Spring Training Dynasty Note: March 13

If you missed yesterday’s writeup, you should check it out! I wrote up 20 players, had 30 box score notable players, and ten more with small things of note. Check it out here

Shintaro Fujinami, RHP, OAK

Shintaro Fujinami is quite interesting as a player coming over from NPB. He pitched well in his start on Monday, but really honed it in after a shaky start. Versus his first six batters: 3 H, 3 ER, 1 K, 2 BB, 35 pitches. Versus the final nine batters: 1 H, 0 ER, 6 K, 0 BB, 30 pitches.

Finished with three innings pitched, four earned runs, three walks, and seven strikeouts. The numbers aren’t great. But, what I do want to highlight is the fact that Fujinami’s data was off the charts. He had a 48 percent whiff rate as he mixed five pitches: a slider, four-seam, splitter, sinker, and sweeper.

Fujinami had a 37 percent CSW, and his velocity stood out. The four-seam averaged 96 mph and topped out at 99 mph. Im very impressed by his fastball velocity. His split averaged 91.4 mph, and his slider averaged 84.3 mph. The mix of pitches is really good. Fujinami threw 70 pitches on Monday, and his highest-used pitch was his slider at 31 percent. All five pitches were used at least ten percent of the time.

I was pretty out on Fujinami, given his lower strikeout rate in the NPB, but after seeing the arsenal on display, I am very intrigued. I wouldn’t spend much of him, but I want Fujinami on the back end of my dynasty rosters and see where it takes me.

Mike Brosseau, UT, MIL

It appears I was a couple years early on Mike Brosseau. I was highly intrigued after his strong performance in 2020, despite a small sample. The ultimate issue is that Brosseau has extreme platoon splits. As a right handed hitter, he falls on the weak side of a platoon.

Brosseau is pretty versatile and has played every position in the field over the last two years except catcher(yes he even pitched). Brosseau’s spring training may be a mirage, but he is playing more regularly and putting up solid numbers.

Across 19 Spring Training at-bats, Brosseau has nine hits, four home runs, ten RBI and a .474/.565/1.211 slash. Yes it is a small sample, but one that caught my eye. The good thing to note is that he has seen equal at-bats between right and left-handed pitching.

Broseau is likely only relevant in deeper dynasty leagues and becomes even more interesting if it is a daily league.

Tylor Megill, RHP, NYM

Tylor Megill threw four scoreless innings on Monday, allowing three hits and one walk. He struck out three Marlins hitters. When I saw the basic stat line, I was interested, so I dug a bit deeper. Unfortunately, Megill’s velocity is not back up. His four-seam fastball, which he threw 60 percent of the time, was down 2.2 mph from last year. His slider averaged 2.6 mpg less than last year. His curve dropped even more, down 3.8 mph.

The strange thing is, in the midst of this, Megill is getting more movement on his pitches. He generated a 24 percent whiff rate and got enough called strikes to give him a 33 percent CSW. His outing was against a regular group of Marlins hitters.

I am still not sure what to make of Tylor Megill, but he could get a good chunk of innings with the Mets given their rotation’s injury history.

Bo Bichette, SS, TOR

Bo Bichette had a disappointing 2022 by some people’s standards. But I think people are quick to forget how good he still was despite a down year. He still managed to post a .290 batting average, hit 24 home runs, steal 13 bases, and combine for 184 runs and RBI. It is even more impressive considering how bad Bichette’s first month of the season was. In April he accrued 97 plate appearances, hitting two home runs, striking out at 27 percent clip and posting a .213/.237/.298 slash.

For his final 600 plate appearances, Bichette slashed .303/.348/.498 with 22 home runs and ten stolen bases. He steadily improved in the second half, posting a .337 batting average.

On Monday, Bichette mashed two home runs, one which traveled 453 feet. He also registered four batted ball events over 92.5 mph, including two over 101.4. Bichette was pretty universally ranked in the top five of dynasty rankings before last year and could vault himself back into that conversation with a strong 2023. It is important to remember he just turned 25 years old.

