Chris Clegg's Top Fantasy Baseball Prospects: April/May Top 500
Chris Clegg works through his early season update for his top 600 Fantasy Baseball Prospects.
The April prospect update is probably the hardest update I do all year(yes I know it is now May 1). Why is that? Because there are so many small samples to parse through. What is actually legit, and what isn't? I try to hit the film and study the data of all players I rank. I feel that is an essential step in actually parsing through early season noise.
In a general sense, I feel like pitching prospects are easy to evaluate after just a couple of starts. You can watch a pitcher and see the data of a couple starts and get a good feel for an arm. It is why I felt comfortable moving Mason Miller up significantly. No hitter will move anywhere close to the amount that Miller did this early.
The Process
I often get asked what goes into my prospect rankings. My process begins with evaluating prospects on a team-by-team basis. I want to get my eyes on every player possible. It is a long process, but it is essential when ranking prospects. Live looks give you a different perspective than just watching games on MILB.TV, but you can gather plenty from watching film. I spend ample time watching every prospect I rank.
After evaluating players team by team, I then work on positional rankings. After working through the rankings positionally, I place the prospects on the overall list. The rankings are how I perceive their future value will turn out for dynasty league purposes. It is also how I would draft these players if I were in a prospect-only draft.
I recently was fortunate to gain access to MILB statcast and advanced metrics for every player. It has undoubtedly helped solidify what the eye test shows in many circumstances. It has also helped me identify some sleeper prospects who could be in for big 2023 seasons. I also can see which players struggle with high velocity or breaking balls. Do they chase too much? Yes, you can see that on film, but I also have the data to back that now. It’s helped shape the rankings for specific players.
Top-50 Prospects for Dynasty Fantasy Baseball
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