The debate as to whether Spring Training matters or not is a long one, but one thing is for sure… fantasy owners will definitely take notice of the happenings. After all, it’s hard to ignore a guy who is batting over .400 with multiple home runs, or a pitcher who has a sub 1.50 ERA and is striking out batters like it’s little league.
These things can be difficult to discern, so our featured experts are here to chip in to provide additional knowledge on the subject. We asked them whose hot start in the spring you should be buying and who you should be pumping up to your league mates to derail their draft.
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Q1. What player performing well in Spring Training are you buying the hype/praise on? How early would you target him in drafts?
Jonathan Schoop (2B – BAL)
“Schoop was on my list of sleepers going into Spring Training and his performance has only underscored his upside. The 24-year-old slugged 15 home runs in just 86 games last season while finding himself among the league leaders in average fly ball distance. The approach isn’t great, so I wouldn’t bank on much help in the batting average department, but he hits plenty of fly balls and plays in an excellent hitters park. You can target him well outside the first 200 picks in standard mixed leagues, so he has a chance to be a very good value as a middle infielder.”
– D.J. Short (Rotoworld)
Wellington Castillo (C – ARI)
“I am all in on Castillo. He is hitting .481 with 15 RBI thus far in the spring, and I think his power is for real. People seem to forget that Chase Field plays a lot like Coors Field, so it would not shock me to see Castillo hit 20-25 HR this season. I would try to nab him as the sixth or seventh catcher off the board (somewhere around Round 10-11).”
– Dr. Roto (Scout Fantasy)
Trevor Story (SS – COL)
“Story came out swinging this spring after hitting really well across Double- and Triple-A last year. With Rockies prospects, it’s always a little tough to gauge how much of that will translate in more pitcher-friendly parks and leagues, but with decent base-running ability to go with his solid contact tool, he’s not the type of player who is going to leave you completely valueless if you gamble on him. Jose Reyes’ situation is dicey at best right now, and that directly impacts Story’s play time, but his current cost is so low (Consensus ADP of 275), that he’s worth the late round stash.”
– Dan Wade (FanGraphs)
Juan Nicasio (RP – PIT)
“I’m ready to invest a late round pick on Nicasio. It could just be a normal instance of a young hard-throwing pitcher being ahead of the hitters, but there’s plenty of reason to think he could have a pretty nice breakout. His 95 mph fastball and 10.03 K/9 from last season point to his upside and a .360 BABIP hid some of his progress. Now he joins the Pirates and pitching coach Ray Searage, who are renowned for reclamation projects. Nicasio has made changes that give me reason to believe his early season dominance is real.”
– Doug Anderson (FNTSY)
Q2. On the flip side, what player having Spring Training success will fail to deliver for fantasy owners?
Aaron Sanchez (SP,RP – TOR)
“While trying to win a rotation spot with the Blue Jays, Aaron Sanchez has posted a 1.35 ERA and 19/3 K/BB ratio over 20 innings during Grapefruit League action. Impressive, but keep in mind he has faced a couple of easy lineups along the way. It’s easy to dream on his velocity, but I’m not sure we’ll see him take a big step forward unless his secondary pitches improve. Don’t forget that he had a shaky 42/37 K/BB ratio over 66 innings as a starter last season. Pitching in Rogers Centre and the AL East only increases the degree of difficulty for him.”
– D.J. Short (Rotoworld)
Jackie Bradley Jr. (OF – BOS)
“Bradley Jr. has had a pretty good spring thus far for the Red Sox, hitting .355 and only striking out six times in 31 AB. But something tells me that when the season starts, his bat is going to go cold. If he can’t figure out how to hit major league pitching, Bradley might end up as a part-time player in a platoon with Chris Young, or even worse, as a defensive replacement late in games.”
– Dr. Roto (Scout Fantasy)
Travis Shaw (1B,3B – BOS)
“Shaw came up and did some nice things for the Red Sox in the second half of 2015 and now there’s talk he might take over at third base if Pablo Sandoval falls flat. He may prove to be a useful bench bat, but do realize his minor league numbers were nowhere near what he did in the bigs. He’s an AL-only utility-type player at best, but some people are getting suckered into thinking he’s something more.”
– Doug Anderson (FNTSY)
Pedro Ciriaco (2B,3B,SS – TEX)
“Ciriaco’s numbers made me do a double take when I saw how well he was hitting this spring (.500/.488/.548 in 42 ABs). On some teams, that type of spring production from a 30-year-old NRI would probably be good enough for an extended April look, but Ciriaco just isn’t going to get the playing time with the Rangers he would need to be interesting. Even an injury to Rougned Odor or Elvis Andrus wouldn’t be enough to get him consistently on the field given the depth of the Rangers’ system; the most you can say about Ciriaco’s spring is that maybe it will get him a chance to get on the field… with another team.”
– Dan Wade (FanGraphs)
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Thank you to the experts for naming who they’re buying/selling. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter and leave your comments below.
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