The Dynasty Digest: April 24, 2024
Chris Clegg breaks down everything you need to know from yesterday's MLB and MiLB action.
The digest is all about bringing you what you need to know from yesterday’s action. It is hard to know and write up detailed reports on everything notable, but what I hope to do is give you solid breakdowns on about 20 players from the lowest levels of the minors all the way up to the majors. This can help you stay ahead in dynasty leagues.
Let’s get to the report, the Wednesday, April 24th edition of The Dynasty Digest.
The Dynasty Report
MLB Pitchers
Max Fried, LHP, ATL
While many were worried about Fried and how he looked over his first four starts of 2024, he came out and looked like vintage Max on Tuesday, tossing a complete game shutout, needing just 92 pitches. It was Fried’s third Maddux of his career, which was a complete game in under 100 pitches, which was an impressive feat.
Fried missed bats with all pitch types and sequenced incredibly well, throwing five pitches at least 15 percent of the time. He pounded the strike zone, kept balls on the ground, and was highly efficient. After a slow start to the year, there is nothing to worry about with Fried.
Bailey Falter, LHP, PIT
Is Falter.. legit? A question that needs to be answered after he tossed seven innings with one earned run and eight strikeouts. Through 27 innings, Falter has a 3.33 ERA and 18 strikeouts to just seven walks with a WHIP that sits at 0.89. A pitcher who seemed like a shoo-in to lose a spot as the Pirates began to call up pitching prospects is now making things interesting.
So, it is legit? Falter’s fastball sits at 91 mph but plays up due to his 7’4” extension, which ranks 98th percentile among all pitchers. Location has improved tremendously from last year, and he is inducing much weaker contact. The pitch shapes across the board have improved but are still kinda bland.
Regression is likely coming, but that does not mean Falter can be a useful pitcher in deeper leagues.
Erick Fedde, RHP, CHW
Many tabbed Fedde as a potential breakout arm this year after his strong stint in the KBO. After a so-so start to the 2024, season, Fedde’s last two starts could not have gone any better as he has tossed 11.2 innings of one-run ball with 16 strikeouts and just six total hits allowed.
Tuesday was a major step in the right direction as Fedde struck out 11 and did not walk a batter. He missed bats with all four pitch types, ending the day with 17 whiffs, good for a 39 percent clip. Fedde has a 34 percent CSW and a 62 percent strike rate.
He is not overpowering, but the sweeper and splitter are intriguing offerings. Maybe I was wrong about Fedde and his ability to be a solid starter.
MLB Hitters
Riley Greene, OF, DET
Greene had a huge game on Tuesday, collecting two home runs and reaching base a third time via walk. The home runs left the bat at 108 and 108.2 mph, respectively, and it pushed his home run total to five on the year. The slash line of .247/.402/.506 is solid, but the underlying data looks off the charts at the moment as Greene is making more contact and has cut his chase rate substantially.
The barrel rate of 19.6 percent ranks 99th percentile among all hitters and he has the highest walk rate in baseball at 20.6 percent. The only flaw is that Greene is not swinging enough. His swing rate is down seven percentage points from last season and if he became a bit more aggressive, the counting stats would likely tick up.
Regardless, the start to the 2024 season for Greene could not be going any better for the 23 year old.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B, CIN
While Encarnacion-Strand got off to the slow start to the season, he was a player I wrote up several times as a buy-low due to the improvements he had shown in contact rates and the underlying power data still looking good. He has been picking it up the last few days, riding a three game hitting streak and on Tuesday, he had his best game of the year, collecting three hits, including a double.
There is still probably time to buy-low on Encarnacion-Strand as he has just a .216/.220/.360 slash at the moment. His zone-contact rate is up four percentage points and the barrel rate and average exit velocity have both improved from 2023. This is a high-end power profile who will get things going sooner than later.
Eloy Jimenez, UT, CHW
Jimenez stole a base?? It was the first of his career actually and he also hit a home run that left the bat at 107 mph. If he could stay healthy, Jimenez would have a chance to put together a decent season, but the issue is that he has only played more than 100 games twice in his career.
In 11 games this season, Jimenez has two home runs and a slash of .216/.293/.378, but he has six hits in his last four games and home runs in two of his last three. Now might be a good time to check in and see what the price to acquire Jimenez in a dynasty league would be. His cost may be the lowest it has ever been.
MiLB Pitchers
Juan Daniel Encarnacion, RHP, BOS, 23, A+
Encarnacion is likely a reliever long-term, but the fact that he was as efficient as he was on Tuesday was highly impressive. I came into the game expecting three innings of work, but instead, Encarnacion turned in five scoreless innings on just 61 pitches. He did not walk a batter and struck out six while generating an impressive 18 whiffs. Encarnacion threw strikes at a 77 percent clip, and it was honestly one of the most impressive starts I have seen from him in the two years he has been in Greenville.
