The Dynasty Digest: February 24, 2024

Chris Clegg is back to run down everything you need to know for dynasty leagues from the previous days action.

Welcome back to the Dynasty Digest! Baseball is back, and so are we, with our daily reports of everything you need to know from the previous days’ action for you to win your dynasty leagues.

Spring Training is always an interesting time, as box score stats don’t necessarily matter, but I am looking for other things of note. Has a pitcher seen an increase in velo or do they have a new pitch that compliments the arsenal well? Has a hitter simplified their approach, or did they post a new max exit velocity? The little things are much more important than box score stats for Spring Training, and we are going to talk about them. Let’s break down Friday’s action.

Spring Training Notables: February 23

Zach Penrod, LHP, BOS

Penrod has one of the best stories in all of baseball. A Division II two-way player who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Texas Rangers in 2018, Penrod had Tommy John surgery in April 2019 and was released by Texas in June 2020. Upon getting healthy, he spent three seasons in independent ball before being signed by the Red Sox in August 2023.

Despite being old for the level, Penrod dominated in Greenville, posting a 2.18 ERA across 20.2 innings with 20 strikeouts, helping lead Greenville to the South Atlantic League championship. He then went to the Arizona Fall League, posting 14 strong innings.

Penrod pounds the zone with a fastball that sits 92-94 but has topped at 96. While throwing strikes, the command is not always the strongest. He mixes in a 90 mph cutter with short movement to bridge the gap between his fastball and slider.

The slider will come in two forms, a sweeper that sits around 83 and a harder slider with shorter bite action sitting 85-87. His changeup plays well off the fastball, sitting in the mid-80s.

While it was against a college team, Penrod struck out three batters and walked one in an innings of work. Everyone out there should be rooting for Penrod to succeed and make the Majors!

Dane Dunning, RHP, TEX

After spending the offseason working at Tread Athletics, Dunning is looking to build on a 2023 season that saw him post a 3.70 ERA across 172.2 innings for the World Series champion Texas Rangers. Dunning turned in a clean inning, allowing no hits, walks, or runs and not striking out a batter.

Dunning has been working on increasing his velocity after sitting 91 mph with the fastball in 2023 and will also be debuting a new pitch. While Dunning would not reveal that pitch, it appears to be a splitter as the offseason of adding a splitter continues for professional pitchers.

Providing more value than you might think for fantasy purposes, Dunning is an underrated target in dynasty leagues.

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