The Dynasty Digest: March 11, 2024

Grab a cup of coffee and read Chris Clegg runs down everything you need to know for dynasty leagues from the previous days action.

Welcome 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. A slower day of games on Thursday, but let’s break them down.

Spring Training Standouts From March 9-10

Albert Suarez, RHP, BAL

Suarez is a player that I have gotten a lot of questions about, and for good reasons, based on his spring performance. A 34-year-old righty has spent most of his career as a Minor League journeyman before spending 2022 and 2023 in the KBO.

Suarez has tossed five scoreless spring innings before Sunday in which he allowed three earned runs across four innings. The damage all came in the first inning as Suarez allowed a single and a double to George Springer and Bo Bichette before Alejandro Kirk homered.

The fastball sat 94.5 mph and touched 95.6 with solid shape, and Suarez missed eight bats on 17 swings on that pitch(47 percent). He also mixed in a cutter 25 percent of the time. The changeup, slider, and curveball all looked solid and give him a solid arsenal.

I am pretty torn on Albert Suarez. Does he get a crack at the rotation with Kyle Bradish on the shelf and John Means delayed? It is possible. Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are looming but I would bet on both starting the year in Triple-A. This could be a really fun story if Suarez excels with Baltimore.

Chayce McDermott, RHP, BAL

Another Baltimore pitcher that shoved on Sunday was Chayce McDermott who really caught my eye when I saw him last year in a start in Gwinnett. He finished out the final three innings of Baltimore’s game on Sunday without allowing a run, striking out six. McDermott walked just one batter, allowed two hits, and threw strikes at a 67 percent rate.

McDermott’s fastball sat 94.5 mph and showed nice life up in the zone. The location was hit or miss, but he still generated six whiffs on 11 swings with it. He buried the slider down well with really nice sweeping action and missed bats at a high clip. McDermott’s changeup showed nice fading action, and his curve showed nice depth.

At the end of the day, McDermott tallied 11 whiffs, good for a 52 percent rate and a 44 percent CSW. We will see him pitching in Baltimore’s rotation very soon.

Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, TOR

Tiedemann returned to the mound for the first time this spring and completed 1.1 innings in 26 pitches. The results were mixed as he struck out two batters but did give up a home run to Nick Castellanos to end the start.

The fastball sat 96 mph in a small stint and touched 97.7 mph with the typical high horizontal movement. Tiedemann threw one mid-80s changeup with 14 inches of fade and mixed his sweeper in quite often.

Tiedemann finished the say with four whiffs on 11 swings and a 35 percent CSW. Health is the biggest factor here as Tiedemann has struggled with shoulder and arm issues and dealt with a hamstring strain this spring.

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