The fastball worked in the 91-94 range, generating whiffs at the top of the zone while the slider worked in the upper 80s, missing bats. He flashed a good change up and even dropped in a few curveballs. While I don’t think Encarnacion is someone you necessarily need to look to add in dynasty, an impressive performance like this earns a spot in the report.
Jack Wenninger, RHP, NYM, 22, A
Wenninger was the Mets’ sixth-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Illinois and has looked highly impressive to begin the 2024 season. Tossing six shutout innings on Tuesday, Wenninger struck out ten batters without issuing a walk and racked up 20 whiffs in the process.
Throwing strikes at a 66 percent clip and posting a 43 percent whiff rate is rather impressive. His fastball is a tick up from what it was last season in college, sitting 92-94 and touching 95. It is a heavy ride pitch with nice running action as well, showing bat missing capabilities.
The changeup is Wenninger’s best secondary, sitting in the low-to-mid 80s with nice depth and fading action. The curveball is a true 12-6 shape with consistently a ton of vertical drop, and the slider, while inconsistent in shape, does show good sweep at times.
The stuff has ticked up since last season, so Wenninger is an arm to keep a close eye on.
Andry Lara, LHP, WSH, 21, A+
Lara was once a very hyped international pitching prospect when he signed for $1.25 million back in 2019. After several rough seasons to start his pro career, Lara was solid, but not great in 2023 pitching in High-A. Repeating the level as a 21 year old, Lara looks the part and had another great start on Tuesday in which he struck out nine batters across five innings. Lara did allow three runs to score, coming on three walks and four hits.
In four starts this year, Lara has a 3.06 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 17.2 innings pitched. Walks have been somewhat of an issue, but Lara’s stuff has looked really good, and he might just be coming into his own as a pitcher.
Logan Evans, RHP, SEA, 22, AA
After a ton of spring buzz, Evans complied a total of five strikeouts over 14.1 innings prior to Tuesday, but that total looks a lot different now as he struck out eight across five scoreless innings. Evans walked one batter and allowed just three hits, while needing just 78 pitches.
Evans landed 54 of those pitches for strikes, good for a 69 percent rate to pair with ten whiffs on the day. Evans finished with a 37 percent CSW rate. His curveball was very sharp, and his fastball was playing well. This was the start we needed to see from Evans moving forward.
Carson Whisenhunt, LHP, SF, 23, AAA
It was a shorter and not all that efficient of a start as Whisenhunt needed 74 pitches to complete 3.2 innings. But when you strike out seven of the 11 batters you get out without allowing a run, you earn a spot on the list. It was just eight whiffs, good for a 26 percent clip, but Whisenhunt landed 15 pitches for called strikes to give him a 31 percent CSW on the day.
Whisenhunt was very sinker heavy on the day, throwing that pitch 74 percent of the time as it sat 93 mph. The changeup was the bread and butter though, even though it was used 22 percent. I would still like to see Whisehunt further develop his slider to give him a viable third pitch, but the sinker and changeup are both solid offerings.
I would not be surprised if we see Whisenhunt in San Francisco in the next several months.
Jake Bloss, RHP, HOU, 22, A+
Bloss is very close to a big breakthrough, it seems, after another good start saw him strike out seven batters over four innings of work. He allowed three walks, which has been his Achilles heel all year, as he has seven in 12 innings of work. Still, Bloss has a 2.19 ERA with 17 strikeouts over those three starts and 12 innings.
Armed with a fastball that sits 92-93 mph but with nice riding action(19 inches of IVB) and solid active spin numbers. Bloss pairs that with a changeup that averaged over 15 inches of fade last season that tunneled off the four-seam pretty well. The slider shows a two-plane break, having nice depth and nearly 9 inches of the sweep, while the curveball has an insane amount of vertical movement(60+ inches) and also nearly 11 inches of sweeping action while sitting in the mid-70s.
David Festa, RHP, MIN, 24, AAA
Festa was sharp despite only pitching 3.1 innings on Tuesday as he struck out five and generated a Triple-A leading 14 whiffs. He pounded the zone with a 72 percent strike rate and had a 38 percent CSW. I won’t go into much detail here because Beck was live at this game and will break Festa down in his report.
Jacob Misiorowski, RHP, MIL, 22, AA
We got vintage Jacob Misiorowski on Tuesday as he fired 4.1 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. It was a 75-pitch outing, 46 of those being strikes, good for a 61 percent rate. Misiorowski generated 14 whiffs and had a 35 percent CSW on the day.
