Greg Bird will need a solid spring to win the job at 1B

Spring is in the air with pitchers and catchers reporting the other day; position players follow right behind them as they make their way to the Cactus and Grapefruit leagues as well. It’s an exciting time to be a baseball fan! We’ll be getting our first look at what the offseason has done for some prospects, seasoned vets, and players returning from injuries. And with that, we’ll also start seeing stronger opinions formed about the upcoming fantasy season based on how players show over the next month.

Now that doesn’t mean you need to pay close attention to everything. Spring training contains a lot of fluff as players tweak and fine-tune their games ahead of the season during this time. For that reason, we’re asking our featured experts to give us some more hitters and pitchers to pay attention.

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Q1. Name one hitter you’ll be paying close attention to during spring training.

Greg Bird (1B – NYY)
“Despite missing all of 2016 with a torn right shoulder labrum, Greg Bird will enter drafts a buzzworthy target. In 2015’s brief but promising debut, he registered 11 home runs, a .529 slugging percentage and 44.8 hard-hit rate over 178 plate appearances. But before getting too excited about what the first baseman can accomplish during a full season, he must combat Tyler Austin and free-agent signee Chris Carter for playing time. With Matt Holliday also absorbing regular starts at first and designated hitter, Bird must quickly remind the Yankees why he deserves a featured role.”
– Andrew Gould (Bleacher Report)

“Greg Bird can’t really afford to start slow in 2017. It isn’t as though the Yankees will give up on him, but for him to be fantasy relevant this season then he’ll need to start and stay hot with Chris Carter, Matt Holliday, and Tyler Austin all capable of stepping in. Plus, I’ll want to see how his swing looks after missing a year with a shoulder injury.”
– Nick Mariano (RotoBaller)

Giancarlo Stanton (RF – MIA)
“After appearing in just 178 games over the past 3 seasons, I’ll be keeping a close eye on Stanton in spring training to see how comfortable he looks at the plate. As one of the league’s most prolific power hitters, he can be had at a discount due to his injury history.”
– KJ (Fantasy Team Advice)

Eric Thames (LF/RF – MIL)
“Thames is one of the more interesting players in camp this spring. He’s spent the last two seasons in Korea, where he’s shown improved plate skills and 40 HR power. I’m a bit skeptical about how that will translate back to MLB, so I’ll be watching his progress closely this spring.”
– Tim McCullough (RotoExperts)

Michael Brantley (LF – CLE)
“Brantley is a hitter that I’ll be paying close attention to in spring training. If he can return fully healthy this season he can be a top 50 contributor that will cost far less on draft day. On the flip side, he could miss much of the season and/or be ineffective upon his return and be a waste of time.”
– Justin Klein (The Fake Baseball)

Q2. Name one pitcher you’ll be paying close attention to during spring training.

Michael Wacha (SP – STL)
“With Alex Reyes the latest pitcher requiring Tommy John surgery, the St. Louis Cardinals will host one of spring’s most intriguing battles for their final rotation spot. Trevor Rosenthal is a wild card, and Luke Weaver would warrant attention after recording 45 strikeouts and 12 walks over 36.1 innings. Yet Michael Wacha, who relinquished 27 runs in 32.2 disastrous second-half frames, needs an encouraging spring more than any of the candidates. If encouraging early reports amount to more than empty noise, don’t be quick to write off a 25-year-old who entered 2016 with a career 3.21 ERA.”
– Andrew Gould (Bleacher Report)

“Now that Alex Reyes is out for the year, I’m going to be watching Michael Wacha closely. He had a down 2016 with injury problems and a loss of velocity, but I think a lot of that had to do with the huge jump in innings pitched between 2014 and 2015 – 70-plus innings. Now that he’s built up his strength and rested over the offseason, I’m willing to wager he bounces back this year to be more like the guy we saw in 2015.”
– Tim McCullough (RotoExperts)

Felix Hernandez (SP – SEA)
“Where has the velocity gone? Will Felix Hernandez be settling into the 89 MPH range with his fastball now in his age 30 season, or will he be able to bring the heat back to the 93-95 MPH range? Spring training will go a long way towards letting me know which way to go with King Felix on draft day this season.”
– KJ (Fantasy Team Advice)

Drew Hutchison (SP – PIT) 
“Hutchison will look to become this year’s Juan Nicasio, except without the whole “turning back into a pumpkin” thing. We all know that Ray Searage and the Pirates are maestros when it comes to recrafting a pitcher’s arsenal, but Hutch and his homer issues make for a tall order. That said, Hutch is only 26 and is capable of delivering roughly a strikeout per inning if he wins the No. 5 job.”
– Nick Mariano (RotoBaller)

Matt Harvey (SP – NYM)
“Harvey is a pitcher that I’ll be paying attention to during spring training. This is because he’s attempting to do something that no one has ever done, as no one has had a successful MLB career after having that particular surgery. Hopefully, I get a better idea of he will be successful or not this season.”
– Justin Klein (The Fake Baseball)

Q3. What do you expect to be the biggest surprise coming out of spring training?

Mitch Haniger (LF/CF – SEA)
“Haniger is already gaining steam as a deep sleeper, but his popularity would soar with a strong spring. The Seattle Mariners plan to start their newly acquired outfielder, who bludgeoned minor league pitching with a .321/.419/.581 slash line, 25 homers and 12 steals. Despite hitting a robust .229 over 34 games with the Arizona Diamondbacks, he submitted a promising average exit velocity (93.57) four miles above the league average with a 37.3 hard-hit rate. The 26-year-old would receive far more hype if he were 22, but he’ll command attention anyway with an impressive March.”
– Andrew Gould (Bleacher Report)

Cam Bedrosian (RP – LAA)
“Bedrosian will win the closer job for the Angels in Spring Training. Huston Street is past his prime and Andrew Bailey is unable to stay healthy. Bedrosian posted an impressive 51/14 K/BB ratio last season across 40 1/3 innings to go with a 1.12 ERA. As an Angels fan, I’m hoping the Halo’s shore up the 9th inning and hand the job to Bedrosian heading into the season.”
– KJ (Fantasy Team Advice)

Pablo Sandoval (3B – BOS)
“Sandoval is going to look good this spring, as this is surely his last chance to be a real commodity in MLB. After practically missing all of 2016, he’ll need to show he can put his head down and remain disciplined throughout the season. He won’t be handed anything this season and I can see Sandoval surprising us all by responding well to that reality check.”
– Nick Mariano (RotoBaller)

“I think we’re going to see the stolen base numbers continue to decline. Teams will rely less on speed and more on power hitting, which looks as though it’s set to continue rising. This may affect the types of players teams leave spring training with. Either way, in Fantasy, stolen bases are going to be tough to find this season.”
– Tim McCullough (RotoExperts)

“There will probably be more injury issues that arise, but I doubt that none will be of more surprise than top prospect Alex Reyes having Tommy John surgery.”
– Justin Klein (The Fake Baseball)

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We’d like to thank the experts for helping us with who to pay attention to this spring. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter and subscribe to our podcast below for advice all season long.

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