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The Itch

Author: The Itch

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The Itch

Top 100 Prospects For Fantasy Baseball: Mid-Season Snapshot 2023

July 19, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 26 Comments

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For this list, I used the players’ ages as of July 9, 2023.

The cut-off lines for eligibility were 130 at bats for hitters and 50 innings for pitchers.

Here’s a link to the Top 25.

Here’s a link to the Top 50. 

Here’s a link to the Top 75.

76. Mets SS Ronny Mauricio | 22 | MLB | 2023

Breakout season began in winter ball but has been complicated by the club’s efforts to find its best lineup. Probably should’ve been playing big league second base a long time ago. Jeff McNeil was a nice find, but he’s 31 years old with a .324 slugging percentage. He’s essentially Luis Guillorme without the cool infield defense. How any club lets him block a bonus baby coming into his own is beyond me.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Top 75 Prospects For Fantasy Baseball: Mid-Season Snapshot 2023

July 16, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 36 Comments

by:

For this list, I used the players’ ages as of July 9, 2023.

The cut-off lines for eligibility were 130 at bats for hitters and 50 innings for pitchers.

Here’s a link to the Top 25.

Here’s a link to the Top 50. 

51. Rays RHP Shane Baz | 24 | MLB | 2021

With 40.1 innings, Baz remains eligible by the laws of this list. His value is pretty dependent upon your play style and/or league setting, I think. He’s a good bet to gain value between now and spring training 2024. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: 2023 Futures Game Rosters Reviewed

July 5, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 17 Comments

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The Orioles recalled Colton Cowser, who should make the lineup just about every day from here forward. Baltimore is six games behind Tampa, but the Rays have been ravaged by injury and could probably be caught if a team got hot enough. Cowser should cut into the playing time of Ryan O’Hearn and Aaron Hicks. 

Marlins RHP Eury Perez finally got touched up by a major league lineup, surrendering six earned runs and recording just one out against Atlanta. Best to just let that pass, I think. One thing I noticed this week in building a new Top 100 list: Perez has 47.1 innings pitched and will graduate as the number two prospect to my eyes, second only to Elly De La Cruz. I haven’t been doing this all that long, but I’ve never ranked a pitcher that high. 

My mind is a little bouncy this week in return from vacation, in preparation for the new Top 100, the MLB Draft, and the Futures Game, but I’ll try to stay focused on that last piece as we peruse the Futures Game rosters together. 

American League 

Catchers: Harry Ford (SEA), Edgar Quero (LAA), Tyler Soderstrom (OAK)

Fun group. Ford feels overrated in some ways. He’s hitting .223 with a .357 slugging percentage since June 1, down from his season marks of .244 and .396. He does have eight homers and 14 steals in 71 games as a 20-year-old in High-A, which gives us a lot to dream on. Soderstrom has been trying to hit his way out of Triple-A over that same stretch, slugging .609 with ten home runs since June 1. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Stash List Volume 7: Baltimore Stacks Backups

July 2, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 32 Comments

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Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume 6: Meaner Than A Junkyard Dog: Gavin Williams, Jordan Westburg, Henry Davis, David Hamilton.

 

1. Reds 1B Christian Encarnacion-Strand | 23 | AAA

81 games into the season, Cincinnati is tied with Milwaukee for first in the National League Central.Joey Votto returned with a few home runs in his first week but is 0-for-13 in his last three games. Makes me sad to think he might be blocking a better hitter from helping his team win the division.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Under My Pirela or I Fought The Lawlar

June 28, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 18 Comments

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Gavin Williams looked incredible against the Royals on Tuesday night, firing seven shutout innings and allowing just one hit. Kansas City is missing Vinnie P, and Sal P is out of the lineup right now, but I got to see every pitch Williams threw on this night, and he was in rhythm from the first inning, particularly with his fastball atop the zone. He’s got some room for growth with his off-speed command, but Cleveland is a great place to hone that. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Pirates Go Gonzo or Yorfran: An Underdog Story

June 25, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 19 Comments

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The Pirates recalled 2B Nick Gonzales, who was slashing .257/.370/.450 with six home runs and one stolen base in 57 Triple-A games and striking out 28.6 percent of the time. He’s been better in June, slashing .270/.440/.460 with one home run and a 21.4 percent strikeout rate. He has to be on his game in the pitch selection department because his swing doesn’t have a ton of variability, and he’s no threat on the bases. Took him four attempts to score that one steal, and that’s no longer just a fantasy baseball problem. The 2023 version of baseball all but requires a team populated by functional baserunners. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Enmanuel Can’t Stop Hitting or Pirate King Henry

June 21, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 36 Comments

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Today is the day Cleveland will finally deploy one of its best pitchers, almost three months into the season. Gavin Williams earned this opportunity more than a month ago and hasn’t dominated to quite the same extent since he was left to linger. His 2.93 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 61 strikeouts in 46 Triple-A innings still look good enough for us to glimpse his mountainous upside. Just anecdotal, but it feels like there’s a real reward for the teams who don’t drag their feet on promotions this year. The Reds have ripped off ten straight wins, and even they’ve been on the conservative side of aggressive, if that makes even a Strand of sense. 

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Stash List Volume 6: Meaner Than A Junkyard Dog

June 18, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 48 Comments

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Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume 5: Our New Number One: Luis Matos, Emmet Sheehan, Bo Naylor, Dairon Blanco.

 

1. Guardians RHP Gavin Williams | 23 | AAA 

Touki Toussaint tooky the first start in place of the injured Triston McKenzie. I suspect Williams will cover the next one, but Cleveland has shown uncanny resilience to fielding their best players. The release of Mike Zunino and promotion of Bo Naylor could signal a temporary sea change, which just so happens to coincide with the certain passing of the floating super two date.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Mr. White’s Coffee or Mr. Blanco Is The One Who Knocks

June 14, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 20 Comments

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Dynasty baseball is always complicated. The winners tend to allocate their roster spots most effectively, and this time of year especially, each spot is gold. With short-season leagues underway in Florida and Arizona, new names are popping into the newsfeed all the time. These two remaining short-season “leagues” have inherited the levels left behind by the recent minor league purge, so one could argue they matter more than they ever have. On the other hand, the pitching and defense is perhaps too haphazard to help us sort the hitters. Same goes double for the Dominican Summer Leagues. Also, it’s only been a week, and everyone is telling everyone else to hold their horses while filling their own FAAB runs with DSL hitters like Atlanta OF Luis Guanipa and Guardians SS Welbyn Francisca. And that’s where we’ll close this post: circling some names making waves in the dynasty-verse. 

Let’s take it from the top first though. Big news of the night has to be Giants OF Luis Matos, who homered in his first at bat and got pulled from the game after his second. He’s hitting .398 with seven home runs and six steals in 24 games at Triple-A Sacramento. This might be a drill but does not feel like a drill. San Francisco is 35-and-32: good enough to make the playoffs if they started today. Hard to make a strong case against promoting Matos. I added him in two leagues yesterday: a ten-teamer and a twelve. Both redraft leagues. Chasing that lightning.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
The Itch

Prospect News: Stash List: Our New Number One

June 11, 2023 | Fantasy Baseball Prospects, Featured | 34 Comments

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Graduated from Prospect News: Stash List Volume: All-Inclusive Cruz: Elly De La Cruz, Royce Lewis, Andrew Abbott, Bryan Woo

1. Guardians RHP Gavin Williams | 23 | AAA 

Another week = another handful of wasted frames from baseball’s best minor league pitcher, but this time he actually got hit around a bit, allowing three runs in four innings against the Elly-free Triple-A Reds.

Please, blog, may I have some more?
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