Misiorowski pumps a fastball that consistently reaches triple digits but plays up even more due to his release point and extension. It generates elite ride up in the zone and over 12 inches of run.
The biggest swing-and-miss pitch for Misiorowski is a curveball that sits in the in the upper 80s with plenty of downward action but also gets 13-15 inches of sweeping action consistently. The curve gives hitters nightmares to try and prepare for both the fastball and ravenous curve.
Misiorowski also throws a slider/cutter that sits in the low 90s, but gets up to 94 on occasion. The pitch is inconsistent in shape, sometimes looking like a slider, other times appearing more of a cutter, and sometimes he even gets arm side run to it. Even still, hitters struggled to make contact against it.
Riley Bauman, RHP, LAA, 21, A
Bauman was a 13th-rounder in the 2023 draft out of Abilene Christian University, and honestly, there was not a lot out there on him. He had Tommy John in his junior year of high school and again in college. His senior year of high school was the COVID year, and since he didn’t have much exposure prior due to Tommy John, he started at a JuCo before going to Abilene Christian.
Not having many innings under his belt, Bauman has really focused on just pitching as a starter. He saw his fastball take a huge jump in the offseason at instructs and topped at 98 mph. Bauman is pretty much a fastball/curveball guy, but he is working on developing a changeup and slider.
He led all minor leaguers on Tuesday with 11 strikeouts as he fired six innings of one run ball with just three hits and one walk allowed. Bauman generated 21 whiffs, good for a 43 percent clip, had a 36 percent CSW and threw strikes at 64 percent clip across 102 pitches.
Okay, Riley Bauman, you have my attention.
MiLB Hitters
James Triantos, INF/OF, CHC, 21, AA
Triantos collected three hits on Tuesday with two of them being home runs and he also added a double. It was his third home run of the year to pair with four stolen bases in the early going for the 21-year-old in Double-A. Triantos is a contact-oriented hitter who puts a ton of balls in play, but he saw his exit velocities take a huge step forward last season. Triantos’ average exit velocity jumped from 82.6 mph in 2022 to 87.6 in 2023. His 90th percentile exit velocity also jumped from 99 mph in 2022 to 102.5 mph in 2023.
He may not be a flashy hitter, but he can play all over the field and make an impact with his contact skills and speed. Triantos is a guy who is going to go out and make something happen in every play.
Jacob Melton, OF, HOU, 23, AA
Melton got the monkey off his back with a much needed first home run of the year on Tuesday and added a double in the process. It has been a slow start to the year for Melton, but that does not mean we are backing off the long term appeal of the kind of talent that Melton has.
Melton enjoyed a successful first full pro season in 2023, hitting 23 home runs and swiping 46 bases between High-A and Double-A. Melton is a strong athlete with a smooth swing from the left side of the plate, creating effortless power when he makes contact.
Melton posted a 90th percentile exit velocity that was easily plus or better, just north of 106 mph. Starting open with a quick leg kick, Melton has an explosive lower half that helps generate solid power.
Looking at the batting average, you might not think Melton makes decent contact, but he posted a 76 percent overall contact rate, which is above average for his level. While he may have a bigger frame, Melton moves exceptionally well, clocking plus run times and being quite efficient on the base paths, stealing 46 bases in 53 attempts.
Carter Jensen, C, KC, 20, A+
Carter Jenson might just be breaking out before our eyes. The Royals 20-year-old catching prospect had another big game on Tuesday, which included two singles and a triple. Jensen raised his slash to .339/.451/.559 on the year with two home runs and five stolen bases.
The underlying data has always looked good with Jensen, who is making strong contact and has good OBP skills. The passivity sometimes leads to strikeouts, but in a general sense, Jensen has been really good. If you are looking for a catching prospect who could take a leap, I love the outlook on Jensen.
Kevin Alcantara, OF, CHC, 21, AA
Alcantara would not let Triantos steal the show on Tuesday, pacing him with two home runs and three hits of his own. Getting off to a slow start to the year, the big game on Tuesday pushed his home run total to four and his slash up to .250/.304/.500.
With anyone the size of Alcantara, you will always run into long levers and a big zone, increasing the chances for swing and miss. But Alcantara saw improvement month over month in 2023, and posted a 73 percent contact rate in September while slashing .373/.458/.644.
Breaking balls have been a problem for Alcantara, and he shows inconsistencies with his swing at times, but when he connects, he does damage. The 90th percentile exit velocity of 107 mph in 2023 was just scraping the surface of the potential power that Alcantara could get to when fully mature, but it is still an impressive number.
Great information as always Chris 👏🏻