The Dynasty Digest: March 8, 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.

Cover photo with image by Mark Cunningham, Getty Images

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 7

Parker Meadows, OF, DET

Meadows homered and had a single on Thursday, with his home run leaving the bat at 103.5 mph, his second of the spring. After flying under the radar for quite some time, Meadows is now fully on radars. Last season he hit 22 home runs and stole 27 bases between Triple-A and the Majors.

Meadows makes strong contact, posting a 76 percent overall rate in the minors last year with a low chase rate. The numbers improved in his MLB sample, and he made contact with 87.5 percent of pitches in the zone.

Being slated to lead off and start in centerfield, Meadows could be a sneaky five-category contributor.

Jordan Walker, OF, STL

Walker’s spring stat line won’t impress anyone as he has just a .190 batting average and a .690 OPS. But Walker hit a big home run off Cristian Javier on Wednesday, leaving the bat at 103.3 mph and traveling 398 feet. It was Walker’s first home run of the spring and hopefully get the monkey off his back.

Many were disappointed with Walker’s 2023 rookie season, where he broke camp with the team as a 20-year-old and posted a 116 wRC+. Walker hit 16 home runs in 465 plate appearances and stole seven bases while slashing .276/.342/.445.

Walker moves very well for his 6’6” frame, has big power, and solid contact skills. I am firmly buying that Walker could be in for a very good aged 21 season.

Cristian Javier, RHP, HOU

Javier tossed three innings on Thursday, striking out six and allowing two runs, both via home run. One of them was given up to Jordan Walker, and the other to Matt Carpenter. While he did miss on both home runs, the stuff overall was good.

Javier’s fastball was up a tick and sitting near 94 mph across the 57 pitches thrown, which is encouraging that it was not just a tiny sample. He threw three secondaries in three different velocity bands, which I like to see, and his slider and curve both showed more depth than they have in the past.

At the end of the day, Javier had a 42 percent whiff rate on 26 swings and a 39 percent CSW. Javier worked this offseason to get in better shape, in hopes that his stuff would be better and stick deeper into starts. This start was a good step forward.

Kyle Harrison, LHP, SF

Harrison was cruising until the rain started dumping on him and the game got called. After starting out the game with six strikeouts, two hits, and zero walks allowed through 2.2 innings, Harrison walked two straight batters on four pitches each. The rain was pouring, and the game was called early.

The arsenal is impressive as Harrison pumps in a fastball that sits at 94 but can get up to 98 on occasion when he reaches back for one. It plays up from a hard-to-pick-up release point from the left side and an incredibly low VAA of -4.0. From a pure horizontal movement standpoint, his 13 inches of run are imposing, and it plays with a nice ride. 

Harrison’s second most used pitch is a slider that plays more like a slurve, has a two-plane break, and sits in the lower 80s. Averaging over ten inches of sweeping action with 45 inches of drop, Harrison misses plenty of bats with the slider. 

The biggest question with Harrison is how many strikes will he throw?

Mauricio Dubon, UT, HOU

Dubon continues to hit for Houston, and it looks like he is going to be a perfect utility bat for them as someone who can play all over the field. Two more hits on Thursday raised his batting average to a crazy .617, albeit a small sample.

Last season, Dubon got 492 plate appearances with the Astros and has an underrated season hitting .278 with ten home runs and seven stolen bases while scoring 76 runs. Dubon is a great investment in deeper formats.

Andy Ibáñez, INF/OF, DET

In a game between the Yankees and Tigers, if I gave you ten guesses on who had the two hardest-hit balls of the game, I doubt you would guess Ibáñez. He homered that had an exit velocity of 105.3 mph and a double that left the bat at 104.9 mph. Additionally, Ibáñez had a fly out that also registered north of 95 mph.

Having four home runs and two doubles in 22 plate appearances, Ibáñez is rocking a .381/.409/1.048 slash line. The versatility here is a big deal as Ibáñez can play all infield spots as well as the corner outfield spots. The 30-year-old could find at-bats in Detroit as he did in 2023 when he hit 11 home runs in 383 plate appearances.

Reynaldo Lopez, RHP, ATL

Lopez continues to look to prove me wrong that he can’t be a starter for Atlanta. The Braves certainly have the potential to unlock something in Lopez that the White Sox could not, and he continues to perform well across multiple innings. He fired three more scoreless innings on Thursday, which followed up with three scoreless innings against the Blue Jays last Saturday.

He struck out four batters and walked just one without allowing a hit. The fastball is playing well, and his slider is devastating hitters. Lopez has tossed eight innings this spring with a 1.13 ERA, seven strikeouts, two walks and a 0.63 WHIP

Even if Lopez does not take the fifth starter role, he has the stuff to excel in multiple roles in Atlanta.

Dylan Cease, RHP, CHW

Cease is somehow still a White Sox, and it appears he will be with the team until the trade deadline. He put together a great start on Thursday, tossing three innings with five strikeouts. Cease did not allow a walk, which is huge, but allowed two hits and one run. The only damage came from a Brewer Hicklin home run.

The volatility has always been Cease’s downfall. In 2023, he allowed two walks or less in 20 of his 33 starts. But, the ones where he was off, he was really off, having starts with seven walks and multiple with five walks.

It seems like a strong probability that Cease is much better in 2024 than he was in 2023 but likely does not get back to the CY Young levels of 2022.