Now it’s still very early in Spring Training. It’s only March 2nd and we’re a full month away from the season beginning so there are some positional battles that haven’t shed much light yet, but also there are smaller ones brewing. Last week’s mention of the Boston Red Sox outfield hasn’t really developed too much with the news that J.D. Martinez won’t debut until sometime next week after his contract signing hit a couple snags. But over the next few weeks as we get closer to the start of the 2018 season we’ll touch on the positional battles mentioned last week while also hitting on some new ones as seen below!
Atlanta Braves Left Field
It’ll be interesting to watch what the Braves do in the outfield. Top prospect Ronald Acuna has received the most plate appearances between himself, Preston Tucker, and Lane Adams. In 13 plate appearances Acuna has three hits, a run, a pair of RBI, and a stolen base. He’s also only struck out once and walked four times. The competition he’s seen so far pales in comparison to what he’ll see in the big leagues, but the brief plate discipline he’s shown so far has to please the coaching staff. The Braves may opt to start him down at Triple-A to start the year. But what does that accomplish? Atlanta isn’t really contending for anything and they have one of the deepest farm systems in baseball with Acuna being the most notable prospect right now. Hopefully they open the season with him as the starter in left field and not wasting time in the minors.
Yankees Third Base
This battle was mentioned last week and so far it’s been a knockout win for Miguel Andujar. So far he has gone 6-for-14 at the plate and hit four home runs. That kind of power is unsustainable, but he’s done nothing but impress the Yankees organization so far. Tyler Wade and Ronald Torreyes have fared pretty well so far as everyone tries to amass as many plate appearances as possible. But neither of them have come close to what Andujar has done so far. The power will regress a bit, but as long as he displays plate discipline he’ll be in the running to stick around and open the season for the Yankees as the starter at third base. Follow his progress throughout the spring because Andujar could be a nice late-round steal especially if you’re drafting relatively soon.
Yankees Outfield
The Yankees have a lot of good, solid, young prospects. They also have a ton of depth in the outfield. They have Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton (although it’s expected he’ll DH quite a bit), Jacoby Ellsbury, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner, Clint Frazier, and Estevan Florial. Plenty of names and talent across the board. Last week highlighted the battle at center field between Ellsbury and Hicks. However, Frazier and Florial have impressed also. Frazier has displayed his notably quick bat speed and is confident in his ability to break camp with the team. Florial probably won’t start the season with the team. He hasn’t played above High-A and he’s only 20 years old. However, he has displayed a ton of promise collecting three triples in his first ten at-bats especially after he struck out in his first two plate appearances.
Colorado Rockies First Base
So that Ryan McMahon kid is pretty good, huh? In his first six spring games (14 plate appearances) he has seven hits, three runs, and three RBI. He hasn’t hit a home run yet, but when he’s playing his big league games in Coors Field in the summer he’ll put on a power display then. Desmond hasn’t had too many plate appearances, but he’ll get his chance to compete for the job. After all it’s the position they signed him for a year ago. But McMahon has looked very good early on this spring and currently has a firm grip on the starting first base job.
White Sox Starting Pitching: A Spot for Kopech?
Move over Carlos Rodon, there is a shiny new pitching prospect for the Chicago White Sox! Michael Kopech isn’t necessarily new because his legendary velocity was known when he was honing his raw potential with the Red Sox. But after being acquired in the Chris Sale trade, Kopech quickly worked his way up the minor leagues last year and has blown away competition so far. In the minors last season, walks were a big concern for Kopech, but in his last outing he worked two innings, struck out three batters, and didn’t walk anybody. His fastball is worth salivating over. He casually hits 100mph with ease. It’s absolutely amazing. Now he’s going to be 22 years old by the end of April so he’s still relatively young, but he has a healthy amount of minor league starts and has looked amazing so far this spring.
Los Angeles Dodgers Outfield
This battle is worth touching on because it was brought up last week and there are quite a few names to keep track of. It cannot be stressed enough how early it is right now, but Matt Kemp has looked pretty good. He’s hitting .300 currently and has a home run under his belt. The leaner body seems to be paying off for him, but he could still be traded before the season begins. Chris Taylor has been used a little bit as an infielder and this is interesting because with all the names that could be used in the outfield the Dodgers could opt to keep Taylor in the lineup by using him as shortstop or second base. This is huge because players gain more value if there eligible for multiple positions. So far he’s 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles. It’s been an underwhelming start to the spring for Joc Pederson. In eleven plate appearances he has just one hit and he was caught stealing on his lone attempt. He’s also struck out a few times. It can’t be stressed enough how early it still is so just watch and see if he figures his hitting woes out. And lastly Yasiel Puig is just 2-for-9 so far, but again it’s still really early to be counting guys out.
Miami Marlins Outfield
A year ago the Marlins boasted an outfield that included Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and NL-MVP Giancarlo Stanton. This was easily a very stable and strong outfield headlined by Stanton’s 50+ home run campaign. Oh what an offseason will do. Ozuna is now in St. Louis, Yelich in Milwaukee, and Derek Jeter certainly helped out his old team by shipping Stanton to the Yankees. Now there are some young players in the Miami outfield including names like Lewis Brinson (55 career plate appearances) and Magneuris Sierra (64 career plate appearances). However, Derek Dietrich and Cameron Maybin are also in the mix. Dietrich, traditionally an infielder, may have to move to the outfield with the Marlins acquiring Starlin Castro in the offseason. And don’t lose track of Scott Van Slyke. Van Slyke is currently slashing .455/.500/1.182 which is amazingly unsustainable. And yes, it’s only March 2nd and there’s plenty of spring training to go. But Van Slyke has 13 total bases on just five hits and he has a pair of home runs under his belt. If you play in deep five-outfielder leagues he could be worth taking a flyer on as a bench player or your last outfielder if he keeps putting up solid numbers.
Texas Rangers Starting Rotation
This situation is so bizarre and wild that it could give The Bachelor finale this coming Monday night a run for its money. Yes, I’m a sucker for trashy reality television. But the names associated with the Rangers pitching staff is something to behold. You’ve got Bartolo Colon (who is 44 years old), Matt Bush (who actually did well last year), Mike Minor, Matt Moore, Doug Fister, and recently-signed Tim Lincecum. It’s just a collage of comeback players. To be fair to Bush, he was pretty good last year in relief and there are rumblings he is going to try and move to the starting rotation. And Mike Minor is probably the best SP/RP candidate for fantasy baseball if the Rangers go with a six-man starting rotation. But Colon was awful last year with a 6.48 ERA and he gave up 1.76 HR/9. Doug Fister was a dud with the Red Sox and Matt Moore flamed out with the Giants. It just seems insane the Rangers would roll the dice on so many comeback players and now they’ve signed Tim Lincecum who didn’t pitch at all in 2017 after posting a 9.16 ERA with the Angels in 2016. Although it does sound like Texas will use him strictly out of the bullpen. Would it be surprising if one of these players had a decent season and had some fantasy value? No. Comeback stories happen all the time and the Rangers certainly have an abundance of candidates. These will all be names to watch, including Cole Hamels who posted his highest ERA (4.20) since 2009. The Rangers pitching staff is somewhat of an island of misfit toys, but there is a chance one or two can be fantasy relevant outside of Hamels.