It’s widely known that Spring Training is a time where performance should be taken with a grain of salt. In some cases, however, things are just too spectacularly great or horrible to ignore. After all, if everything was completely meaningless in spring, position battles wouldn’t be won or lost and young players who are struggling wouldn’t be optioned back to the minors.

As with every year, there have been players rising and falling in the rankings heading into the busiest weeks for fantasy baseball drafts. To make sure you’re armed with the best information available, we’re asking our featured pundits below which players they’ve taken notice of.

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Q1. Who has seen their fantasy stock rise the most for you based on Spring Training?

Greg Bird (1B – NYY)
“Bird has seen his stock soar in just the past 48 hours. He has performed well all spring, which led to the Yankees naming him the starting first basemen Wednesday. Bird followed that news up by knocking home runs No. 5 and 6 on the season in the same game which tied him with Bryce Harper for the Grapefruit League lead. For a player with concerns about how he would bounce back from injury, he seems to be laying all those doubts to rest and should be drafted quite a bit earlier if you want to ensure someone else doesn’t take him.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

“For me, the most impressive player in Spring Training has been Greg Bird. Spring stats don’t mean a lot, but for someone with major injury concerns – in their shoulders, nonetheless – to perform how he has makes him shoot up the ranks. He will sit against tough lefties, but I don’t think there will be a straight platoon. Bird can hit 25 homers, 85 RBIs and score 80 runs.”
– Michael Waterloo (RotoExperts)

“With the acquisition of Chris Carter and Matt Holliday, there were questions about how Greg Bird would fit into the 2017 Yankees lineup. He answered those questions with an exclamation point as he has hit .439 AVG with 6 HRs this spring. With that powerful performance, it’s no surprise that the Yankees announced that Bird will be their starting 1B this year. He is unquestionably one of the hottest sleepers as we enter the busiest draft weekend of the year.”
– Luke Gloeckner (Mr. Cheatsheet)

Mitch Haniger (OF – SEA)
“While Spring Training stats should obviously be taken with a huge grain of salt, it’s hard to ignore what Haniger is doing. The “other guy” in this offseason’s Jean Segura trade, Haniger leads all players with 21 hits this spring while posting a .412/.464/.686 line in 51 at-bats. His MLB debut was nothing to write home about last year, but he did impress in Triple-A, hitting .341/.428/.670 with 20 homers in 261 at-bats. If his spring is any indication, he might be closer to that guy in 2017, taking him from a last-round dart throw to a legit target in the back half of drafts.”
– R.J. White (CBS Sports)

Greg Holland (RP – COL) | Cam Bedrosian (RP – LAA) | Koda Glover (RP – WAS)
“I really don’t pay much attention to spring performance unless it involves health or major role changes, so any hot or cold stretch I try my best to ignore (it’s not always easy to do so). So while it’s encouraging to see big spring stats from a young player like Ryon Healy, the real movers up my draft board have been relievers such as Greg Holland, Cam Bedrosian and Koda Glover, all of whom entered spring training in set up roles and now appear locked in as closers. The change in roles has greatly increased their values, giving a huge boost to their respective fantasy stocks. ”
– Dalton Del Don (Yahoo! Sports)

Q2. Who has seen their fantasy stock drop the most for you based on Spring Training?

Matt Harvey (SP – NYM)
“Maybe I was too bullish on Harvey to begin with, admittedly, but he’s fallen furthest down my initial ranks during spring. Coming off surgery, the hope was Harvey would return to form, but his velocity has remained down, and he’s always been a pitcher especially reliant on his fastball. I’m not giving up on him, but Harvey currently doesn’t resemble the pitcher who once looked like a future multi Cy Young award winner, making him the biggest faller in my rankings (other than those who got injured) during March.”
– Dalton Del Don (Yahoo! Sports)

“The faller has to be Matt Harvey. Granted, he’s still rehabbing, but there’s a chance he doesn’t start the season in New York. Also, questions remain when he will get his velocity back. He’s closer to the 45th overall pitcher instead of in the 20s.”
– Michael Waterloo (RotoExperts)

Adam Wainwright (SP – STL)
“The Cardinals’ former ace and four-time top 3 finisher in the Cy Young voting, Adam Wainwright began the spring as an intriguing potential sleeper to watch. Wainwright has allowed 13 earned runs in 10.2 innings pitched for an astronomical 10.97 ERA. The strikeouts don’t appear to be bouncing back to the pre-surgery numbers either. Both of these factors together make Wainwright virtually undraftable outside of deep leagues or NL-Only leagues.”
– Bobby Sylvester (FantasyPros)

Jharel Cotton (SP – OAK)
“Cotton was a sleeper on the rise this spring, and I saw legit battles to land him in both of my dynasty auctions this year. It’s clear what the hype was about: he posted a 2.15 ERA and 23/4 K/BB ratio in his five starts with the A’s last year, and the sky looked like the limit coming into 2017. He hasn’t shown anywhere near that level of control this spring, walking nine batters in 11 innings while posting a 6.55 ERA. Sure, that’s a small sample size, but so was his MLB debut. I’m looking at him as an end-of-game wild card for a bench spot instead of a locked-in fantasy starter heading into the regular season.”
– R.J. White (CBS Sports)

Jorge Soler (OF – KC)
“Soler’s name has been synonymous with fantasy disappointment over his short career. The once-touted sleeper never lived up to potential for the Cubs and is getting a fresh start in Kansas City as their starting RF. The Royals may be regretting this experiment based on his .140 AVG and 15 strikeouts throughout Spring Training. If you were counting on Soler as a potential sleeper, it may be best to just leave him sleeping at this point.”
– Luke Gloeckner (Mr. Cheatsheet)

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Thank you to the experts for naming their risers and fallers. Be sure to give them a follow on Twitter and check out our latest podcast below for more fantasy advice.

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