Let’s take a look at a few fantasy baseball draft risers and fallers with MLB spring training in full swing. Here are some picks that should be moving up and down your fantasy baseball draft rankings.
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Spring Training Risers & Fallers (2024 Fantasy Baseball)
(Stats as of March 9)
Fantasy Baseball Draft Risers
The rest of the world is finally waking up to the beast that is Wyatt Langford. He was my No. 1 prospect in January when I released my prospect rankings and fScores, having Langford ranked as a top-40 overall hitter for 2024. Langford is slashing .304/.414/.826 with a Spring Training-leading four homers. As a rookie, I project a .270-.280 batting average with 26-29 homers and 22-26 steals on the season. Counting stats will depend on how high in the lineup he hits, but most of the Rangers hitters fared pretty well in 2023.
James Wood has improved his stock more with his own team and their vision for when he will debut this spring than he has for his prospect status. Many analysts, including myself, already had him in the top 10 prospects. Now that he’s at the top of Spring Training in OPS (in Florida!), manager Dave Martinez believes he is more than likely ready to be up on Opening Day. Unfortunately for fantasy managers, Mike Rizzo pulled a Brad Pitt and brought in Eddie Rosario the next day to block him in LF. Either way, Wood should be up much sooner than originally anticipated due to the strong spring.
Ke’Bryan Hayes ended 2023 a man on fire, with a new-found launch angle leading to the power we all knew he had. The power has continued this spring as he has a .368/.400/.895 slash with three homers. This is a fantastic sign that the launch angle corrections at the end of 2023 are for real and that we have a new Hayes, ala J.D. Martinez and Justin Turner 10 years or so ago.
Tylor Megill had a slight breakout a couple of years ago. He’s now back with a vengeance, finally healthy this year, and with a new arsenal to boot. 13 Ks against 2 BBs in 8.0 innings with only 1.0 ER; Megill’s American Spork is killing it.
Bailey Ober was already a bit of a sleeper special pre-spring, but he’s showing the Twins’ pitching devil magic is for real, as he has 10 Ks and only 2 BBs in 4 1/3 innings this spring. Ober is a big-time buy as a mid-tier starter with high growth potential.
Fantasy Baseball Draft Fallers
The dude was just suspended 80 games for using PEDs… enough said.
The hype is starting to wear off the new toy for the Braves, as he is off to a 1/24 start with his new team. He’s not this bad, but not a good first impression for a player who has had infamous struggles.
Due to no fault of his own, Paul Skenes has fallen in rankings this week, as the Pirates have announced he will not make the Opening Day roster, even if he probably should.
This is the first pitcher to fall since Kyle Bradish to a UCL injury. Hopefully, it’s not a full TJ, but we have yet to hear the test results. The Chris Sale move looks worse every day for the Red Sox.
After being diagnosed with the yips, Gavin Lux was moved off SS in favor of super athlete Mookie Betts. Perhaps he will make it, but after a ton of Lux hype, it’s possible he just fades into the yonder like Austin Meadows. It’s a lot easier for the Dodgers to replace him at 2B with Miguel Vargas, Kike Hernandez or Chris Taylor than at SS.
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For more content from Tim, follow him on Twitter/X (@fantasyaceball) for all of his fantasy baseball content, and catch his podcast, “The Fantasy Aceball Podcast,” wherever you get podcasts.
