The Dynasty Digest: February 29, 2024
Chris Clegg runs down everything you need to know for dynasty leagues from the previous days action.
*Cover Photo with image by Lindsey Wasson / Associated Press
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.
Spring Training Standouts From February 28
Tarik Skubal, LHP, DET
There is much anticipation surrounding Skubal’s 2024 season after he returned from injury last season and had a massive jump in velocity and stuff. The 80 innings in 2023 saw Skubal post a 2.80 ERA with 102 strikeouts. This left many ranking Skubal as a top 10 arm for 2024.
He made his debut on Wednesday and struck out two over two scoreless and no-hit innings. While we don’t want to look too much into velocity this early, Skubal sat 97.5 and touched 99.6 mph. This is a good sign that the velocity gains we saw in 2023 stick moving forward. The fastball also had a major increase in IVB and more horizontal movement.
The slider played similarly to last season, but the changeup showed a nice jump in horizontal movement. Skubal finished the day with a 38 percent whiff rate and a 31 percent CSW.
Jared Jones, RHP, PIT
After a stellar first outing on Saturday, Jones got another outing, this time throwing 1.2, scoreless and no-hit innings with two strikeouts. He did walk two batters, but overall, he looked good.
What was notable in his last start was the fastball IVB taking a huge jump, averaging 17.1 inches, up from the 15.8 inches he averaged in 2023. He topped out at 18.6 inches of IVB and 99 mph in the previous outing. On Wednesday, he touched 99.6 mph and over 21 inches of IVB while averaging 18.5 inches. These are small samples we are looking at, but they are still very notable.
The slider generated only two whiffs in 29 pitches, and his CSW was 24 percent. The location of his pitches will need to improve, but the arsenal stats look good in a limited sample.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, RHP, LAD
Yamamoto made his much-anticipated debut with the Dodgers on Wednesday and was nothing short of impressive. Striking out three across two scoreless innings, Yamamoto was sitting 95-96 mph with his fastball and dropping in nasty splitters that generated some ugly swings. Several of the splitters were 90-91 mph.
While he did not throw it often, Yamamoto dropped in several curveballs that fooled hitters as he dialed back the velocity significantly and had good shape on the pitch. Yamamoto needed just 19 pitches to complete the two innings of work, and yes, that is a legit number. The gameday feed spit out 12 pitches, but 19 is correct.
Yamamoto is one of the buzziest arms in some time so his spring will be quite exciting to watch as he ramps up for the regular season. His draft stock has soared through the roof, so I hope you got him early!
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