The Dynasty Digest: March 20, 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.

Spring Training Standouts From March 19

Jazz Chisholm Jr., OF, MIA

After an interesting interview surfaced in which Chisholm basically bashed the leadership of previous Marlins teams, he had a monster game in which he homered twice and drove in five runs. The home runs left the bat at 108.7 mph and 106.3 mph.

Chisholm's skillset could be elite, given his power and speed. However, contact skills are the biggest question, as we saw him post one of the worst overall and zone-contact rates in the majors last season. The launch angles have also been an issue as Chisholm posted one of the lowest sweet spot rates in all of baseball last year. He is just 26 years old though and has plenty of time to come into his own.

So far this spring, Chisholm has shown improved contact and is hitting .364/.417/.697. Despite only playing 97 games last year due to injury and having 383 plate appearances, Chisholm hit 19 home runs and stole 22 bases. If he is healthy, a 30 home run/30 stolen base season is a legitimate possibility. If he is enjoying baseball again and being around his team, as he talked about in his interview, maybe a breakout season could be in order.

Thairo Estrada, 2B, SF

Estrada’s breakout 2024 season is in full order as he is healthy and raking this spring. A three-hit performance saw Estrada have a triple and a home run, which was his second of the spring. The slash line now sits at .342/.375/.605 across 40 plate appearances. While it is a small sample, it is worth talking about because Estrada was in the midst of a breakout early last season before his injuries.

His overall line of .271/.315/.416 with 14 home runs and 23 stolen bases in 2023 was fine, but it was defined by pre-injury and post-injury. It was really a three-part season: before his wrist injury, after the wrist injury but before his hand fracture, and after the hand fracture from a hit-by-pitch.

Through Estrada’s first 206 plate appearances, he posted a .301/.345/.466 slash with six home runs and 13 stolen bases. After his wrist injury, those numbers dropped to .216/.294/.371 in 109 plate appearances. Then, after he came back from his hand fracture later in the year, it was .268/.298/.390 in 215 plate appearances. A healthy 2024 could lead to a big breakout for Estrada.

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