nippon Professional Baseball last year, he had a nice 2.80 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 174 strikeouts. Imanaga isn't expected to be as dominant with the Cubs in his first season, and how productive he'll be overall could depend on how much he's able to keep the ball out of the air at Wrigley Field. Still, he has excellent stuff and is worth a late-round flier in mixed fantasy leagues for rotation depth.