Heston Kjerstad, OF, BAL

It has been quite the road for Heston Kjerstad to make it here. He missed time at the Orioles alternate training site with myocarditis which also caused him to miss 2021. Then a hamstring injury in Spring Training 2022 kept him out for half of the season. Kjerstad finished the season strong in 2022 between Low and High-A before tearing it up at the Arizona Fall Leauge.

On Monday, he went two-for-three with his third home run of the spring. Kjerstand is currently slashing .478/.500/1.000. Despite not playing above High-A, Kjerstaf just turned 24 and could be on the fast track to Baltimore. There is good power, strong OBP skills and respectable contact skills as well.

Jose De Leon, RHP, MIN

The days of Jose De Leon being a top pitching prospect seem like decades ago, and that’s likely because it has been nearly a decade since he was coming up in the Dodgers organization. I always really liked De Leon until be completely fell off. He has spent time in the Dodgers, Rays, Reds, and now Twins organizations and is now 30 years old.

De Leon is still likely not relevant but his performance in the World Baseball Classic on Monday certainly was. De Leon pitched 5.2 perfect innings while striking out ten batters on Israel’s team. Now Isreal is far from a stacked lineup, but they still have some MLB players plus some fun prospects. De Leon posted a 38 percent whiff rate and a 34 percent CSW. The dazzling performance earned him a writeup on today’s notes.

Lance Lynn, RHP, CHW

Lance Lynn seems like an incredible buy right now for contending teams in dynasty leagues. The 35 year old made just 21 starts last season and posted a 3.99 ERA across those 121.1 innings. Most forget he missed the first few months of the season with a knee injury and did not look right initially upon return. Over the final two months of the season, Lynn posted a 2.43 ERA and had a 22 percent strikeout minus walk rate.

Lynn has pitched well this spring and threw a them for Team USA in their win over Canada. He threw five innings of one run ball, allowing just two hits and striking out six. Lynn mixed six pitches in and generated a 32 percent whiff rate and a 35 percent CSW. In a dynasty league, I love getting Lynn at a cheap cost if I am a contender.

Box Score Heros

• Casey Schmitt(Discussed him in detail in yesterday’s writeup): 2/4 HR/3B/2 RBI

• Robbie Ray 3 IP/4 H/1 ER/1 BB/6 K

• Tucker Davidson 3 IP/2 H/0 ER/1 BB/4 K

• Corbin Burnes 4 IP/1 H/0 ER/1 BB/5 K

• Will Brennan 1/3 1 HR

• Michael Busch 3/3 (optioned after the game)

• Max Muncy 1/2 1 HR/2 RBI/1 BB

• Max Kepler 2/3 HR

• Eli White 3/3 2 HR/3 RBI

• Dylan Dodd 4 IP/2 H/0 ER/4 K

• Brandon Lowe 2/2 1 HR/4 RBI

• Kerry Carpenter 3/3

• Javier Baez 2/3 2 2B/2 RBI

• Francisco Lindor 2/3 1 3B/3 RBI

• Harry Ford 2/4 1 HR

• Juan Soto 2/4 1 HR/1 RBI/3 R

• Ha-Seong Kim 1/4 1 HR/4 RBI

Other Things to Note

• Zac Gallen walked three batters over four innings and allowed two earned runs. He has a nine ERA this spring. It could be nothing, but is something to monitor.

• Braxton Garrett could be pitching his way out of a role. 4.1 IP with six hits, five earned runs, three walks, and three strikeouts.

• Anthony Volpe started at 2B for the Yankees and hit second, while Oswald Peraza was at SS and leading off. This has been more of a trend recently and is a lineup we could see in the Bronx sooner than later. With Volpe’s performance, I would bet on him getting a starting role with the Yankees by June.