The Dynasty Digest: May 16, 2023

Chris Clegg provides 10 intriguing pitching prospects to get in on before everyone else in dynasty.

Finding prospects early is a key to dynasty success. If you have played the game long enough, you know playing dynasty is like playing the stock market. The earlier you can get in on players, the more you can profit.

There is nothing more I love to do than help people find those prospects they should be picking up in dynasty leagues before they become mainstream. Yesterday we covered ten hitting prospects; today, it is ten pitching prospects. Let’s get it!

Chase Hampton, RHP, NYY, 21, A+

Chase Hampton has been added in 2.3 percent of Fantrax Leagues over the last week, but I won’t stop there. He should be way more rostered as this is a legit pitching prospect.

Hampton popped when looking at MILB CSW rates. He has the second highest in all the Minors. I saw Hampton earlier in the season, which was arguably his worst start of the season. He allowed four runs in the first inning, but bounced back strong to strikeout ten over five.

Hampton features a lively fastball at 94-95 with an excellent ride in the zone. To be exact, we are looking at 19 inches of Induced Vertical Break, which is insanely high. He throws a slider to both lefties and righties at 86-87, which gets an insane number of whiffs. His curveball is a true 12-6 that sits around 80. He did not use the changeup often, but it had its flashes.

Hampton throws a ton of strikes which only adds to his strong arsenal and gets plenty of whiffs. This profile is one that could rocket up boards quickly. Get on the hype train.

Caden Dana, RHP, LAA, 19, A+

The Angels may have struck gold with their 11th-round pick of the 2022 MLB Draft. Caden Dana was dominant in his first three starts in Low-A and the Angels felt comfortable promoting him to High-A. His couple of starts there have been pretty meh, but overall Dana’s performance has been good.

Dana ranks very well among all prospects with a 33.2 percent CSW. Dana’s swinging strike rate of 17.3 percent ranks 17th among all Minor League pitchers. Of pitchers age 20 or younger, just Eury Perez, Cristian Mena, and Anthony Solometo rank ahead.

Dana has a big physical frame at 6’4, and his fastball sits close to the mid-90s. His curveball gets a ton of vertical drop and sits in the mid-70s. His changeup gets good fade and sits in the mid-80s. Having three pitches in separate velocity bands is nice and he is also working to refine his slider. Dana should only be moving up boards this season.

Yu-Min Lin, LHP, ARI, 19, A+

I was probably a bit too low on Yu-Min Lin coming into the season and have since corrected my stance and ranking on him. The numbers were very good last season at both the complex and low-A, especially considering Lin was 18 years old.

On the surface, this year, maybe Lin does not stand out. He has a 4.00 ERA in 18 innings, but it comes with a 2.31 FIP and a 34.3 percent strikeout rate. Lin has a 33.2 percent CSW on the year and a 16.4 percent swinging strike rate.

Lin does not blow anyone away, as his fastball sits around 90 mph, but it does have good life to it. His spin rates and movement on all his pitches are pretty solid. His slider and changeup combo play very well off the fastball and his changeup movement is downright nasty. If Lin’s velocity ticked up closer to 93-94 mph, he could explode up rankings.

Last week I provided multiple names, such as Chase Hampton, Jorge Ruiz, Haydn McGeary, and others to get on in dynasty. Our awesome Discord has some of the sharpest prospect minds out there. Now those names are becoming very highly spoken of on Twitter and in the industry. Wanna be first on other young prospects? I have seven more names for you that you need to know, including some young, talented arms that are about to explode. Subscribe to get them plus all of this:

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