The Dynasty Digest: February 28, 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 Monday’s action.
Casey Mize, RHP, DET
Holy Casey Mize! I have so many thoughts on his arsenal in his return from Tommy John and back surgery. Having not pitched since April 14, 2022, Mize’s arsenal impressed. Leading with his four-seam fastball, Mize averaged 95.7 mph and has never been above 94 on average in his career. The pitch averaged 18.8 inches of IVB, which was way up from anything we had seen in the past, especially considering he topped out at 21.3 inches.
The splitter looked incredible as Mize saw his low spinning pitch have more horizontal movement. The slider was up to 88 mph, and the curveball showed more depth than previous seasons.
The command still needs work, but that is to be expected from someone who has not pitched in games in nearly two years. While the Tigers have a full rotation at the moment, if Mize pitches this way all spring, he will find a spot.
He finished the day with a 42 percent whiff rate and a 29 percent CSW.
Chris Sale, LHP, ATL
Sale’s first outing in a Braves uniform could not have gone much better as he tossed two perfect innings with four strikeouts. He missed bats at a high clip, having a 64 percent whiff rate and a 48 percent CSW.
Beyond the results, the fastball velocity was up and sitting around 95 mph, which is huge considering his sinker sat 93.4 last year and the four-seam at 93.9. The four-seam showed more horizontal movement in a small sample as well.
The slider was the pitch he went to most often, throwing it 12 times in 25 pitches. It sat in the upper 70s with a solid two-plane break on it.
Health will be the biggest factor for Sale, as he has thrown a combined 150 innings since 2019. While he did reach 102 last year, it just goes to show you how injured he has been over the last four years. If Sale can reach 140-150 innings, he could return big value.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, PIT
Hayes has been putting up big exit velocities all spring, and Tuesday was no different. With a big-time 421-foot grand slam that left the yard with an exit velocity of 104.3 mph, Hayes made it four out of his five spring-batted balls with exit velocities north of 104 mph.
Several of the other high exit velocity batted balls still have had launch angle issues, and Hayes has pounded them into the ground, but he has hit the ball very hard consistently. A breakout could be in order for Hayes if he gets more loft in the swing and pulls it more consistently.
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